SPRINGFIELD — Arcade games have seemingly gone the way of phone booths.

Then again, when you can play “Ms. Pac-Man” on your cell phone, there’s not much need for either.

Now, just try to find a video game that’s still in service from that golden age of arcade games — 1978 to 1983 — and it’s like looking for a place that has a working telegraph.

“We did a killing on them,” recalled Joan Vrettos, vice president of Springfield’s Hughes Music Co., which operated the Game Galaxy arcade from 1979 to 1994. “Now they’re so few and far between.”

But a few of them are indeed still around, if you look really, really hard.

So grab a handful of quarters and hit the town with this handy guide, ’cause on Saturday, May 22, the most popular game of ’em all, “Pac-Man,” turns 30.

“It just looked like a cartoony maze game,” remembered Jim Katawick, the owner of Springfield’s Amusement Equipment Co. “No one foresaw what was going to happen with it.”

Ironically, an original “Pac-Man” is nowhere to be found, although it’s possible to access the game with the right know-how on the downtown BW-3’s “Ms. Pac” machine. Read on.

If you go, be sure to take your kids along and show them what a video game is supposed to look like.

Just don’t expect them to believe you.

Contact this reporter at (937) 328-0352 or amcginn@coxohio.com.

Where to find classic arcade games

1. Circus Plaza Laundromat, 297 E. Leffel Lane

Game on site: “Ms. Pac-Man” (1981)

Attendant Pat Milton was on duty the night just recently when someone set a new high score — 103,250.

“He was on it for 2½ hours,” she said. “Everybody was watching. I didn’t even see him die.”

After setting the high score, the dude apparently just up and walked away instead.

So cool.

2. SoapBox Cleaning Center, 1791 S. Limestone St.

Game on site: “Ms. Pac-Man”

Uh. Is the screen supposed to be all red like that?

Technical difficulties might end up sending this one to the great Saturday Supercade in the sky.

3. Dooley Laundry, 117 N. Yellow Springs St.

Game on site: “Ms. Pac-Man”

“I love that game,” said attendant Carolyn Violet. “You don’t have to be a genius to figure it out.”

Preach it, sister.

4. SoapBox Cleaning Center, 1938 Mitchell Blvd.

Game on site: “Ms. Pac-Man”

“It’s still up and running,” boasted manager Stella Stiltner as she gave the upright cabinet a loving smack. “We’ll get people from all sides of town just to play that and do nothing else.”

5. Holiday Inn, 383 E. Leffel Lane

Games on site: “Ms. Pac-Man” and “Donkey Kong” (1981)

Score! Down by the pool, you’ll find a “Donkey Kong” machine that’s in such nice shape, it’ll make you want to die three times extra quick just so you can get back to your room to watch this new channel called MTV.

Then reality sets in — it’s not actually 1981. It now costs 50 cents to play “Donkey Kong.”

Same goes for the hotel’s “Ms. Pac.”

6. Buffalo Wild Wings, 42 N. Fountain Ave.

Game on site: “Ms. Pac-Man”/“Galaga” combo

OK, so it’s not authentic.

But back in 2000, the Namco company combined two of the all-time greats into one nifty upright machine and dubbed it the “Class of 1981 20-year reunion.”

At 50 cents a play, it’s a small price to pay for some vintage fun.

And according to the Killer List of Video Games website (KLOV.com), with some slick joystick dexterity, it’s also possible to access the original “Pac-Man” on this.

Here’s how:

After you insert your coins and get the “press start button” prompt, move the joystick up, up, up, down, down, down, left, right, left, right, left.

If done right, Ms. Pac apparently changes color. That’s when you press start and get to play the original “Pac-Man.”

Waka, waka, baby.

7. USA Roller Skating Center, 2340 Valley Loop Road

Games on site: “Centipede” (1980) and the “Ms. Pac-Man”/“Galaga” combo reissue

With that crazy rollerball controller, “Centipede” was always one of the fastest ways to lose 25 cents.

This was faster yet — the quarter literally got stuck in the coin slot.

The left one.

The right one already had a quarter stuck in it.

8. SoapBox Cleaning Center, 1347 W. First St.

Game on site: “Ms. Pac-Man”

“It’s just there,” said Katawick, whose company owns many of the “Ms. Pac” machines in town. “It’s some place to put them. Out of all the old ones, ‘Ms. Pac-Man’ is the one that will get played.”

Still, bring lots of quarters.

The game’s in good shape, and it also takes just 50 cents to get the vintage Diet Pepsi machine to dispense the miracle of NutraSweet.