This weekend saw the opening of The Mana Bar, Australia’s first and only video gaming bar. Given the popularity of some of its owners (Ben “Yahtzee” Croshaw of Zero Punctuation and Guy “Yug” Bloomberg of AustralianGamer.com) it wasn’t unexpected that when I turned up on Saturday night there was a massive line waiting to get in and when I say massive I mean a 2-3 hour wait to get in. The owners were very friendly and grateful of the dedication of those in queue and were constantly coming outside and chatting to people in the line as well as giving out free stuff such as pizza and games to those patient enough to wait for so long.
Once inside the first thing you notice is how very small the venue is, it does have a very high ceiling but it can be extremely difficult moving around at full capacity especially with some people bringing their backpacks with them. All of the staff were very friendly especially Gabe the bouncer dressed up as Ryu from Street Fighter. He was more than happy to entertain people who were lining up by posing for photos or just chatting with them and talking about what drinks were available inside. The bar staff also were more than just people to get drinks from and always enjoyed having a chat including a conversation about suggesting to host a bachelor party here which drew many nods.
Drink selection was quite poor with only 5 (now 6) gaming themed cocktails some beers and the usual spirits but something new for me was a Jack Daniels and coke slushy machine which proved to be very popular. For a personal recommendation I would say go with the Breath of Fire cocktail but be warned it does have a certain kick to it thanks to the ginger and tobasco sauce. There are no meals available in the bar but given the location there are plenty of nearby places to eat including a Sushi Train just across the road and many restaurants just a block away in the Brunswick street mall.
Obviously though the main thing everyone wants to know about is the games and how it worked. 5 games were available on opening night, Fifa 10 and Guitar Hero drew many challengers to face off against the owners. Street Fighter IV gained a lot of attention with many people enjoying the spectacle. Raskulls was new to everyone on the night being a unrealesed XBox Live title and proved to be quite popular and Wii sports was a favourite among everyone who just felt like chilling back with some friends and having a chat. Instructions and rules for each game were posted beside each screen allowing even the most inexperienced gamer to jump right in and I can’t recall a single case where someone refused to give up their controller to someone else.
The behaviour of everyone was flawless with not a single alcohol fueled incident occurring or any one person hogging a game console which lead to some of the staff commenting that this was the most. Everyone was more than happy to give up their spot for any who wanted a go. The only possible incident I can think of is towards the end of the night a few competitive players had taken over the Street fighter IV machine. By then though no one really cared and instead were enjoying the spectacle of some high quality matches accompanied by cheers from half a bar of onlookers.
Overall the general atmosphere of the bar was great and was light years ahead when compared to any LAN cafe. This is a place where you can take you’re non-gaming partner and not have to worry about exposing them to some of the more seedier sides of geekdom. I look forward to many more visits in the future including a stop off this Tuesday night after work for Gaming Trivia hosted by Yahtzee.
