The newest shopping mall to open in the Orchard area is called Scape. It’s right beside Cineleisure. There’s also a Zone-X arcade inside Scape, and I have mixed feelings after visiting it.
First up, Zone-X Scape is having a special offer where if you top-up $20 for your Tapz card, you will receive an additional $20 of play value absolutely free.
To be eligible for the $20 for $20 offer, do note that:
- The offer expires 12 June.
- You must have less than $5 remaining in your Tapz card.
- You must be one of the first 100 customers of the day to top up $20. Customers #101 and above will only receive $5 of additional play value.
Needless to say, I couldn’t resist the ridiculous offer (you are essentially paying $20 to get $40 worth of credits — double the value).
Secondly, Zone-X Scape has several of the latest fighting games available for play: Street Fighter IV, BlazBlue: Continuum Shift, Arcana Heart 3, Tekken 6, King of Fighters 2002: Ultimate Match, and Melty Blood: Actress Again.
Yes, you read that right. Singapore’s very first Arcana Heart 3 machine is at Zone-X. Scape is also currently the second location in Singapore that you’ll find a Continuum Shift machine: the only other place to play CS is at Bugis Virtualand.
Thirdly, I’d like to highlight the brand of cabinets that Zone-X Scape is using for their fighting games: the Taito Vewlix. The Vewlix is one of the top-tier arcade cabinets in Japan: crisp monitors; superior audio; and more importantly, absolutely the highest quality joysticks and buttons.
I managed to try out one of the Vewlix machines (the MBAA one, in the above image), and it was far superior to the current setups used by TKA for their Virtualand and Star Factory fighting game machines. Very enjoyable… although not everyone will be able to get used to the Viewlix stick immediately. One of my friends complained that the stick felt very light, because he was too used to playing with the stiffer sticks at Virtualand.
Finally, the pricing for the fighting games:
- $1.00 per credit (non-VIP)
- $0.80 per credit (VIP)
Yes I know, why bother playing at Scape when you can continue playing at Virtualand for far cheaper (50 cents per token)? Also, the space at Zone-X Scape is quite small: not very conducive for arcade parties or gatherings.
Do note that the MBAA, AH3, Tekken 6, and KOF2002UM machines require two players to be seated side-by-side. The bench chair provided feels a bit too narrow to accommodate two human beings.
So, what is Foppy’s verdict?
Unless you absolutely cannot wait to try out Arcana Heart 3 (again, I’d like to emphasize that Scape is currently the ONLY place in Singapore with AH3), there’s little reason to visit Scape other than to get the $20 for $20 offer.
And that’s assuming that you have a Zone-X game in mind (either at Scape or other Zone-X outlets) that will allow you to burn your $40 worth of credits.
It’s a shame really, because the Vewlix cabinets are really, really great for fighting games. I know for one that the Arcana Heart community at round1.sg are planning on flocking to Scape to play AH3.
Me? I still have $40+ worth of credits on my Tapz card. I’m thinking of topping up another $20 before June 12… but first, I need to spend away all these damned credits.
Foppy is currently looking for MBAA/Bishi-Bashi playing partners.
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- Zone-X
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