BAFTA Interactive New Talent Award goes to SCEE's Female Producer of SingStar

London, 16th August 2004 - Last week at the Edinburgh International Games Festival, the producer of Sony Computer Entertainment Europe's (SCEE) SingStarTM, Paulina Bozek, was awarded the first ever BAFTA Interactive New Talent Award. Not only is this event notable as the first BAFTA Interactive New Talent Award, which is only awarded to those that have been working in the industry for five years or less, but it also recognises a woman's contribution to the games industry.

Paulina was awarded the Interactive BAFTA for her creative and innovative role in the production of SingStar, a title produced for PlayStation®2, which continues to see sales skyrocket to non-traditional audiences. "I'm happy they chose a game as original and different as SingStar," offered Bozek. "It's nice to recognise individuals who work on any game," she said of her recognition, "but it would never be possible without the collaborative efforts of the whole team."

Sony has witnessed the sales of their PlayStation 2 consoles increase since the title's release, many to first-time gamers, repeating the recent success of another London Studio developed product, EyeToy: PlayTM which itself won two Interactive BAFTA awards earlier this year.

SingStar, released by SCEE in May 2004, was developed by a team with a significant proportion of females, including programmer Charu Gupta. Gupta comments, "I think SingStar is such a success because we aimed to make a high quality product that was sociable, fun and inclusive. Having a varied team helped since we had more balanced, diverse approaches and opinions to investigate."

Paulina started her interactive career in Montreal in the PR and Communications offices of UbiSoft before she moved into development and began working at SCEE's London Studio in 2003.

About Sony Computer Entertainment Europe as at 9 May 04 Sony Computer Entertainment Europe, based in London, is responsible for the distribution, marketing and sales of PS one and PlayStation 2 hardware and software in 102 territories across Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Oceania. By the end of March 2004, over 39.5 million PlayStation and PS one units had been shipped across these PAL territories and over 99 million worldwide. Between its European debut on 24 November 2000 and the end of March 2004, over 24.5 million PlayStation 2 units have been shipped across the PAL territories, over 71 million world-wide, making it one of the most successful computer entertainment products in history. PlayStation and the PlayStation logo, PS one and PS2 are trademarks or registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. EXTRA INFO From: Sony Computer Entertainment Europe Re: SingStar Uploaded: 17/8/2004 PR contact details for Sony Computer Entertainment Europe More about SingStar RELATED ARTWORK 7/4/2004 PS2 Photos of the game-plus-microphones blister pack.31/3/2004 PS2 The packshot.16/2/2004 PS2 Two screenshots. RELATED TEXT 16/2/2004 PS2 Comes with two USB mics and "analyses the player's vocal skills". Yikes. EyeToy-compatible too. ©2004 Games Press Ltd. Terms and conditions Privacy policy Contact us

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