Yahtzee's Mana Bar Opens March 20

Tom Goldman

Crying on the inside.
Aug 17, 2009
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Yahtzee's Mana Bar Opens March 20



One of the coolest drinking establishments ever conceived will finally be opening in a couple of weeks.

Australian videogame and alcohol fans, mark your calendars, the Mana Bar will officially be opening on March 20, 2010. The Mana Bar, explained by Yahtzee here [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/97387-Yahtzee-and-Pals-to-Open-Videogame-Bar], aims to meld a classy bar with a partial videogame theme, but while remaining a place where both non-gamers and gamers can enjoy a night out on the town.

Located in Brisbane, Australia, the Mana Bar was partially conceptualized by Ben "Yahtzee" Croshaw, known here on The Escapist for Zero Punctuation [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/zero-punctuation]. Patrons will be able to order up a vodka tonic and then sit down to play a nice game of Guitar Hero. Other titles will be on hand too, such as Wii Sports and Street Fighter IV. It appears as if the establishment has a strict "no cover charge" policy, and playing the games will also be completely free.

The future also holds many special events for the Mana Bar, including the hosting of demos for videogames not yet released. For the first launch weekend, Xbox Live Arcade title Raskulls [http://www.raskulls.com/] will be on display, currently in development by Brisbane-based Halfbrick Studios. With the addition of hourly giveaways, special guests, live entertainment, and more, I know if I lived in Australia that Yahtzee would have to kick me out every night. There's also something on the launch flyer that says you can "meet the Little Sister," which I'm intrigued about.

For more information, visit forums [http://www.manabar.com.au/]. Let's hope it becomes so big that Mana Bars will spread across the Earth. For now, non-Australians like myself will simply have a fun place to go when we visit the land down under.

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DazZ.

Elite Member
Jun 4, 2009
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I'm interested in the bar to internet cafe ratio on this, what's the policy on drunk gaming?
Pretty sure I read somewhere awhile ago but forgot.

I really like this idea, if a lot of people were in there I might be able to convince my non gaming friends to come in and try something.

Edit: After a little look about the forums it seems to be well prepared for drunks with the screens in cases and whatnot, I'm getting more and more jealous reading over there though so I think I'll leave.
 

IamQ

New member
Mar 29, 2009
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I can't go there since I'm under-age ,and also I don't live in Australia, but I wish them the best of luck anyway!
 
Apr 28, 2008
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I'm predicting many stools, chairs, and faces will be broken over drunk Street Fighter 4 games.

Hope they employed some good bouncers!
 

Fearzone

Boyz! Boyz! Boyz!
Dec 3, 2008
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Hope it goes well. Video games used to be pretty social back in the days of arcades, which kind of ended when consoles took over. I don't know about videogames and a drinking establishment though--as fun as it is to get drunk and play videogames, it clearly impairs performance in nearly every game out there, so you might not want to do it in a public place. Plus a lot of people willing to play games in public are probably under the drinking age at least in the U.S. But who knows it might really catch on and be just the thing.
 

Snotnarok

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Nov 17, 2008
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Video Games and drunk people...well I hope that works out. I just predict wii remotes sticking out of every surface like a house under fire by automatic weapons.
 

Bromeliad

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Apr 10, 2008
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It really is an interesting concept from a creative guy. I just hope it's popular enough to stay open.
 

randommaster

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Sep 10, 2008
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It's cool to see more of Yahtzee's projects bear fruit.

This makes me really excited about his games.
 

maddawg IAJI

I prefer the term "Zomguard"
Feb 12, 2009
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That's actually a great idea and if I was of legal drinking age in Australia, I would definitly go.
 

HardRockSamurai

New member
May 28, 2008
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Tom Goldman said:
There's also something on the launch flyer that says you can "Meet the Little Sister," which I'm intrigued about.
Yeah, that definitely peaks my curiosity, and not in a good way.
[small]Is it euphemism? An actual little sister? A swimsuit model dressed as a little sist.....(why does my brain keep doing this?)

...The fact that Yatzee owns this bar doesn't help either...[/small]
 

WhiteTigerShiro

New member
Sep 26, 2008
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Note: If I ever find myself in Australia, add this to the list of sites to see.

I really hope the bar takes-off. It'd be awesome to hear about Mana Bar coming to US shores. :D
 

Lim3

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Feb 15, 2010
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Can i be bothered making the trip? If i had other nerdy escapist friends we could do a road trip, sadly they are not nerdy escapist members.
 

Onyx Oblivion

Borderlands Addict. Again.
Sep 9, 2008
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I'll stop by if I'm in the town. But if I make a trip to Australia that doesn't ALREADY include the town, I'm not going out of my way to visit.