With only weeks before the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil kicks off, PlayStation is offering avid gamers the chance to get their hands on bespoke personalised PlayStation controllers with a FREE customisation service aimed at enhancing their World Cup gaming experience.

To celebrate being the Official Gaming Console of the 2014 FIFA World Cup, PlayStation is inviting customers to design their very own DUALSHOCK(R)4 and DUALSHOCK(R)3 controllers by having their favourite player names, numbers and teams emblazoned on them by a top team of world-class graffiti artists. Controllers will be customised for FREE when handed in at the PlayStation Customisation Stations which will be popping up at Westfield Stratford, the Bullring Shopping Centre in Birmingham and Piccadilly Gardens in Manchester, from Saturday 24th May - Sunday 8th June.  Customers will also have the opportunity to win personalised controllers at the pop up locations by taking part in various challenges and competitions on FIFA 14.

For more information on the PlayStation World Cup personalised controllers and the Customisation Stations, including announcements and other exclusive events head to: https://www.facebook.com/playstationaccess

What: Visit the PlayStation Customisation Stations for bespoke controller personalisation 
When/where: Saturday 24th May - Bullring Shopping Centre, Birmingham, B5 4BU
Saturday 31st May - Piccadilly Gardens, Manchester, M1 3BG
Saturday 7th & Sunday 8th June - Westfield Stratford City, London, E20 1EJ

President and CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment Andrew House and PlayStation 4 Lead System Architect Mark Cerny discuss 20 years of PlayStation on 9 July
12 May: Andrew House, President and Group CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. (SCEI), and Mark Cerny, Lead System Architect for the PlayStation 4 computer entertainment system, have been confirmed as the keynote for the Develop in Brighton conference which takes place at the city’s Hilton Metropole from 8-10 July 2014.

House and Cerny’s in conversation keynote, 20 Years of PlayStation, 40 Years of Console Games, and 100 Years to Come, will see these two industry heavyweights look over the history of PlayStation and how it propelled console gaming into the mainstream.

The pair will explore what the company has learnt along this journey, how these principles were applied to PlayStation 4 and what the future holds, both in terms of the opportunities PlayStation 4 presents and the long term direction of the industry.

Andrew House has been President and Group Chief Executive Officer of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. (SCEI) since September 2011.  Working closely with Sony Corporation’s senior management, as well as business units and regional management teams, he is responsible for the development and growth of the PlayStation business globally.

House joined the Sony family in 1990 and in those 24 years has held a number of positions including Executive Vice President, Sony Computer Entertainment America and, Chief Executive Officer and Co-Chief Operating Officer of Sony Computer Entertainment Europe and Chief Marketing Officer, Sony Corporation.  He has been part of the PlayStation team virtually since its inception.

Since joining Atari Games in 1982, Mark Cerny has had a long and storied career. He has worked variously as a producer, programmer, and game designer, in the US and Japan, in arcade games and console games. He is best known for his collaborations with Naughty Dog (on Crash Bandicoot, Jak and Daxter, and Uncharted) and Insomniac Games (on Spyro the Dragon, Ratchet & Clank, and Resistance).

Most recently Cerny served as Lead System Architect of the PlayStation 4 system, guiding the development of the hardware and system software over the course of its six years of development.

“It is hard to believe it has been 20 years since the arrival of the first PlayStation,” commented President and Group CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc., Andrew House. “Mark Cerny and I will look back over this fantastic period in which console gaming became mainstream, how our experiences shaped PlayStation 4 and where the industry will go from here.”

“We learnt a lot of lessons over the past 20 years which shaped the decisions taken in designing PlayStation 4,” said Mark Cerny, Lead System Architect on PlayStation 4 and President of Cerny Games. “The Develop in Brighton conference is a wonderful opportunity for us to share some of these experiences with the industry and discuss what the future might hold.”

“Following the rave reviews and accolades PlayStation 4 has received we are honoured to have Andrew House and Mark Cerny deliver the Develop in Brighton this July,” said Andy Lane, managing director of Tandem Events.

Registration is open at www.developconference.com with passes starting from as little as £75. Entry to the Expo is free.

“PlayStation” is a registered trademark of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc.