This conference was given at Transmediale in 2003 about Playtime, the gaming room of Villette Numerique, it explains why I confrontated video and computer games from the past from the present and created by artists.

1. PARC DE LA VILLETTE
From slaughterhouses to premier urban cultural park
A laboratory of cultural democratization
GRANDE HALLE
A Polyvalent Space
The great axes of it's programming schedule
VILLETTE NUMERIQUE
Historical context
Objective
Difficulties in project construction

2. For details check www.villette-numerique.com
… A MULTIDISCIPLINARY FESTIVAL
Villette Numérique aimed to gather projects at the frontiers of dance, theatre, music,
contemporary art, video games and cinema.
… the international ELECTRONIC MUSIC SCENE
… CONCERTS
3 exceptional concerts from the group Kraftwerk, GRM (Musical Researches group) with
Christian Fennesz and Arnaud Rebotini, Ryoji Ikeda in a music/image creation and,
playing in trio with Carsten Nicolaï / Mikka Vaino.
… " NUITS ELECTRO "
2 Electro Nights with 34 International DJS playing live or in set on 4 stages
simultaneously: Jacques Lu Cont, Derrick Carter, LFO, François K., SLAM, Ellen Allien
etc.
… PLAY AREA :
An open air and free event that reunited young artists of the French electronic music
scene.

4. … TWO EXHIBITIONS offered an opportunity to pursue the voyage between arts and
technology:
…THE DIGIT@RT exhibition (Cité des Sciences) presented the most recent digital arts
trends to the extent that these have an influence on art teaching, creativity and research.
… more than 60 works, installations :Du ZhenJun, Samuel Bianchini, Andrea Davidson,
Priam Givord and Martin Lenclos, Grégory Chatonsky, Jean-Pierre Balpe…
… PLAY TIME - the gaming room explored the frontiers between art and entertainment
with a retrospective of video games created over the last 30 years.works from N.
Bookchin, E. Zimmermann, Virtualists, Space Invaders, GNN Networks, Heavy, Miltos
Manetas, JODI, Saasfee...
… Installations/performances (Grande Halle) : Sonic Interface Akitsugu Maebayashi,
360° Granular Synthesis, Chronopolis Chris Slater and Erik Adigard, Outdoorsound
Installation Tommi Grönlund/Petteri Nisunnen, Full Play Paolo Atzori/Bud
Blumenthal/Anthony Moore, Go Stéphane Sautour

5. … CINEMA AND LIVE ARTS in an electronic world
… invitation of international digital film festivals : Resfest Festival/New York, OneDotZero/
London, The Film Festival/Rotterdam, as well as the SIGGRAPH / San Antonio,
Imagin@.02 / Monaco and French festivals e-magiciens / Valenciennes ...
… The Live Shows : "Calderón" from Pasolini by Jean Marc Musial; Bleu by Yann
Marussich, DAVE Klaus Obermaïer and Chris Haring. "Comme cela vous chante" ("As
you feel it") an interactive opera devised by the Digital Image and Virtual Reality team of
Paris VIII university.
… WORKSHOPS AND LECTURES bringing together artists, researchers, and teachers
to explore and debate the aesthetic, philosophical, technical or political issues of the
electronic arts.
… VILLETTE EMERGENCES was the rendez-vous for new cultural places and all the
people involved in the electronic arts of the Paris region.
… www.villette-numerique.com designed by Panoplie Prod presents a virtual gallery on
the theme of "Sound Games" and Society a multi- player flash game with 4 universes designed by
Panoplie Prod

6. PLAYTIME: THE GAMES ROOM
The creation of the project in context
References
<lets entertain, WAC
<psychoanalyst Michael Stora
… Playtime is fun time. A time for players to take revenge on the image and by
immersion in the image permitting the game; we can dominate it just as it dominated us
earlier. The tyranny of images in the world has forced ideals on us which do not correspond to our
reality. Playing is a symbolic manner for humans to get the word back…
<gamestudies.org, gamasutra.com, Eric Zimmermann
… What is the future of serious fun?

