Tohru Okada, composer of PlayStation’s iconic logo sound, has died

23 February, 2023

playstation-logo

Tohru Okada, the composer of PlayStation‘s iconic and instantly recognisable logo sound, has died.

Japanese outlet Excite have reported that Okada passed away from heart failure on the morning of February 14, with his management confirming the news yesterday (February 22). He was 73 years old.

Okada’s musical career began by founding influential Japanese rock band Moonriders with Keiichi Suzuki, before going on to create music for the gaming and advertising industries.

After composing music for a series of Crash Bandicoot adverts in the 1990s, his most famous turn came when creating PlayStation’s iconic logo sound, which has appeared in all its adverts for the last 25 years.

“We love you,” Moonriders wrote on Twitter in way of tribute to Okada, sharing a photo of him playing the accordion on stage.

See that, and discover the history of the PlayStation logo, alongside its ever-present sound, below.

Elsewhere at PlayStation, yesterday (February 22) saw the launch of the PlayStation VR2, priced at £529.99 ($549.99). The product includes the PS VR2 headset, the PS VR2 Sense controllers, and stereo headphones.

Unity previously said that the upcoming PS VR2 would take virtual reality gaming “to a whole new level” while “allowing players to immerse themselves into game worlds like never before”.

Today (February 23), PlayStation is set to air its latest State Of Play stream. The event will take place at 1pm PT / 6pm ET / 9pm GMT / 10pm CET and is being streamed on YouTube and Twitch.

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