Timezone (video arcades)

Timezone is an international chain of family amusement arcade centers based in Australia and owned by The Entertainment and Education Group (TEEG). Now, Timezone has its presence in India, New Zealand, Singapore, the Philippines and Indonesia.

History

The first Timezone arcade opened in 1978 in Perth, Australia. Timezone claims that it is the first family-oriented amusement centers of that time, and said that its family emphasis is the key focus of their brand.[1]

In 1995, Timezone started their ventures outside Australia.[1]

In December 2017, TEEG announced that they had purchased the bowling and entertainment division of Ardent Leisure in order to merge it with its Timezone entertainment business, forming a combined entertainment group encompassing Timezone, AMF, Kingpin and Playtime, one of the world’s largest family entertainment centre groups. TEEG operates in six countries with over 250 locations.[2] All AMF bowling centres in Australia were rebranded as Zone Bowling.[3] Centres in New Zealand were rebranded Xtreme Entertainment.

Powercard

Timezone family entertainment centers, like most current arcades, previously had coin-operated arcade machines. However, Timezone had many special deals which caused many problems and much inconvenience for staff. For example, a flat fee could be paid to have a party at Timezone, where a group of people could play an unlimited number of games for a certain period of time. This meant that, generally, a member of a group having a party would have to call a staff member over to a machine, where he or she had to open the game's cabinet and 'trick' the desired game into playing for free.

In response to this, and presumably to maximize profits, the entire Timezone arcade system moved to a magnetic swipecard system known as the Timezone Powercard. This meant that customers, rather than having to carry many coins around, could simply deposit a larger amount of money (for example, $10) onto their Powercard account. In order to use a machine, they simply had to swipe their card through a detector located on the machine, and the credit would be deduced from the card account. This system was supplied by Australian company Embed International. Tap-to-play cards are now currently in testing in the Singapore franchise.

In 2004, bonus paper tickets issued by some (higher-priced) arcade machines which could be redeemed for prizes were replaced by a ticket count kept on the card. Eventually, paper tickets were now being dispensed again instead of being loaded into the card, prevalent in the India, Philippines and Singapore franchises. In the India and Philippines franchises, a rare golden ticket allows the player to earn an extra 500 tickets.

As of 2005, Timezone Powerclub credit in Australia lasts one year from the date of credit. Cards can be used at venues other than the one where it was issued, but only with credit put on at that venue.

As of 2008 after many Timezone stores closed, balances can be used at any venue regardless of where the credit was put on. However, in order to progress to the higher Powerclub levels, customers can only put credit on at the venue which issued the card, or in some franchises, Fun Points can be earned by loading a specific number to reach a certain threshold for upgrade. The exception to this is where the issuing venue has subsequently closed down and a new 'home venue' has been selected.

Powerclub

As an incentive to add credit to a Powercard, Timezone created three different types of Powercard:

  • Powercard

Powercard is the basic type. As well as being issued with starting accounts, it is also issued as part of time-limited party deals. It is made of paper. This card offers no benefits.

  • Powerclub

Powerclub is the second type, issued when an account's balance reaches $30. This card offers VIP prices, as well as eligibility to participate in Powerclub events. A holder is given the opportunity to create a personalised greeting given by the card terminal's LCD whenever the card is swiped on an arcade terminal.

  • Powerclub Gold

Powerclub Gold is the third type, issued when an account's balance reaches $250 (previously $500, $100 before that). Like the regular Powerclub card, this card offers VIP prices and eligibility to participate in Powerclub events, however it offers additional benefits like regular free games. As well as having a personalised arcade swipecard terminal greeting, the Gold card also has the cardholder's name printed on the front.

  • Powercard Sapphire

Powerclub Sapphire is the fourth type, issued when you recharge up to $750. This type offers VIP pricing and two free Yellow Swiper games everyday (as long as you recharge at least $10 every 30 days). The Sapphire card is not available in Singapore and Philippines.

  • Powercard Platinum

Powercard Platinum is issued when you spend $2000.

References

  1. 1 2 About Us. Timezone Australia website. Accessed 2015-04-08
  2. ↑ "The Entertainment and Education Group Acquires Ardent's Bowling and Entertainment Division". Retrieved 30 May 2018.
  3. ↑ "AMF is now Zone Bowling". Retrieved 28 April 2018.
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