A little bit more information about the cats you'll be seeing at the Mana Bar and who they are.
Yug
Owner / Marketing / Community Manager / Events Co-ordinator
"The Optimist" - Yug is the one to blame for this whole video game bar thing, coming up with the idea and stubbornly running with it and dragging his mates along with him. A web graphic designer by trade, he also runs the popular gaming website AustralianGamer.com, and was mixing gaming and drinking parties in nightclubs long before Guitar Hero.
Yug is the one you'll be chatting directly with on facebook and twitter, but you'll also find him working behind the bar at the Mana Bar on most nights ... when he's able to be dragged away from Starcraft 2 beta
Pras
Owner / Finances / Risk Manager
"The Realist" - Pras is currently the Senior Designer at Sega Creative Assembly, but prior to that he was all white collar in Banking and Risk Management in London, New York, Zurich and Sydney. Which means he actually knows all this crazy 'business' stuff, and is responsible for making sure the Mana Bar actually stays open.
With an amazing grasp of numbers and mathematics and yet a self confessed 'man about town', Pras is the epitome of contradictions. When not at the Mana Bar, you'll probably find him grooving and playing bass guitar in his band - The Pornfunk Revival All-Stars (P.R.A.S.).
Yahtzee
Owner / MC
"The Pessimist" - In the gaming community, Yahtzee Croshaw needs no introduction. Insanely popular due to his weekly Zero Punctuation videos, Yahtzee has amassed a cult following of fans that he hates. Constantly active, he's also involved in the upcoming TV show GameDamage (along with Yug), and will soon be a published author with his first book Mogworld hitting shelves in August.
Yahtzee generally hates all video games except for Silent Hill 2 and anything developed by Valve, but that's kinda 'his thing'. You'll find him down at the Mana Bar hosting events such as the 'Gaming Trivia Nights' and judging the 'Guitar Hero Competitions'.
Shay
Owner / Bar Operator
"The Experienced" -
Shay is somewhat of a legend in the local hospitality industry, with over 15 years experience running venues and events in London, New York and Brisbane. He's currently the Creative Director of The Bowery, and has won numerous awards as a bartender and cocktail designer. He's pretty much responsible for anything you'll be drinking at the Mana Bar.
He (sadly) has a vast experience with the whole style of gaming that requires pencil and paper or plastic glue, and is terribly obsessed with a certain Withnail and a hard smoking occultist. Amazingly horrible with 'that whole button thingy' thankfully he's exceptionally good at 'that whole drinking thing'.
Gabriel
Security
Born 6000 years ago and imprisoned in a block of obsidian until 1983, Mana Bar doorman Gabriel used this time to develop a sense of humour. Since his release by a black mage he has spent his new mortal time keenly interested in sci-fi, video games, martial arts & humour.
He is vulnerable to light based magic and will reward you with EXP if you make him laugh.
Cormac
Bar staff
Cormac’s bar-blade has a Batman logo stencilled on it, which about sums him up in one worldly possession. He’s a mix of geek, barman and stencil artist, aged like he doesn’t act and served with a hippy garnish. Initially getting into bar work out of a desire to one day be a background character in some detective noir thriller. He believes in drinks with good company, fairies and Harvey Dent.
As a gamer, Cormac likes basically anything which balances good characterisation with killing bad guys. A right slut for RPGs and shooters, games like Fallout, Mass Effect and Dues Ex all took him home the night they met.
Incidentally, there are bars in all three of those games, but the fact that Cormac killed everyone in Moriarty’s Saloon, Chora’s Den and Club Vox is no cause for alarm. He’s as happy to jump on a games-are-art soapbox as he is to mash buttons and kill zombies. Games, like all good things are better enjoyed with friends and drinks.
Grant
Bar staff
Grant started working in a small cocktail bar on the outskirts of the valley. Mentored by what was one of the better bartenders of the time he was trained in the ability to pump out mass booze as quick as possible. He then worked his way through venues such as the The lord stanley serving pots of XXXX through to high paced venues like The Met and spending a large volume of time at venues like Chalk hotel in thier cocktail bar. After a tour of duty in Sydney he ended up home sweet home in Brisbane working for major alcohol brands and bar training at local venues passing on his knowledge to young up and comers.
So when he was asked whether he thought merging Gaming with bartending was a good idea he thought "thats not a good idea.. THAT A F@%KING INSANELY AWESOME IDEA COUNT ME IN!"
If you throw down the gauntlet Grant won't be able to say no if it involves COD MW2, Super Smash Bro's or Mario Kart.
Phoebe
Bar staff
A connoisseur of capes and crusading, Phoebe is easily wooed by men in batmasks and utility belts. She has survived approximately 42 zombie apocalypses and been responsible for the slaughter of 44,131 infected, with an assault rifle in her hand 90% of the time. Aside from saving humanity from hordes of the living dead, she enjoys long walks in the park, romantic dinners and the odd spot of phase-walking.
Misty
Bar staff
Misty grew up as a wee lass with a Nintendo controller in one hand and a Sega controller in the other. Not one to discriminate, she is a lover all things gamery and wears that love with pride through rad t-shirts and silly hats. Not one to fall into the 'Typical Sims Gamer Girl' stereotype, shes out to prove that girls can play and talk games with the best of them, although she does have a weakness for all things cute.
While not at the Mana Bar you can generally find Misty attending TF2 nights with mates, raiding into the night, squealing over the new Pokemon she caught, or over-using smilies.
