SONY PLAYSTATION

Paris Games Week

THE BRIEF

Communications agency Amplify commissioned Diagon to produce a 1500 square meter stand for Sony PlayStation at Paris Games Week.

The brief was to create an interactive environment for all of PlayStation’s latest games. The main focus of the stand was dedicated to Unchartered 3, PlayStation’s award winning action adventure platform game. The aim was to develop a convincing interactive environment that could withstand a footfall of 4000 visitors a day over 5 days.

Set in the Arabian Desert following a plane crash, the virtual gaming environment provided a clear narrative for the physical design of the exhibition stand.

THE CONCEPT

Working with set designer Bruce French, Diagon created a plane crash site incorporating real props from plane breakers yards including fighter plane ejector seats, parachutes and jumbo landing gear.

The event environment was integrated into an Arabian desert scene formed within carved and textured polystyrene sand dunes. A full-size replica Russian carrier plane tail was constructed from scenic painted aluminium plates and incorporated internal intelligent lighting systems which created short circuited electrical sparks, crackles and hums along with billowing smoke effects. The end result was a first for the industry. The game shipped 3.8 million copies worldwide on launch day.

THE BUILD

This build took place over 3 days with 20 specialist installation crew and loaded out successfully overnight with a 30-strong crew in 18 hours. 6 articulated lorries were driven to and from Paris for the delivery and removal of the scenery alone.

Our objective for Paris Games Week was to bring Unchartered 3 to life across various platforms. Diagon put together an excellent team to work on the project. It meant that design, strategy, build and installation were all managed in one seamless process.

Aaron Bilham, Scenic Producer, Amplify