The PlayStation 3 launched in 2006 as Sony's successor to the PlayStation 2, and its startup intro became part of the everyday ritual of using the console. The short orchestral ident played before the XrossMediaBar home screen appeared, so regular owners heard it thousands of times over the system's life. Clips of the boot sequence later spread across video sites and soundboards as downloadable audio, where it remains popular with retro gaming fans who use it to signal the start of PS3 gameplay, hardware showcases, and nostalgic console edits.