NEW PARISIAN GAMEHOTEL EVENTS ANNOUNCED

Leading video game designers from Japan, the US, and Europe gather in Paris on September 15 and 22 for another creative summit.

Following last year's Californian edition, the successful international event series GAMEHOTEL returns to the City of Lights. Highlights of the two ambitious evening shows, which will be held in the historic Marais neighborhood, include the first European appearances of leading game developers from Japan and the US, a set of exclusive game previews, plus an unorthodox encounter between video game culture and French cuisine, resulting in an action-packed culinary mash-up.

For more than two years now, GAMEHOTEL has been offering these highly anticipated, stylish complements to traditional consumer fairs and industry insider gatherings. In its light-hearted shows this international event series with the pop cultural spin spotlights the most innovative game developers from Europe, the US, and Japan, and offers wide-ranging access to the cultural phenomenon that is interactive entertainment.

Focus on game designers
"Video games hold a unique position in our cultural landscape," says GAMEHOTEL producer Tina Cassani. "However, public discussion still ignores most of the exciting developments in this deeply contemporary form of expression. GAMEHOTEL closes this gap in the current debate and puts games where they belong: right on top of the cultural agenda of the 21st century."

"It's time to give game developers the attention they deserve", says Bruno Beusch, head of organizing for TNC Network. "Today, video games are in a situation comparable to that of movies in the first half of the 20th century. Game developers are currently shaping the future of interactive entertainment, and creating the first masterpieces of a new art form. Perhaps GAMEHOTEL is playing host to the future Chaplins and Hitchcocks of video games!"

Praise from the public and the media
The audience and the media described the previous GAMEHOTEL editions in glowing terms. French daily Libération: "A great evening on digital pop culture". Leading London-based game magazine Edge: "GAMEHOTEL offers moments of rare cultural insights. A valuable and enduring achievement; refreshing and exuberant". Californian Xbox Nation magazine: "Fun, relaxation, and intelligent discourse! A much-needed counter-balance to the industry's play-it-safe agenda". Yahoo: "The symbol of future events on video games". Online game magazine Gamespot: "Some of the most innovative people in games, GAMEHOTEL was a success." Influential French weekly Télérama: "The place where you discover tomorrow's games and digital heroes." Tokyo-based game magazine Famitsu: "Relaxing atmosphere, cheerfully designed!"

After its spectacular 2003 Paris debut, GAMEHOTEL has become part of the official program of the world's premiere video game developer convention, the Californian Game Developers Conference, and the prestigious Sydney Opera House plans to add GAMEHOTEL to its program.

Who Is Who in Game Design
Japanese luminary Tetsuaya Mizuguchi; Sims creator Will Wright; French and Swedish alternate reality gaming pioneers Tom Söderlund and Mathieu Castelli; SCEE's executive VP of development, Phil Harrison; British game developer legend Peter Molyneux; French visionary David Cage; and music-action game master Masaya Matsuura - the guest list of previous GAMEHOTEL events and spin offs reads like a who’s who of video games.

The detailed program of the two Paris GAMEHOTEL events on September 15 and 22 will be available at the end of August on the GAMEHOTEL website. Highlights of the two evening shows will include the first European appearances of leading game developers from Japan and the US, exclusive game previews, plus a new edition of the popular GAMEHOTEL Contest, evolving this time around an unprecedented encounter between video game culture and French cuisine. An action-packed culinary mash-up for the audience!

From Silicon Valley to Parisian Salons
After last year's San Jose event, GAMEHOTEL returns to the historical Marais neighborhood in central Paris. The two shows take place at former aristocratic town house Hotel Poussepin.

"Here, 21st century interactive pop culture meets the spirit of the legendary Parisian salons of the 17 and 18th centuries," remarks Tina Cassani. "Today, these progressive and cultivated women who invited philosophers, scientists and artists to promote new ideas and have fun, would certainly invite game designers!"

The GAMEHOTEL brand
In addition to these GAMEHOTEL international events, TNC Network also produces an ongoing series of GAMEHOTEL TV/radio programs on game culture, as well as GAMEHOTEL seminars and focus sessions on game-related skills and techniques in education and the workplace.

The release of a book on GAMEHOTEL is scheduled for 2006. This entertaining journey into the universe of video games will spotlight the positions, ideas and visions of leading video game developers and GAMEHOTEL guests.

TNC Network
GAMEHOTEL is produced by renowned event organizer and digital media consultancy TNC Network (www.tnc.net). The "specialist in electronic event design" (Libération, Paris) has earned an international reputation with the development of a refreshingly new style of trend-setting events on interactive entertainment, emerging communication technologies, and digital pop culture in Europe, the US, and Asia.

TNC Network was founded in 1995 by interactive entertainment experts, event and media producers, Tina Cassani and Bruno Beusch. The long-time advisers to prestigious technology festivals, mentors in digital media think tanks, and frequent speakers at conferences around the world, have consulted with clients in industry, media and interactive entertainment, research, education, and culture. The former curators at the world's premiere digital media festival Ars Electronica, have produced and directed over 50 productions for all major European broadcast networks.