Tohru Okada, Legendary Musician And Creator Of Iconic PlayStation Sound, Passes Away

Image via The Moonriders Official Twitter

 

For those of a certain age, the “PlayStation Sound” is as indelibly etched in our minds the same way that the Nintendo chime or the spoken SEGA logo is for others. That sound you heard everytime you watched a PlayStation ad starting in the 1990s into the present day was the work of one man—musician and composer Tohru Okada—who was mostly unknown to the general public, but to those that had the fortune to know him or know of his work, he was already a legend.

 

Okada passed away on February 14th from heart failure as reported on Excite Japan’s newsfeed, with members of his band The Moonriders later confirming the news on social media.

 

 

Before Okada was a staple in Japanese video games, he played keyboards and synths in the aforementioned band alongside another video game music legend in Keiichi Suzuki, himself the composer for the Mother series of RPGs from Nintendo before they went their separate ways in the industry.

 

Okada was 73 and will be missed dearly by a generation of video game music fans, and fans of music as a whole. As a sign of respect, The Moonriders concerts that were previously scheduled for late April in Japan have been postponed, with rememberances being held in their place.

 

Sources: Game Developer, Excite Japan