PSone’s iconic startup sound is arguably one of the most recognisable audio sequences in all of games, but did you know it was designed specifically to detect issues with the console’s CD drive? “The function of this sound is to tell the user that the hardware is running like it is supposed to, and that the disc has successfully been read,” composer Takafumi Fujisawa told Game Informer. “To add, the swooshing reverse sound [in the PSone sequence] is designed so that it can go into loop if the disc couldn’t be read, and we can understand if something went wrong.”

Fujisawa explained that the sound was created in two days: “I kept thinking from the start that I wanted the sound image to be something exciting, like that feeling when you walk into a cinema. I really wanted to communicate and reinforce that something fun is going to happen.” Mission accomplished, sir.

[source gameinformer.com]