CCC is just Euro-Defcon. It's fine if you prefer Europe over Vegas (understandable!) or winter to summer, but otherwise: it's the same thing.
I've considered going there once or twice but the hotels were ridiculously expensive. It was around €200-250 a night, for me that's way too much. And the travel on top of that (i don't drive and live in southern Europe so I make less than most Germans). And I'm too old for shared room hostels. Here in Spain I can get a 4* hotel for 70€ most of the time.
It's a bit similar to DefCon in that sense. Except that it's held in real cities and not a casino resort.
this is still cheap compared to Vegas. even in the middle of august, when the temperature routinely tops 40C, hotels are upwards of $300-400USD/night
From where did you get the idea that Germany is the most expensive country in Europe? My experience differs.
> It was around €200-250 a night
Get a hotel that is a little away and use public transport to get to the event venue. Using this, rather 100-150 € per night is realistic (if you find a good offer, even below 100 € is very possible).
Germany is _far_ from the most expensive country in Europe, FWIW.
> It was around €200-250 a night
That seems very high; you'd do better booking in advance. And the transport is decent and runs late; you don't need to be right near the venue.