GamingAngels visit the Mana Bar!

(Please note that this article is the culmination of both Naomi and Sharon’s works) On the 20th of March 2010, our Aussie GamingAngels braved the nightlife in Brisbane and waited 3+ hours for the chance to see the highly anticipated Australian first ever gaming bar – the Mana Bar! Here’s a rundown of the nights events: Standing in line for the Mana Bar launch party, we knew we were part of something special. There was a nervous excitement in the air. Cars were slowing down to look at 100-or-so people who were lined up on an inner-city Brisbane footpath on a Saturday afternoon being corralled by a man in a karate gi. We stood in line for close to three hours before our chance to sample the heavenly delights, but we certainly weren’t bored. Ryu from Street Fighter was the friendly bouncer, regularly shouting motivating sentiments as he paced up

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Australian Games Classification: Atkinson’s gone, but where are we now?

It came as a shock to Australian gamers, but what does Michael Atkinson’s resignation truly mean for both South Australian and national opinion on R18+ games?

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Australia’s “Mana Bar” set to open March 20th!

Exciting news has come in thanks to Guy “Yug” Blomberg that his new magnum opus will be officially launched on March 20th! If you aren’t familiar by now, the Mana Bar (Australia’s first Video Game bar) is co-owned by Yug, Yahtzee (of “Zero Punctuation” fame), Pras Moorthy and Shay Leighton, and is situated in Fortitude Valley, Brisbane, Queensland. They plan on hosting a variety of events including trivia nights and game launch parties, so it’s something to keep an eye out for. The gentlemen are hosting an opening party that boasts free entry (and more importantly free games!) for those who attend. And in addition to the awesome drinks and games on offer, the people behind “Raskulls” (an XBox Live game currently in development at Brisbane’s Halfbrick Studios) have given them exclusive codes to give away to patrons! If that wasn’t enough, there is also going to be hourly prizes,

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EB Games Searching for Australia’s Biggest Final Fantasy Fan

Are you Australia’s biggest Final Fantasy fan? Well, you don’t have a lot of time left to tell EB Games about it! If you enter a 30-second video to the contest by following the directions listed here (in short, make a video and use a code that comes with your Final Fantasy XIII pre-order to submit it), you’ve got a pretty good shot at winning a custom Final Fantasy XIII Yamaha Vmax motorbike. Finalists are narrowed down by EB Games and Ubisoft, then voted for by the public. You have a lot less time than I think you do, seeing as Australians live in the future and all. If you enter, link us to your video in the comments! We’d love to see you express your Final Fantasy love.

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Support growing for an R18+ rating in Australia

While you have no doubt seen or heard about the issue of the R18+ rating in Australia (if not, brush up here), there are many supporters both in an official and unofficial capacity. One of the “official” supporters is “Grow up Australia”. They teamed up with game store chain EB Games to gather as many survey submissions as they possibly could for the Attorneys-General to wade through. They did this by placing posters in 250+ EB Games stores nationwide to advertise you could fill out a survey there, and also by obtaining submissions via their own website. Aaron John Percival, one of the founders of Grow up Australia says, “support for the introduction of the R18+ rating has been overwhelming with ninety-nine percent of the submissions made through the website in favor of the change”.  Jake Edwards, the other founder of the group, adds that “with less than a week until the

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Australia’s Gamer Controversy: The R18+ Issue

(Please note, any opinions or theories expressed in this article are not representative of GamingAngels, and are the sole property of the authoress) You may have heard somewhere about a politician stirring up some controversy by sticking to his guns and upsetting all the gaming boys and girls by doing so. Never fear – Naomi is here, and she will try her best to explain her understanding of the issue! The Explanation In Australia, the highest classification rating we have in place for games is “MA15+” which means “Mature Audience 15 years old and over”. The current debate (that started in 2007) is about whether to allow our system to introduce a new rating category – that being the “R18+”. The “Restricted 18 years old and over” rating would mean that buying a game with this rating slapped on the front would require the person buying it to produce some

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BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger limited editions for Australia and New Zealand

More Blazblue news for Australian and New Zealand fans this week, with the announcement of the Limited Edition versions. For PS3 owners, you’ll be getting yourself an arcade stick controller (shown above), while XBox 360 owners will get 2 new faceplates for their controllers (shown below). Australians and New Zealanders can expect the “BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger” to launch on 25 March 2010.

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BLAZBLUE iPhone App announced

While Australians and New Zealanders have yet to get the “BlazBlue – Calamity Trigger” game for our Xbox 360′s or Playstation 3′s, but All Interactive Entertainment and N3V Games have let us know that there has been an app made available on iTunes for your iPhone! The app is called the “Blazblue Fan Pack” and gives you a look at the game by letting you access Blazblue artwork, characters, competitions, moves, reviews, video and more! And the app is FREE! If you’re quick, the app also has a way for you to win a copy of “BlazBlue – Calamity Trigger” for your console. The game is expected out in Australia and New Zealand on March 18th, 2010. Don’t know what the game is about? Well, it’s a 2D weapons based fighting game that has a myriad of characters to choose from – from some screenshots I’ve seen, it looks similar

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Australia’s first video game bar to open in February 2010!

You may remember me telling you about a TV show named “GameDamage” that was trying to get picked up. Well, two of the men from that show (Yug and Yahtzee) have also joined forces to bring us Aussies another excuse to drink and game at the same time – a brand new bar! The “Mana Bar” is owned by Guy ‘Yug’ Blomberg, Ben ‘Yahtzee’ Croshaw, Pras Moorthy and Shay Leighton. Geeks will flock to this place in droves with the multiple LCD screens and next-gen consoles available to play. They will be catering for those who are casual gamers, as well as those who are hardcore. To enter the venue is free, and you don’t have pay to play the games either. The bar can host up to 50 people and plans to hold many events such as game release parties, Guitar Hero tournaments, trivia nights, launch events, and more.

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Australia: AVP ban in “public interest”

Mature Australian gamers have a very difficult fandom. This is because Australia’s Attorney General thinks he knows how to best protect you and the “public interest”. Of course that means keeping mature games out of the country. Speaking to ABC News, he said: “This is a question of a small number of very zealous gamers trying to impose their will on society. And I think harm society. It’s the public interest versus the small vested interest.” That’s right your numbers are small and he must protect the public good you zealous adult gamers. The problem is that in Australia they don’t have an R rating and that limits what access adults have to various entertainment. “It doesn’t seem democratic that a single Attorney General should be able to dictate what the vast Australian population can interact with,” said Ron Curry, CEO of Australia’s Interactive Games and Entertainment Association. “The government

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