Mana Bar

For mana in video games, see Magic (gaming).
Mana Bar
Address 420 Brunswick St, Fortitude Valley
Location Brisbane, Australia
Coordinates Coordinates: 27°27′35.24″S 153°2′12.57″E / 27.4597889°S 153.0368250°E / -27.4597889; 153.0368250
Owner Cormac Moore
Type Bar
Capacity 50[1]
Opened 20 March 2010[2][3]
Closed 24 May 2015[4]

Mana Bar was the first Australian cocktail bar and video gaming lounge located in Brisbane, Australia within its biggest night-life and entertainment district, Fortitude Valley.[2][3][5][6][7] The bar held its opening event on 20 March 2010.[3] The bar allowed visitors to play current generation gaming consoles free of charge while enjoying video game themed drinks.[2][6][7][8]

The Mana Bar was founded as a collaboration between Guy "Yug" Blomberg, co-creator of Australian Gamer; Pras Moorthy, senior designer at The Creative Assembly; video game critic Ben "Yahtzee" Croshaw; and Shay Leighton, creative director of local cocktail bar The Bowery.[9][10] The current owner and general manager is Cormac Moore.[11]

The bar closed on 24 May 2015.[12]

History

The idea was first conceived by Australian Gamer co-creator Guy Blomberg, in December 2007 after a house party in which Guy himself noted the successful combination of alcohol and video games made for an excellent social environment.[13] Guy was later joined in this enterprise by Ben "Yahtzee" Croshaw, Prasant Moorthy and Shay Leighton.[14] After years of planning and several pushed back opening dates, the Mana Bar opened on 20 March 2010. It is also reported that there are only a handful of venues in the world that offer a similar experience.[14] Despite the 50 person capacity of the venue, the opening night saw over 100 line up, with the waiting time for some reported to be up to three hours long.[15]

The Mana Bar has received significant media coverage from prime video game and geek culture sites including Kotaku,[16] Destructoid,[3] Gizmodo[17] and Joystiq.[6]

On 9 August of the same year, it was confirmed that the success of Mana Bar in Brisbane has led to plans to expand to Sydney (no opening dates were mentioned) and Melbourne[18] due to be opened on 16 July 2011. It was also revealed that there were plans to expand internationally, with the owners looking at opening the bar in the United States and Europe.[19][20]

After a little over two years of operation, the Melbourne bar closed in September 2013, citing low patronage further impacted by restricted trading hours.[21]

On the 19th of May 2015, the owners announced via the bar's Facebook page that the venue would cease trading on Sunday the 24th of May. The owners thanked "everyone [who] made it the sweet ride it was."[22]

Video game industry relations

The Mana Bar had strong ties with the video game industry, and had been used by developers and publishers as a promotional venue where they were able to preview or launch their games. This included the launch of Blazblue,[23] the Halo: Reach multiplayer beta, Just Cause 2[23] and Raskulls[24] all being playable at the venue prior to the official launch of the games, the latter being a preview exclusive to the Mana Bar.

Politics

In March 2010, the Legislative Assembly of Queensland released a report into alcohol-related violence, suggesting a connection to violent video games. On 20 April 2010 the Mana Bar responded to the report, stating that there has not been a single violent incident within their present four weeks of operation, and encouraged the Queensland Government to include the Mana Bar in their future studies.[25][26]

References

  1. ↑ "Functions and Bookings Packages" (PDF). Retrieved 1 July 2010. The Mana Bar has a 50 person maximum capacity...
  2. 1 2 3 "Mana Bar opening event on Saturday, 20th of March". Market for Home Computing and Video Games. 3 March 2010. Retrieved 16 May 2010.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "The Mana Bar: Australia's first gaming destination". Destructoid. 23 March 2010. Retrieved 16 May 2010.
  4. ↑ Bochenski, Natalie (20 May 2015). "Game over for gaming hangout Mana Bar". Brisbane Times. Retrieved 24 May 2015.
  5. ↑ Turi, Tim (11 January 2010). "Australia Opening Their First Video Game Pub, Mana Bar". Game Informer. Retrieved 16 May 2010.
  6. 1 2 3 Gilbert, Ben (10 January 2010). "Yahtzee and others to open Australian video game bar". Joystiq. Retrieved 16 May 2010.
  7. 1 2 "Australia's First Dedicated Videogame Bar Opening February 2010". IGN. 11 January 2010. Retrieved 16 May 2010.
  8. ↑ Cheer, Dan (11 January 2010). "Australia's first video gaming bar opens". GamePlanet. Retrieved 16 May 2010.
  9. ↑ "Australia's First Video Game Bar". Mana Bar. Retrieved 21 May 2010.
  10. ↑ "The Mana Bar opens February 2010". tsumea. 14 January 2010. Retrieved 21 May 2010.
  11. ↑ "The gauntlet has been passed (Facebook post)". Mana Bar. 1 May 2014. Retrieved 16 August 2014.
  12. ↑ Serrels, Mark. "The Mana Bar Is Closing Its Doors". Retrieved 2015-10-06.
  13. ↑ "The Mana Bar". AustralianGamer.com. 16 February 2009. Retrieved 21 May 2010.
  14. 1 2 "Yug and some other guys are opening a bar in brisbane". AustralianGamer.com. Retrieved 21 May 2010.
  15. ↑ "The Mana Bar: cocktails and gaming a potent mix? « OXCGN – Xbox Gaming News Reviews Views". Oxcgn.com. Retrieved 21 May 2010.
  16. ↑ Wildgoose, David (12 January 2010). "Australia's First Video Game Bar Opening Next Month | Kotaku Australia". Kotaku.com.au. Retrieved 21 May 2010.
  17. ↑ Broughall, Nick (11 January 2010). "Brisbane Gets Australia's First Video Game Bar | Gizmodo Australia". Gizmodo.com.au. Retrieved 21 May 2010.
  18. ↑ http://www.gamearena.com.au/videos/latest.php/bigpond-gamearena-weekly-update-01st-july-2011
  19. ↑ "Gaming Bar To Conquer Sydney, Melbourne, The World". Kotaku.com. Retrieved 9 August 2010.
  20. ↑ Newman, Jared (6 December 2010). "Mana Bar May Come to Your City Some Day". GamerCrave. Retrieved 7 December 2010.
  21. ↑ Serrels, Mark (5 August 2013). "The Melbourne Mana Bar Is Closing 'For Good'". Kotaku. Retrieved 16 August 2014.
  22. ↑ "Mana Bar will be closing its doors effective this Sunday the 24th of May". 19 May 2015. Retrieved 24 May 2015.
  23. 1 2 Toastfarmer20 Mar 2010 (20 March 2010). "What's on at the Mana Bar – PALGN Video Game News – PAL Gaming Network". Palgn.com.au. Retrieved 21 May 2010.
  24. ↑ "Mana Bar opening featuring". Raskulls. Retrieved 21 May 2010.
  25. ↑ "Microsoft Word - 100317_Final with Chair's signautre.doc" (PDF). Retrieved 21 May 2010.
  26. ↑ "20 April 2010 – Mana Bar responds to Queensland Government Inquiry into Alcohol-Related Violence Report". Retrieved 8 May 2010.
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