IGDA Melbourne

Hey there Melbourne developers!

Are you making an awesome game? Are you almost finished? Would you love to launch your game at a prominent Melbourne venue?

If this describes you, then get in touch with the Melbourne Mana Bar in Fitzroy! It can host an event to launch your game direct to gamers and have your game played on the big screen!

Go to http://melbourne.manabar.com.au/ for more details on how to get in touch.

WOW! (no, not that WOW)

The WinnitronAU will be taking up residence in time for the opening of The Mana Bar on Saturday 16 July, but the world premier will be by the dev’s, for the dev’s at IGDAM Open Mic night tomorrow night!

This is so exciting, as we’ve all been involved in the project at various levels, although the bulk of the accolades for getting Australia’s first Winnitron up and running go to James Rhodes and Redpoint Software (http://blog NULL.redpointsoftware NULL.com NULL.au/2011/07/winnitron-au-unveiling-and-launch/).

It’s going to be a big one tomorrow night!

Thanks also to Yug and crew at The Mana Bar (http://melbourne NULL.manabar NULL.com NULL.au/) for letting us have the world premier (fancy!) and we look forward to playing it with Mana Potions in hand

Wednesday, 29th June 2011 – Videogame cocktail bar, the Mana Bar, will open its second venue in Melbourne, Australia on Saturday, 16th of July 2011!

The Mana Bar is the first of its type in the world, combining quality cocktails with current generation console video games. A venue that is accessible to the general public, while still being credible to the hard-core gamers, it transcends the usual geek stereotype and allows people to socialise in a new and unique way. The first venue in Brisbane opened up in March 2010, with the success leading to a planned expansion nationally and internationally.

The Mana Bar Melbourne is located in the suburb of Fitzroy, a popular inner city entertainment district. It will feature 7 LCD TV’s in multiple rooms running the latest games on the PlayStation®3 (PS3™), Xbox 360™, and Nintendo Wii™ systems. Open 7 days a week, the bar will host events every night and features a unique cocktail menu, gaming themed display cabinets, and a dedicated Turtle Beach zone where patrons can experience the latest and greatest in gaming and specifically engineered for gaming headsets.

“I can’t wait for Melbourne to experience the Mana Bar” says Mana Bar creator Guy ‘Yug’ Blomberg. “It’s been a long time coming, and to finally be able to open to the public is exceptionally exciting!.”

The launch weekend will feature hourly prizes, giveaways, live entertainment and special guests. It will also be the first place in Australia where the public will be able to get hands on with a special unreleased title, to be announced soon.

For more information visit http://Melbourne.ManaBar.com.au (http://manabar NULL.cmail1 NULL.com/t/r/l/jkhkuht/birktkie/r/) or http://www.facebook.com/ManaBarMelbourne (http://manabar NULL.cmail1 NULL.com/t/r/l/jkhkuht/birktkie/y/)

Be there.

That is all

The plans for the party are underway – and numbers are filling fast.

We’ve got the location – Big Ant Studios right in the middle of town – thanks! *waves* – and this also means we’ve got the list at the door, and if you’ve not on it with invite in hand then you miss out. And that would make us sad. So please make sure you register

We’ve got the food – HUUUUUGE shoutout to AUTODESK for sponsoring the tucker and who also have some super-amazing deals for ‘lil ‘ole IGDA Melbourne folk – so get in touch with Paul Hellyer if you’re looking to upgrade by Jan 18

We’ve got hmmm, a few drinks I guess – so if you feel like sponsoring the bar of what is sure to be a memorable party, please , contact giselle@igdamelbourne.org – I’d love to hear from you and make it that a top arvo is had by all.

Have no fear, it’ll all happen – but any and all support is welcome.

If you work for any of the tagged companies which we do our best to support we’d love your involvement – and it seems from the rsvp’s we’ll see some of most of you there.

Bring on the rooftop!!

The trivia night went off with a bang on Tuesday the 4th of May (yes, there were some Star Wars related questions).

The game was host to over 100 players and it was roughly an hour and a half before the dust settled. The top ranking team was “The Fucking Volcano in Iceland”, those ever-tasteful fellows took away the grand prize of a PlayStation 3, generously donated by Big Ant Studios. The winners were followed closely by The Lavish Badgers (winners of a Wacom tablet, donated by Wacom) and then, coming in at third, was Colonel Mustard’s Lonely <3′s Club Band (winers of a copy of Expose 6 and also a membership to CG Society, all thanks to our friends at Ballistic Media).  A $100 drink card for the Mana Bar up in sunny Queensland was given to the team that finished last, who will remain anonymous (for obvious reasons). There were also three lucky winners, of the Heads and Tails games ran through the night, that received some fantastic GDC T-Shirts (thanks to Jenn Sandercock). The night was a huge success and a lot of fun was had by all, both in attendance and those participating.

Thanks to everyone who could make it, and a very special thanks to our wonderful sponsors, Big Ant Studios, Wacom, Ballistic Media, Jennifer Sandercock, The Mana Bar, and of course the BLVD Bar for being wonderful and giving the trivia night a home.

Stay tuned for news on next month’s event.

Thanks to the following folk for these most excellent trivia night prizes

Big Ant Studios
A PS3!!!!

Wacom
A Wacom

The Mana Bar
$100 drink card ripe and ready for GCAP or before

Ballistic Media
A book (?) – We’ll let you know when we know more on that one, and it comes with a year’s membership to the CGSociety

BLVD Bar
Drinks – details yet to be negotiated.. you’ll know when we do!

Jenn S
3 GDC Tee’s