Timezone (video arcades)
 | |
 Timezone c. 1990 | |
| Company type | Subsidiary |
|---|---|
| Predecessor | Mystery Pinball |
| Founded | 15 May 1978, 45 years ago Perth, Western Australia |
| Founder | Malcolm Steinberg |
| Headquarters | Sydney , Australia |
Area served |
|
| Parent | The Entertainment and Education Group (TEEG) |
| Website | www |
Timezone is an international chain of family entertainment centres and amusement arcade centres based in Australia. It is owned and operated by The Entertainment and Education Group (TEEG). Outside of Australia, Timezone is currently operating in India, New Zealand, Singapore, the Philippines, Indonesia, and Vietnam.
History
[edit]In 1958, Malcolm Steinberg's father gave him 21 pinball machines. In Perth, the 18-year-old struck deals to place the pinballs in fish and chip shops and milk bars in exchange for half the earnings.[1]
Steinberg's company Leisure & Allied Industries (LAI), which manufactured and imported arcade games, entered the video game retail market in the early 1970s with its first two stores, Blue Pumpernickel and Crystal Palace. In 1978, Steinberg opened the first Timezone — his first arcade — on Murray Street, Perth. He also relaunched the stores under the new brand. Timezone was successful, reaching a peak of eight stores in Western Australia.[2][3]
Timezone began to expand outside the state in the early 1980s. From 1989 to 1991, LAI opened 25 locations.[2]
In 1995, Timezone started their ventures outside Australia.[4] The first venture opened in Bali, Indonesia. The Indonesian operations is currently owned by PT Matahari Graha Fantasi (named after the Matahari chain of department stores), a member of the Lippo Group.
In 2003, Timezone Malaysia closed due to collapse of venue after three years of operation, having opened in 1999.
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. TEEG now operates in six countries with over 250 locations.[5] All AMF bowling centres in Australia were rebranded as Zone Bowling.[1] Centres in New Zealand were rebranded Xtreme Entertainment.[6] In November 2018, TEEG announced that all Playtimes venues would slowly be rebranded to Timezone. The last Playtime centre converted to Timezone in June 2019.[2]
In February 2019, TEEG opened its first of many dual branded venues of Zone Bowling and Timezone locations in Westfield Garden City.[7]
In 2019, TEEG began rebranding their existing New Zealand bowling centres, Xtreme Entertainment, as dual-branded Zone Bowling and Timezone venues, beginning with their Garden City (Christchurch) venue.
In July 2021, After 20 years, TEEG made Timezone's return into South Australia by opening up a dual branded venue in Woodville, SA.[3] In the same month, TEEG made a deal to purchase multiple TunzaFun locations in South Australia and Victoria and rebrand these to under Timezone venues, with Tea Tree Plaza, Elizabeth and Fountain Gate stores to be rebranded.[8]
Powercard
[edit]
Timezone arcade system moved to a magnetic swipecard system known as the Timezone Powercard.[when?] 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 an arcade 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 available in the Singapore, Philippine and Vietnam franchises and are beginning to be rolled out across Australian franchises as of December 2018.[needs update] In the Philippines, however, the cards are hybrid tap-and-swipe, as not all branches have tap card compatibility yet. Newer branches have tap-only functionality as default, which will soon be implemented in other stores.
In 2004, paper tickets for ticket redemption arcade machines were replaced with electronic tickets automatically loading on the card. Eventually, tickets were now dispensing again instead of automatically loading on 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 500-1000 tickets.
As of 2005, Timezone Powerclub credit in Australia lasted one year from the date of credit and the cards could only be used at the original store of purchase.
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. Fun Points, which is used in Philippine-based stores, have been abolished on 2022 in favor of a new uniform Timezone Rewards system (also used in other countries) which allows earning of rewards and progression to higher levels freely.
Timezone branches in Indonesia use TIZO as their game currency instead of their respective currency.
Timezone Rewards
[edit]
Timezone Rewards is Timezone's loyalty program which offers incentives and benefits according to membership tiers or levels. Qualifying criteria for each tier varies from country to county. The structure in Australia, New Zealand, The Philippines,[9] and Singapore is reflected as:
- Welcome tier
The Timezone Welcome Powercard is the entry tier where members start accumulating reward credits and receiving benefits. The Powercard for this tier is red.
- Blue Elite tier
The Blue Elite is the second tier, upgraded from a Welcome tier, issued when a set cumulative amount has been loaded onto a Powercard. This card offers discounts and extra benefits.
- Gold tier
The Gold tier issued when a set cumulative amount is attained. The Gold tier offers a host of benefits such as bonus game credits, e-tickets, discounts and other exclusive offers.
- Platinum tier
The Timezone Platinum tier is the highest level and most exclusive reward level. This tier offers VVIP pricing on game play and a lot more freebies such as free games everyday, complimentary drinks and more.
References
[edit]- ^ a b "AMF is now Zone Bowling". Retrieved 24 January 2023.
- ^ a b c "Playtime changes to Timezone". Timezone Australia. 1 November 2018. Retrieved 24 January 2023.
- ^ a b "A New Chapter for family Fun in Adelaide". TEEG. 21 May 2022. Retrieved 24 January 2023.
- ^ About Us. Timezone Australia website. Retrieved 24 January 2023.
- ^ "The Entertainment and Education Group Acquires Ardent's Bowling and Entertainment Division". Quadrant Private Equity. 20 December 2017. Retrieved 24 January 2023.
- ^ "AMF Bowling is joining Xtreme Entertainment". www.amfbowling.co.nz. Archived from the original on 22 January 2019. Retrieved 22 January 2019.
- ^ "Group Timeline from TEEG". TEEG. Retrieved 24 January 2023.
- ^ "TunzaFun website about transformation to Timezone". Tunzafun Elizabeth. 26 December 2019. Archived from the original on 19 April 2021. Retrieved 22 May 2022.
- ^ "Play with Timezone Powercards - Timezone Card Price Philippines". Timezone Philippines. Retrieved 24 February 2023.