Brisbane Gets Australia’s First Video Game Bar

12:17PM January 11, 2010 | Nick Broughall

Like video games? Like drinking? Like pretending that blue cocktails restore vast amounts of MP? Then you should move to Brisbane to celebrate the opening of The Mana Bar next month, which is reportedly Australia’s first dedicated video games bar.

Located in Brisbane’s Fortitude Valley and opening sometime in February, The Mana Bar is the creation of four Brisbane locals: Guy ‘Yug’ Blomberg, Ben ‘Yahtzee’ Croshaw, Pras Moorthy, and Shay Leighton.

Entry to the bar will be completely free, as will playing the games. They’re also promising all the latest consoles and games, Guitar Hero tournaments and game release parties.

Sounds like the perfect location for a Brisbane-based Gizmodo reader meetup, wouldn’t you say?

[The Mana Bar]

Comments

Freddie

January 11, 2010 at 12:22 PM

Haha mana bar..perfect.
Please open a bar in Melb!!

Art Nau

January 11, 2010 at 12:42 PM

the only bar in town where you are not gone pick up :))))))))

but great idea to hang out with a boys, I guess

daf22

January 11, 2010 at 12:47 PM

I remember the Crown casino having something along these lines years ago.

But back then it was all arcade machines, not consoles.

Andrew

January 11, 2010 at 12:58 PM

Didn’t we have one of these in Crown Bar Code and it closed down?

Peter Maher

January 11, 2010 at 1:22 PM

yahtzee!
from zero punctuation! he’s so awesome.

stopthatcrazygoat

January 11, 2010 at 1:33 PM

Yeah, it was called Barcode. 24hour arcade that served alcohol. Good times…

Zac Benson

January 11, 2010 at 3:46 PM

Something new i guess… Im 18 shortly and not to far away so be sure to see me there checking it out soon. :)

Looks like they have put massive amount of effort into this and hopefully it will pay off!

matt

January 11, 2010 at 3:51 PM

lol, I can hear them now:

“hey guys should we try and make a show about gaming??

…

nah, lets just make a place where we can drink and play games and drink.
“

Corsair

January 11, 2010 at 4:26 PM

The only bar where nobody actually gets hurt over a bar fight …well not physically anyway.

Roger

January 11, 2010 at 4:36 PM

I really hope this is succesful and frequented by gamers. It’d be nice to have a place for adult gamers to socialise other than LAN parties and expos.

Carl

January 11, 2010 at 6:29 PM

This is the perfect place to pick up.
At least if a girl is in here she should be into games.
Rather than dating her, starting relationship then she springs it on you she thinks gaming is immature.

Cameron Edwards

January 11, 2010 at 10:29 PM

This is the best news I’ve heard in ages!

I’m a Brisbane Gizmodian and Adult gamer so if there is a Giz gathering I’d be sure be there. I’ll even bring along my girlfriend who never liked gaming until I brought home ‘House of the Living dead: Overkill’ even after New Mario. Who would have guessed?

Aside that if someone is keen to organize I read on their website that they offer bookings which one would assume means group discounts on the Mana Potions… Awesome.

Baggie Oz

January 12, 2010 at 8:52 AM

Awesome!

No i don’t have to suffer lag and can trash talk to peoples face!
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Scott Fitzgerald

January 12, 2010 at 12:30 PM

Giz should commission someone to write up the place when it opens. If only there was some tech(ish) media on the ground up there…

GRAZY

January 12, 2010 at 3:53 PM

it had better not be console only i want me some drunken pc action

Paul Cherry

January 13, 2010 at 12:30 AM

Would this be within the terms of the game licensing? Surely PS3/XBOX etc would have some sort of “personal not-commercial use” type DRM?

Steev

January 14, 2010 at 10:49 AM

How long before yahtzee gets sick of drunk people saying “go on do the bit, do the bit”

AJ Lazaro

March 4, 2010 at 3:56 PM

how long till someone complains that the music is too loud and they can’t hear people sneaking up on them…
>.>
<.<

Stacey

March 27, 2010 at 6:10 PM

Omg thats awesome…..Although I’d probably be the only female haha

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