Timezone

Photos yay

It’s been a long time since I’ve been to Timezone but it’s still how I remembered it — sorta. There’s a lot of the old school fighting games, racing games, shooting games, games where you win tickets, games where you win prizes and of course, there’s a couple of the old school pinball machines.
Maybe it’s just my adult perspective on things now but $ 1.50 (minimum) on games seemed a bit steep when (on average) the games would only last about 5 – 7 minutes regardless how well you’re doing on the game. When I think back on how much my parents must have spent during my childhood it scares me a little bit.
Having said that though — it’s a fun (and safe) way to pass the time for the whole family and let’s be honest, the location of Northbridge — at night — isn’t exactly family friendly so understandably there’s not so much of a demand for places like Timezone, but rather a necessity.
If you happen to be out and about in Northbridge with group of non-​legal /​non-​clubbers, this is probably the only place you could go where everyone’s going to find something to amuse them for a little while.

Timezone — the institution for many a childhood, especially those born in the 1980s. It used to be that Timezone was THE place to go after school, where you could pretend to be driving high-​powered cars, play Time Crisis, or engage in an air hockey battle with a friend.
With the rise of various hand-​held gaming devices and more sophisticated game boxes [we have come a long way since the days of the Atari and NES], arcade games have lessened in popularity. The number of Timezones located in Perth have dwindled, but there are still Timezone branches stubbornly clinging onto life. The Timezone in Northbridge is one, and probably the largest of the Timezones still in existence.
There is a diverse range of games available in Timezone. Most of the games involve active participation from the player — be it from dancing on squares, to sitting in imitation vehicles and having to aim a gun at targets. The games are generally fun and are a good time-​waster, if you are waiting for friends or for a place to open.

It doesn’t matter what age you are, arcade games are always FUN! And putting arcade games in the middle of Northbridge is a jolly good idea. It’s fun to stop off in here in between dinner and a bar, or in between a bar and another bar. Who doesn’t love those motorbike racing games where you actually sit on a bike, or winning a stupid stuffed toy from those claw machines that eat your money (probably the most expensive game in here).
My favourite is the basketball shooter. I was on a basketball team when I was 11 or 12, and we were so bad we had to drop out of the league. But that has never stopped me from pretending I’m Michael Jordan sinking three-​pointer after three-​pointer while standing in front of a basketball arcade game.
They do things a little differently in here — instead of depositing coins into the machines (which means having to have a bunch of coins in your pocket), you are given a free Timezone card and you can top it up with as much or as little as you want, then swipe it on the game you want to play and away you go!