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According to the owners; “the Mana Bar will feature a stylish geek chic interior design with multiple LCD screens attached to the walls with playable next-gen console systems.”
The brainchild of Australiangamer.com lad Guy ‘Yug’ Blomberg, Senior Designer at Creative Assembly (Medieval Total War II) Prasant Moorthy, Nerd fan-boy target from Zero Punctuation fame Ben ‘Yahtzee’ Croshaw and international hospitability guru Shay Leighton, the Manabar is supposedly “...[the] first of its kind in Australia, as well as internationally”
The lads intend the bar to be the haunt of video-game fans as well as providing a venue for companies to run game launch events, trivia nights, multiplayer competitions and accommodate national and international speakers attracted to the bar to promote video game projects.
It is an interesting concept, but one wonders if the punters attracted to the bar on the basis of playing video games will fork over the requisite cash for drinks during a session. One imagines the pause button will be used often on hot days.
Will the usual hubbub of bar chatter be instead replaced with the electronic pings and thumps of video games, will the mana bar become a techno-geek place to hang out for those formally stereotyped as home bound loners?
We will find out in February, personally I know my gaming prowess increases in direct relation to the number of nearby empty glasses, at least I think so. Given the chance, I will relish winning drinks from all comers over games of Street Fighter IV.
It does sound like a step up from endlessly playing Big Game Hunter in your waterhole of choice.
