Three of the brains behinds the MANA BAR, Brisbane’s forthcoming video game bar, GUY ‘YUG’ BLOMBERG, PRASANT ‘PRAS’ MOORTHY and BEN ‘YAHTZEE’ CROSHAW, talk to JODY ‘DEADMEAT’ MACGREGOR.

Imagine this: You walk down Brunswick Street of an evening heading towards The Judith Wright Centre and away from the baying hordes of the Valley Mall. You enter a cosy little bar and as you do, somebody pushes a controller into your hand, points you at a TV screen and invites you to join a game of Guitar Hero or Street Fighter IV or Wii Sports. It sounds like a (geeky) dream, but the team behind the Mana Bar plan to make it come true.

In the former premises of nondescript cocktail joint The Mango Bar, the four of them have been building this dream. Yug is the head dreamer and marketeer. “We used to throw parties where we’d have a DJ and we’d have a Wii hooked up to a projector,” he explains. “Everybody would have something in their hand and if it wasn’t a drink it would be a controller – I’d like to see a psychological study of why we do that. Anyway, by the end of the night the DJ would be playing to three people and everyone else would be gathered around Guitar Hero. That’s when the idea for the Mana Bar came to me.”

Pras is the senior designer for Sega Creative Assembly – you can thank him for Medieval II: Total War – and has a background in finance. You might think that would make him the sober, practical one, but actually the reverse is true. “We definitely have themed cocktails in mind,” he says excitedly. “Shay’s the cocktail guy” – that’s Shay Leighton, the missing member of the group – “he works at the Bowery which is basically the number one cocktail place in Brisbane.”

“Soon to be number two,” boasts Yug.

“I’m the one who throws wacky ideas at him and he has to make them work. Like the Red Ring Of Death; something clear with something red and circular floating in it.”

“Like a pomegranate,” suggests Yahtzee.

“I was thinking Tabasco. And we want to have mana potions, blue drinks that come sealed in glass.”

“We know a guy who has agreed to bounce for us, but only if – he insisted on this – he gets to dress as Ryu from Street Fighter while he does it.”

The final member of the team is Yahtzee, the critic responsible for Zero Punctuation, the Internet’s most acerbic and hilarious game reviews. He doesn’t disappoint and is as gleefully sarcastic in real life as you’d hope, rolling his eyes at me the moment I mention having a Nintendo Wii.

“The other guys will be bar staff,” Yahtzee says when asked about his role. “I’ll be the Master Of Ceremonies.” There is guarded laughter at this. “I'll be the host, the face of the place.” As well as being able to play video games, patrons will be able to join special events like Yahtzee’s gaming trivia nights, Guitar Hero tournaments and launch events where the game you’ve just tried out will be available for sale over the bar.

Entry to the Mana Bar will be free and so will playing the games. Five LCD screens will be mounted on the walls, each of them linked to three consoles – Wii, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 – safely situated behind the bar. Yes, that’s 15 consoles, all of which have been provided for free by the boys’ industry contacts who seem as eager as they do to see this work. A projector will also broadcast the action onto one of the walls, either mirroring whichever screen has the most spectacular stuff going on or playing video on a loop so that even if you prefer to prop up the bar you’ve got something to look at. Volume on the screens will be turned down – except for Guitar Hero of course – because, as Yug emphasises, the social, chatty aspect of gaming is what they want to support. “The kind of pick-up-and-play games where you just hand it over to the next person when you’re done,” he says.

There won’t be separated rooms and the only thing stopping players from hogging games will be the fact the staff will be able to see everyone from behind the bar and holler at them if they do. It all sounds very egalitarian and potentially impractical, but the guys are quick to point out the etiquette that has evolved around pool tables in bars and suggest something similar will emerge here. It’s nice to imagine there will be one place in Australia that treats people who play video games like responsible adults capable of making our own decisions.

Of course, there will also be security if your game of Super Smash Bros. Brawl gets out of hand. “We know a guy who has agreed to bounce for us,” says Pras, “but only if – he insisted on this – he gets to dress as Ryu from Street Fighter while he does it.”

“I hope we get people dressing up as the other characters to challenge him,” laughs Yug.

For more details on when the MANA BAR has its grand opening, stay tuned to Rave and check www.manabar.com.au. You can also follow them at www.twitter.com/themanabar.

Comments (4)

3. Written by Becky, on 20-01-2010 15:38 , IP: 220.253.66.202 aahh 2 hours by car and no license. I'll hitch there if I have to~

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