7. What brought me to the conception of the games room
… bringing dance-music and digital art together
… new media as means 4 cultural democracy
… mixing of disciplines
… enable the public to experience - through play - the technological evolution
through the last thirty years, through changes in both graphics and sound
… changing games status
… confrontation between high tech and low tech aesthetics

8. 70 video games :
Retrospective of the first video games for computers, such as Pong and Space Invaders,
the first consoles and the first computers, all in working order :
Computers : Apple1 (1977), Micral N(1973), Goupil G2 (1982): jeu en basic, Sinclair ZX
Spectrum (1982): jeu Jet Set Willy, Commodore 3032 (1979) : Space Invaders en basic,
Commodore C64 (1982) : jeu Pacman, Thomson MO5 (1984) : jeu La Mine aux
Diamants, Amstrad CPC6128 (1985) : jeu Arkanoïde, Atari 520 STF (1985) : jeu Vroom,
Amiga500 ( 1985) : jeu Pacmania, Oric Atmos (1984) : jeu Xenon 1.
Consoles : Pong (1976) : jeu tennis, foot, squash..., Atari VCS 2600 (1977) : jeu
Pacman, Videopac (1979) : jeu Duel, Nes (1985) : jeu Mario, Megadrive (1988) : jeu
Sonic, SNES (1991) : jeu Supermario, Jaguar (1993) : jeu Rayman, Saturn (1995) : jeu
Radiant Silver Gun, N64 (1996) : jeu Mario 64.
On loan from Philippe Dubois, http:// www.mo5.com, CSI Halle aux Cuirs, Silicium, http://
www.silicium.org

9. Video games of the third millennium :
Exhibition of video games on console, PC and network, presenting the latest advances in
cinematics, graphics and gameplay, plus the new possibilities offered by the Internet.
Free play games: GTAIII/Take Two Interactive, State of Emergency/Take Two Interactive, Metal
Gear Solid2/On loan from AKIBA, Dance Dance Revolution/On loan from AKIBA, Anarchy
online/Focus http://www.focus-home.com, Dark Age of Camelot/GOA, Counterstrike /On loan
from Sierra.
Installation, network performance and digital video :
Article 30 Virtual Reality installation by Les Virtualistes about war against war on terrorism.
Miltos Manetas & the neenstars,Andreas Angelidakis, Angelo Plessas & Rafael Rosendtal: network
performance organised with the Electronicorphanage in Los Angeles, mix/live of animations
produced by the neenstars (midnight-4am)
Plug & Play A video loop taken from a music and video performance by Invader (FR) and the British
DJ Andrew Sharpley.

10. Artists' Web sites:
http://www.sissyfight.com
http://www.arosa2000.com/home/honey
http://www.calarts.edu/~bookchin/intruder/fast/html/a_title.html
http://www.praystation.com
http://www.eboy.de
http://untitled-game.org
http://www.heavy.com
http://www.hoogerbrugge.com
http://www.flyingpuppet.com
http://www.lecielestbleu.com/html/main_lceb.htm
http://www.guerrillanews.com/white_america/
Games on CD-ROM:
Neoangin: game in 70 design by Jim Avignon
Borderland: Game by Laurent Hart & Julien Alma, created from videos filmed in Paris and the inner
suburbs.

12. The scenery and free entrance
The reasoning behind the choice of artists
Final results

14. Conclusion on curating new media in a games room
< a games room is a good means to help discover new media to an uninitiated public
< where subversive ideas could be introduced within the institution
< an unusual and mixed representation of the usual exhibition going public
< a good mixing of publics
< the games room experience is only the first step for introduction of different public and
artistic disciplines and such experiences has to be increased
< still keeping a pedagogic function based on pleasure.
… learning is not truly effective without hedonistic experiences … Freud