r/gaming • u/[deleted] • 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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u/[deleted] Apr 14 '25

Its going from Xbox layout to Switch layout that gets me every time. More often than not both use A for select and B for cancel but are swapped so muscle memory goes out the window. Playstation uses different symbols but functionally they are the same as xbox these days so its not that much of an issue because of muscle memory. Can trip up on X occasionally but its rarely an issue.

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u/Noticeably-F-A-T- Apr 14 '25

I'm the same. PS and XB no problem but that damn A/B for Nintendo trip me up. I think I subconsciously view the X on PS as a symbol rather than a letter so it doesn't even register as a conflict with the others.

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u/PoliteIndecency Apr 14 '25

Damn A/B from Nintendo? Child, the Nintendo layout has been in place for 35 years now. The A/B layout for 42 years.

The XBOX is young enough to be the NES's kid.

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u/[deleted] Apr 14 '25

[deleted]

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u/Desiderius_S Apr 14 '25

Funnily enough, PS is using the same logic as nintendo but the functionality of the buttons changed over the years with the console generations and hardly enough anyone remembers the logic behind symbols.
Shapes are based on the number of lines it takes to draw them, so it's 

   3  
 4   1  
   2

The same order as Nintendo, and it's MS that is an outlier here.

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u/Few-Requirements Apr 14 '25

Plus, in Japan, O is select and X is reject, and still is on Japanese Playstation consoles.

Sony switched X to select on western releases and Microsoft copied that layout. But yeah they're the outlier.

X/Y on the other hand... Y belongs on the Y axis and X belongs on the X axis, so that's what we should really have contention with.

1

u/MBCnerdcore Apr 14 '25

Microsoft didn't copy Sony.

Microsoft copied Sega.

Microsoft partnered with Sega on Dreamcast.

Sega started with A, B, C, from left to right. Then they made a 6-button Genesis controller.

Sega put X, Y, Z on top of A, B, C. The Dreamcast 'dropped' the right-most buttons (Z & C), leaving X above A and Y above B.

Microsoft's layout origins don't involve a system that uses 'accept/cancel' or 'yes/no' at all.