Mana Bar Melbourne Closes Its Doors

[Steven Bogos]

Mana Bar Melbourne Closes Its Doors

September will be the last chance for Melbournians to get a drink at the videogame-themed bar.

Ben "Yahtzee" Croshaw [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/98889-Yahtzees-Mana-Bar-Opens-March-20]. Unfortunately, it looks as if the Melbourne branch of the bar is closing its doors for good. "We're closing the Melbourne bar in September, for various reasons, which we're not ready to talk about yet." said Megan Betteridge, Mana Bar Melbourne's brand manager.

The first Mana Bar opened up in Brisbane in 2010, and its smashing success led to plans for Sydney, Melbourne and possibly even international locations. While the Sydney Mana Bar still hasn't materialized, the Melbourne Mana Bar opened its doors on 16 July 2011.

The Mana Bar premises on Brunswick St recently went up for lease, and with Betteridge's confirmation, it looks like September will be the last chance for Melbournians to grab a drink and play some Call of Duty. "There weren't enough people coming into the bar, we ran out of options," claims Betteridge.

She says there are no plans to open another bar in a different location in Melbourne, and the Mana Bar team is moving out of the city "for good". The original Brisbane branch will remain open.

Guy Blomberg, one of the three founders of The Mana Bar told Kotaku Australia [http://www.kotaku.com.au/2013/08/the-melbourne-mana-bar-is-closing-for-good/]: "I honestly don't have much to do with Mana Bar anymore, PAX Aus takes up all of my time these days."

Despite being from Melbourne myself, I never actually got a chance to check out the Mana Bar. How about you guys? Will you be sad to see it go?

Source: Kotaku Australia [http://www.kotaku.com.au/2013/08/the-melbourne-mana-bar-is-closing-for-good/]

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[hazabaza1]

That sucks. Was hoping to go to one of these if I ever went to Australia sometime ever (I doubt it though). At least the other one's still open.

 

[knight steel]

Awww that suck's
I wonder what happened to make it close down?
Was buisness really that bad?
Hopefully Yahtzee will do a video on it!

 

[WarCorrespondent]

I live in Melbourne and went to this bar.

I'm not surprised it went out of business. The bar was small, its not really an internet cafe where you can play infinite games with others, and its a bit weird going to a bar to play games. Also, the drinks were all very expensive, which is normal for bars in the city.

 

[Drummodino]

It's a shame, but having been there when on holiday in Melbourne recently I'm not surprised. I went there with my mate on a Thursday night and the place was empty. It was very small though, I think the Brisbane one is a lot bigger and more profitable.

 

[Abomination]

Seems like a bad idea, all things considered.

Games are becoming more and more something you do from home. Why pay money to play games and then pay for more expensive drinks THEN need to pay for parking/cab fare back home?

If you're into games so much that you'd want to mix it with your drinking you'll have a setup at home where you would invite others over to your place to drink and game.

Sunset industry if ever there was one, sorry.

 

[StormShaun]

Melbourne, huh?
Well I didn't go, but I do want to go visit ONE of the Mana Bars one of these days.

Just for the experience that is.
Other then that it seems pointless since I'm not into alcohol.

 

[Programmed_For_Damage]

Despite being from Melbourne myself, I never actually got a chance to check out the Mana Bar. How about you guys? Will you be sad to see it go?

Me too. It's one of those things I've been going to "get around to doing". Being a married father of three makes it a bit more difficult than in my youth to check out new bars. Plus I don't think my wife would be too thrilled me taking her there for a night out.

Brunswick St is chock full of hipsters so if it was going to survive anywhere it would be there, so I'm a little surprised that it bombed. That said there are a lot of really good bars in that area.

I guess I'll have to make a concerted effort to go have a drink there prior to it closing.

 

[Canadamus Prime]

Being from Canada and not being able to afford to travel I've never been able to partake in the Mana Bar experience. Still shame to see this branch go I suppose.

 

[Dreiko_v1legacy]

Eh, for a place named "mana" bar, I'd not expect call of duty to be the game of choice. I definitely dislike the image of the "videogame bar" and the "COD bar" being one and the same cause it perpetuates the image that that's all games are. If I went to a mana bar I'd expect RPs and blue drinks resembling potions and a bartender speaking in ye old english or something. Not a bunch of people playing shooters.

 

[Ghonzor]

At least the bar in Brisbane will remain open. I'd hate to see something so fairly unique disappear entirely. Sadly, I live in America: a fair ways away from any and all Mana Bars.

 

[Ferisar]

Eh, for a place named "mana" bar, I'd not expect call of duty to be the game of choice. I definitely dislike the image of the "videogame bar" and the "COD bar" being one and the same cause it perpetuates the image that that's all games are. If I went to a mana bar I'd expect RPs and blue drinks resembling potions and a bartender speaking in ye old english or something. Not a bunch of people playing shooters.

You sure that's not just a line in the article that was entirely throw-away and you over-thinking it?

OT:

Sounds like it wasn't a good location and had size problems. Hope the original remains in business, that's about as much as one could ask for I imagine.

 

[Owyn_Merrilin]

Sucks to hear this, but I had a feeling this would be its fate from the time I first heard about it, I'm honestly surprised it lasted this long. The world just isn't ready for videogame bars yet. Bars with arcades attached, maybe, but not bars with free videogames as the main draw.

Incidentally, some of the bars in college towns have what's called a "barcraft" night every now and then, where they put up Starcraft streams on the TV and bring college kids in the way other bars do for UFC fights and the Superbowl. I think I've heard of them doing LoL and Dota 2 streams, too. Thing is, it's not the focus of the bar, it's a side thing on what I'm sure is a regular sports bar 99% of the time.

 

[King Kazma]

This really is the issue with most 'theme' bars. If its new, its great. But in the end people have bored of it. You can drink and game at home. I'm sure something like this would go great over in Japan or South Korea. Super heavy populations in techy societies with lots and lots of gamers. It could probably survive there. The case here though is evident. Kinda a shame, but, the people have spoken.

Can't wait to see our resident Trilby enthusiasts next crazy adventure.

 

[Jaeger_CDN]

I went to the Melbourne one last year when I flew over to Aussie from Canada to watch some AFL games. Like others have mentioned, it was a very small place and I walked by it twice before I found it. It was around the size of an average sized coffee shop

 

[Skeleon]

Sounds like the initial success drove them to overreach, perhaps? I wish them success for their main establishment in Brisbane.

 

[Something Amyss]

I believe this is how society falls and the Mad Max era begins.

>.>

I've never really cared about Mana Bar beyond Yahtzee's involvement. I like the idea in theory, but I was never going to go in the first place.

 

[Inco]

snipped for length

They just posted on their facebook wall that they are attempting to relocate or continue. So hopefully that would come to pass.

I was there for comic con at the begining of july and to be honest, I found it was a really good place to just relax and socialise. I enjoyed the time that I spent there, randomly challenging people to whatever game they were playing at the time and just chatting away with them while we played. Never knew em, still dont. But it was a good experience.

I never looked to be aiming to be something big, as many people are expecting, but definetely a place to really just get out of the house for a bit to stay.

EDIT- They also want to do a "Save your mana" event from the 27th to the 31st of August to try and help this come to pass.