EVENT REVIEW - GAMEHOTEL 'GAMING INTO LIFE'

For its first edition in German-speaking Europe, GAMEHOTEL, the acclaimed international event series on interactive entertainment, swapped the familiar Silicon Valley and Paris venues for the vibrant feel of one of the continent's most thriving club environments, located on the shores of beautiful Lake Zurich.

Packed with ideas, style, and a whole lot of fun, the exuberant GAMEHOTEL SHOW presented some of the hottest game creators from Japan, the US, and Europe, including Japanese super star Tetsuya Mizuguchi and legendary developer Peter Molyneux, who said: "Every event on video games should be as much fun as GAMEHOTEL!"

The entertaining show featured exclusive game previews, penetrating talks, a rare live act by Japanese music-game guru Masaya Matsuura, and a new edition of the much-anticipated GAMEHOTEL DEATHMATCH contest. It was held in conjunction with the high-profile GAMEHOTEL CONFERENCE where leading international speakers spotlighted the growing influence of video games in economy, society and culture. 

LEADING INNOVATORS
As another busy week in the dynamic economic capital came to an end, crowds of gaming enthusiasts from all walks of life convened at the sold out club venue in the trendy Zurich West area. Wildly determined not to miss their once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to experience some of the industry's leading creative minds presenting their games and sharing their thoughts on the future of interactive entertainment, some hard-boiled aficionados even spent the day squatting at the entrance, desperately hoping to get hold of a ticket - or maybe even sweet-talk (if not trick) the bouncers.

Following up on successful shows in Paris and in California, the event organizers of the first ever GAMEHOTEL edition in German-speaking Europe once again handpicked a roster of high-profile game designers, visionaries who count among the key voices in the constant quest for innovation and creativity in interactive entertainment.

"The success of this GAMEHOTEL edition effectively demonstrated that more and more people crave fresh game experiences that will unleash the full power of today's interactive entertainment," said Tina Cassani, GAMEHOTEL producer and co-founder.

NOT PLAYING BY THE RULES
GAMEHOTEL director, and host of the show, Bruno Beusch, kicked off the soirée with a vibrant appeal in favor of the long overdue recognition of video games as a profoundly contemporary form of expression with this statement: "GAMEHOTEL puts video games where they belong: right on top of the cultural, economic, and social agenda of the 21 century."

He then welcomed the show's first guest, Alex Rigopulos. The CEO of leading Boston-based music game developer Harmonix immediately rocked the house with an electrifying demo of the upcoming Guitar Hero 2. In the follow up title to multi-award winning cult game Guitar Hero, the player is put at center stage with his or her very own rock band. Alex demonstrated the game's cool cooperative mode with an audience member, who unfortunately missed the opportunity to become a rock legend as she turned out to be too nervous to align even one chord.

Commenting on the recent acquisition of Harmonix by MTV, Alex Rigopulos said that his company now had more freedom to take creative risks than before, and remained more determined than ever to create games that allow people "to connect at a deeper level with music." He also revealed the central influence that Japanese games, especially those by GAMEHOTEL guests like Keita Takahashi, Masaya Matsuura, or Tetsuya Mizuguchi, had had on his career as a game developer. "They changed my life because I realized that you don’t have to play by the rules, and make the same game over and over again, but that you can design whatever game you want to make."

EXPERIENCING DIGITAL DATA
He was joined on stage by one of the most respected personalities in the industry, Masaya Matsuura, who sported yet another fashionable haircut. The founder and president of Tokyo-based game studio NanaOn-Sha, and developer of such milestones as PaRappa the Rapper and Vib Ribbon, remarked: "It's my desire to make games simpler, and make them available to new audiences."

Showing that he remains dedicated to stretching the elastic boundaries of the games medium with highly original games, the master of eccentric excellence offered a world-premiere demo of his upcoming title Rhythmica. The addictively simple multi-platform game analyzes Mp3 audio files on a PC, mobile phone or handheld, and enables the player to experience his or her personal music collection in completely new ways by interacting with the title's characters. Matsuura-san concluded his appearance with one of his rare live music acts. The former band leader performed an elegantly powerful version of his tune Speed Fighter, which earned him thunderous applause from the audience.

