What a buzz for York technology firm Media Mill - as this week's computer game charts prove that the four-person outfit is on a sound footing.

Buzz: The Music Quiz has soared into the top 20 best sellers list since PlayStation 2 released it on October 21, complete with sounds engineered and edited at Media Mill's studio in Shambles.

The audio production company has also provided the pinging, crowd-roaring sound, as well as engineering the voice of actor and singer Jason Donovan as Buzz, the smarmy, cartoon quiz host in film and sound clip previews, which form part of Sony's £1 million pre-Christmas internet promotion.

The effect is likely to see Buzz: The Music Quiz climb up the charts from its current position of 13th, particularly as the game comes with four "buzzers" for a realistic game show experience.

Jerry Ibbotson, managing director of Media Mill, and an ex-BBC Radio York broadcaster, said: "It was my New Year's resolution last year that we would be doing sounds for computer game animation. It is very different from a sound for animated cartoons, which are the same from beginning to end. With games, the sound is dictated by thumb-power and therefore hugely changeable."

The firm, which boasts three gold discs, one for each of the Evolution Studios' Sony Playstation 11 World Rally Championship series, is a member of Game Republic, the region's alliance of hi-tech companies working within the computer and video games business.

Its contribution to Buzz: The Music Quiz is likely to confirm its growing international reputation for providing top-quality audio for the video and computer games industry.

Last year, Mr Ibbotson was the star turn at the world's largest electronic media show in Las Vegas as part of a conference which attracted 150,000 delegates. He was invited to take centre stage by Adobe Systems to demonstrate computer games soundscapes.

Mr Ibbotson said: "It has been a huge honour to work on what will undoubtedly be one of PlayStation 2's biggest games this Christmas.

"As audio is an integral part of the music game, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe (SCEE) wanted a company which could guarantee quality sound, on time.

"We're delighted that the honour fell to a company in York."

John Rostron, executive producer of SCEE, said: "Media Mill's expertise makes it a real global player."

Updated: 11:19 Thursday, November 03, 2005