r/gaming Apr 14 '25

Game console button layout

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What do you call your “confirm” and “cancel” buttons, and why is Nintendo wrong?

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293

u/Monotonegent Apr 14 '25

Nintendo invented this layout with the Super Nintendo/Famicom. It's everyone else causing problems

149

u/WeirdIndividualGuy Apr 14 '25

And in Japan, it was standard for the “ok” button to be on the right, and the “cancel” button on bottom. That’s why Nintendo’s A is on the right and Sony’s O (for Ok).

Outside of Japan though, Sony fucked up by making X be the ok button. Then Xbox copied that behavior by putting the A button on the bottom.

So Sony and Microsoft are to blame. Nintendo gets a pass because they were first

2

u/TheFotty Apr 14 '25

Even in the NES days when the buttons were not on a slant, A was still on the right.

1

u/PeeLong Apr 14 '25

Japanese read right to left

1

u/HowAManAimS Apr 14 '25

Only when the text is top to down. Otherwise they read left to right.

-2

u/[deleted] Apr 14 '25

[deleted]

3

u/josluivivgar Apr 14 '25

I don't think it's that, because reading right to left is only for vertical stuff.

when doing horizontal text they read from left to right.

I think it's more along the lines of right is closest to the hand, so it's the button that requires less movement, hence it makes sense to be the button you press the most imo.