Game Zoo Arcade at Resorts World: Totally Fun for Everyone

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When I was a kid growing up in Manila, I would spend way too much time at Rino’s and Circus video arcades. After classes (or even during), me and my friends would troop to the classic Virra Mall or Robinson’s Galleria to test each other’s skills at Street Fighter, Tekken, Samurai Shodown, and Mortal Kombat. As multiplayer games like Starcraft, Counterstrike, Unreal, Red Alert, Warcraft started to gain enormous popularity, I started to spend all the time and money I had at network gaming cafes. (At the time girls hadn’t been invented yet. At least that’s my excuse.)

 

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Gamer girls: The greatest invention of the 20th century

  

Nowadays, gamers have a lot more ways to get their fix: there are mobile devices such as the PSP and DS, consoles like the PS3, XBox, and Wii, apps for phones and tablets.  One negative result of this however is that playing video games has become less social and that some kids can get extremely addicted to videogames. In China, there are even rehabilitation centers for videogame addicts. 

 

But with the opening of Game Zoo at the Newport Mall at Resorts World Manila, the video arcade is making a comeback in a huge way! And as many gamers grow older (not up, just older) and some become parents, they want a way to share their love of videogames with their kids. 

 

 

 

Game Zoo allows them to do just that. Opening last May 4, Game Zoo is another addition to the various world-class attractions at Resorts World. A video arcade which is a gamer’s paradise and one where the entire family can play!

 

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The Cast of “The Sound of Music” Show runs til the end of May!

 

 

The opening ceremonies started off with cast members from the hit broadway musical The Sound of Music (currently playing at Resorts World’s Newport Cinemas) doing song and dance numbers. Those kids are enormously talented and the show ends its 7-month run by the end of May. For show times and bookings go to the end of the article.

 

 

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Resorts World CEOs show that they’ve got game

 

A shoot-off between Resorts World president Kingson Sian and Executive Vice President Stephen Reilly followed, after which a dance demonstration by the lightfooted members of Pump It Up Philippines ensued.

 

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These costumes are pretty good

 

 

On to the main event of the afternoon: The unveiling of Game Zoo! After a ribbon cutting, the two-floor video arcade located on the 4th floor of Newport mall was opened for the first time to the public!  

 

 

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Black Widow, some Naruto character, Captain A

 

 

Once you’ve purchased your Game Zoo card at the counter, you can roam the area and try out the games! 

 

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Aubrey Miles plays video games!

 

 

Here’s just some of the main courses to feed your gaming appetite: Up to eight linked play arcade machines of Half Life 2, Street Fighter 4, Tekken 6, a 4-player version of Angry Birds and Plants VS Zombies, a realistic simulation of an aerial dogfight, a mini bowling alley, 32-inch Xbox displays, and even 6D and 4D stimulation theaters.!

 

 

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My cousin and I spent over four hours there and we still weren’t able to play everything.  The most popular ones were the beat ’em up games like Streetfighter and Tekken, dance games like Pump It Up, and of course, shooters like Time Crisis, Ghost Squad, House of the Dead…they even have a Rambo game! Talk about nostalgia!

 

 

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For those who’re more into speed, there are car, bike, and ATV racing games, flight simulators, and a wacky game where you have to wiggle a basketball-sized plastic sphere on a steel pole to get your character moving. For those into adventure games, there is the Half-Life 2 arcade game. This was the first game I tried…I just had to. The controls take some getting used to but it’s the real thing! Only problem is, it’s in Japanese, so you’ll just have to skip through instructions and figure things out as you go along. There are also XBox 360 consoles all over the place where you can play an assortment of one and two player games.

 

 

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Feast your eyes: Half Life 2 the Arcade Game!

 

 

There are loads of other games for young and old alike. The one that really drew a lot of attention were the 4 player arcade versions of Plants vs Zombies and Angry Birds. There is a air hockey table, which I feel they need more of, and two, count them, two 4D cinemas. They actually rated the other as ‘6D’ but I can’t figure out why adding bubbles, and wind count as two more dimensions. Another nostalgic touch were the presence of those claw/grapple games where you try to pull a prize out of a pile. After numerous attempts to get at a much-coveted ice cream bar I walked away empty-handed. I swear that game is rigged.

 

 

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Angry Birds 4-player arcade game. You know you want to.

 

 

So When In Manila, indulge the kid in you (as well as your kids/nieces/nephews/grandkids etc) and head over to the place to play: Game Zoo at Resorts World Manila!

 

 

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Game Zoo Arcade at Resorts World

 

4/F Newport Mall, Resorts World Manila
Newport Boulevard,
Newport City, Cybertourism Zone
Pasay 1309, Metro Manila
Philippines (Across NAIA Terminal 3) tel: (632) 836-6333

For more info on play time and loading up at Game Zoo, go here.

For tickets and showtimes to The Sound of Music, go here.

      www.rwmanila.com

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