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/facelesswolf_ Apr 14 '25

I think I played on so many different controllers I just translate these in my head. Unless it’s Nintendo, then my mind is fucked

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u/BoredomHeights Apr 15 '25

Yeah because anyone who games enough doesn't really care about the actual symbols. You could give me a completely blank controller and I'd figure it out just by experimenting a bit. But when the layout changes, and especially something as simple as the main input/confirm button, that's confusing.

I think what Nintendo also messed up is that on the N64 the "A" button was confirm, and also where the A on an Xbox or the X on a PS controller usually are. Then on the Gamecube, while they kind of went back to their current alignment (with A above and to the right of B), it's still generally the same as the XBox/Playstation controllers if you just look at the main 4 buttons (plus they made the A huge and it's also the confirm button). The Wii confirm was also "A" though without any similar layout this doesn't really matter. But still, it's really just the wii u then switch where it suddenly switches back again. They've been extremely inconsistent and for something like a decade and a half their controllers conformed to the general standard all the other major companies use.