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Yahtzee and others to open Australian video game bar
Rather than make a four-to-six minute video decrying the lack of gaming-themed bars in his current country of residence, The Escapist's Ben "Yahtzee" Croshaw has partnered with three other gentlemen to open Mana Bar. According to the press release, the Brisbane-based bar will open in February and targets "a wider casual market, while still catering to the hardcore gamer crowd." There is no charge for entry or to play games (from "the latest video game systems"), and the presser details plans for tournaments and game release parties (among other things). The bar even has a Twitter and Facebook page up already with plenty of extra details and photos should you choose to follow along with the renovation process. Unfortunately, the only mention of refreshments is the "unique selection of drinks and custom cocktails" available, as well as the picture you see above. We are anxiously awaiting the presumably lengthy beer list.
GDC08: What if your mana bar was green?
At a morning GDC session, GoPets' Erik Bethke gave a standing-room-only-crowd some sage advice:People who use green for mana bars instead of blue for mana bars... that's just hubris.Of course what he means by this is that developers who defy basic gaming trends are setting themselves up for failure. To continue the mana bar metaphor, players have become accustomed to blue mana bars and green health bars from a long history of games. Mixing up this very basic element will only make a game less accessible. On the flip side of this, however, is innovation. If no one breaks the traditional molds, we may never see better games. But at the same time it's hard to argue with Bethke's example: why change a game element that players are accustomed to? It could make the difference between a game that's intuitive and quickly picked up by new players and a game that loses players before the tutorial's finished.%Gallery-16369%
