What Happens in Paris…

… of course doesn’t stay in Paris. As already mentioned, I went to Paris and spent a wonderful evening there. Here are some impressions.

The exhibition takes place in La Gaîté Lyrique. Apparently, a former theater that was now changed into an exhibition venue.

My Crib!

This being a former theater situated in central Paris, they of course have some very fancy interior design. I especially loved those chandeliers!

Sadly, they didn’t sell the chandeliers at the souvenir shop. Can you believe it?!

The exhibition itself is apparently part of a larger project going on there. It’s situated in right in the entrance hall on the first floor. It comes in some pretty sleek modern style.

The games exhibition a bit more down to earth – which means modern and futuristic!

TRAUMA is the only game there that is being controlled with a mouse. At first I was worried if people would able to play it this way. But apparently, it doesn’t cause too many difficulties. People would eagerly approach the stations.

Unlike the Notgames Fest, the exhibition follows an open structure where game stations don’t use headphones. This way, an open exchange between visitors is facilitated. People can discuss the games while playing. I have been told that it works very well, especially for the discussion-happy Parisian audience. Of course, the flip face is that immersive games don’t work quite as well. It seems like this is generally a dilemma of games exhibitions that hasn’t been resolved yet.

I swear, I took this photo in one rare moment when nobody was playing!

We had a wonderful evening, thanks to the Kokoromi Collective, One Life Remains and all the other wonderful people involved with the exhibition. There were games, discussions…

Talking games like a bowse!

… and there were drinks too! In this case they came from this striking cyborg lady. Apparently she was wearing a dress that would dispense shots if you played a round of Truth or Dare against her. All the hardware, including an iPhone was perfectly integrated into the dress. The styling was eerily reminiscent of eXistenZ.

I will assimilate you using my stylish looks, fancy gear and shot drinks. Resistance is futile!

And of course we had the opportunity to play Joust, the new Sony Move game by Copenhagen Game Collective, the creators of B.U.T.T.O.N. It’s a simple but amazingly effective game where each player tries to make the other player shake their Sony Move controller while keeping their own controller steady. Hilarity ensues.

When a man jousts a woman… ok that came out wrong

Finally, we retreated to the One Life Remains HQ for a huge Sushi + Red Wine feast!

As a final interesting detail, we tried to get around the astronomic prices the rail companies charge for short-term tickets. Katharina Tillmanns, my companion for this trip, came up with the idea of using an Internet Hitchhiking service. We came out at the fraction of what the rail ticket would cost. But we also discovered an underground bus operation going on between France and Germany. Apparently, there is an organization, that got themselves a small fleet of People Carriers and is using the Internet Hitchhiking service to sell cheap bus rides to various locations. Not that we minded too much. They performed exactly as advertised and the price is almost impossible to beat. It just felt almost like some kind of Human Trafficking, especially since there were a lot of immigrants involved.

One of the stations of the pan-european underground bus operation.

Nevertheless, we had a great time in Paris! We were very sad about having to leave so early. Next time, we shall stay for longer!

And remember, if you are in Paris you can still visit the exhibition. It’s open until the 13th November!