CRUCIAL INSPIRATION
With the temperature inside the venue rising, the enthusiasm reached a peak as Tetsuya Mizuguchi, founder and Chief Creative Officer of Japanese developer Q Entertainment, and one of the game industry's super stars, appeared on stage. The "coolest game developer on earth" greeted the audience with a cheerful "Thank you Zurich!" He revealed that he first visited Zurich in 1994 to attend one of the early editions of the city's Street Parade, the first rave event he had ever witnessed. This experience was to become one of the central inspirations for the development of his ground-breaking musical shooter Rez.

Visibly happy to be back at GAMEHOTEL, Mizuguchi demoed the brand-new Live Arcade version of his mesmerizing puzzle game Lumines and gave a sneak preview of the upcoming Gunpey project being developed in honor of GameBoy inventor Gunpei Yokoi. As a final surprise, Mizuguchi-san, pointing out his interest in further broadening his range of activities, played back a brand new music video he produced called Heavenly Star by Genki Rockets.

NO SOFT TOYS
The appearance of the next super star triggered a new wave of enthusiasm in the audience. Legendary British developer Peter Molyneux, one of the most renowned game designers around, is famous as the inventor of the god game genre and has secured his place in computer game history with innovative and successful titles such as Populous, Black & White, and Fable.

Relaxed despite his heavy travel schedule and put in excellent mood by the show's stylish, yet stimulating ambiance, a cheerful Molyneux engaged in an intriguing conversation with the host, sharing his thoughts on the future of interactive entertainment. He also shared some personal stories. At one point, he recalled a brief chat he once had with Prince Charles who said to him: "My children do nothing but play games and it's all your fault." Molyneux, more charismatic than ever, joked: "I didn't understand him. I'm happy my own son is so totally obsessed with computer games! If he was not, I would not let him play with any soft toys!"

Talking about what is currently on his radar, Molyneux put forward his interest in strengthening the emotional power in his games. He also commented on the technical and graphical complexity of next-generation game titles, and said, "It currently takes 20 supercomputers 50 days to build one level of my upcoming game, Fable 2." He concluded his captivating appearance with a preview of the much-anticipated title, and delighted his fans when he confirmed that it will feature multiplayer elements.   

HEART RATE
To wrap up the soirée in style, the show's guests rejoined on stage for a new edition of the highly entertaining GAMEHOTEL DEATHMATCH series, dedicated to testing the game designers' creative power. Defending champion Tetsuya Mizuguchi teamed up with Peter Molyneux to compete against Masaya Matsuura and Alex Rigopulos. There was also a highly motivated crew from the audience that represented local ad agencies. Their mission: to design the ultimate Over 80-controller, an interface that would allow gamers to go on gaming even after the age of 80. Peter Molyneux approached the task with zen-like detachment, saying, "I'll almost certainly be dead when 80, I smoke, I drink. And if I'm still alive at the end of Fable 2, that will be real plus."

The contestants were given 3 minutes to come up with a project. Thanks to a live camera on stage the audience could witness the different strategies adopted by the teams while preparing their pitch. With their tongue-in-cheek vision of a controller that automatically stops the game when the player’s heart rate exceeds 90 beats per minute, the Mizuguchi / Molyneux dream team defeated their competitors with an extraordinary display of creativity, and Mizuguchi took home the trophy for the second time in a row.

POP-SAVVY
Extra live action happened courtesy of the GAMEHOTEL POP CULTURE QUIZ that ran throughout the show. This light-hearted contest tested both the audience's pop-savviness and their hand-eye coordination, as attendees not only had to correctly answer questions, but also had to toss their answer sheets into a small container. GAMEHOTEL producer Tina Cassani joined the host and guests on stage for the final draw and awarded the happy winner a well-deserved prize.

More happy faces were seen when Daniel Hess, head of Xbox Switzerland, the show's main partner and enabling platform, then handed over a superb limited edition GAMEHOTEL Xbox 360 console to the lucky winner of an additional audience competition.

As the three-hour extravaganza came to an end, guests and attendees mingled at the REZ::LUMINES party, held in honor of Tetsuya Mizuguchi's special relationship with the city of Zurich, and DJs and VJs took over the wheel until the wee hours of the morning.

See also: event preview and program