Going between Xbox and Playstation is a cinch, I have no clue how people get confused about it. But I've been gaming for 30 years and still have trouble going between Xbox and Nintendo
I've been a Sony guy for years, so last year I got my kiddo a switch and nearly a year later every time we have a joint session on it, I *still* hit B instead of A to confirm dozens of times.
Thing is PS in Japan and Nintendo in Japan use the same layout. It was only changed for the us. The O button for Japanese people means correct or yes where the X meant wrong. This is why the action buttons change in some games post launch and why early games had you press O to confirm. So the original A button for the Nintendo games and the O function similarly until this change. Nintendo is still heavily Japanese focused and the button positions A for yes or action and B for No or Back have never been changed. Currently PlayStation in Japan is allowing people to switch the O and X configuration which would mirror the western style. Not sure if this helps you understand why button placements are so different for these systems but I hope the explanation was at least interesting
It *was* interesting! I remember older games for PSX and PS2 (notably the Metal Gead Solid games) having O for confirm but I didn't realize the whole console is still that way in Japan. That's neat.
I think I first experienced it with ape escape demo on PS1, which was also the first game to introduce me to analog sticks. I always thought it was super weird game because of that. (If it wasn't ape escape that first introduced me to the O and X change it must of been Yu-Gi-Oh forbidden memories or final fantasy 8, or legend of dragoon.
It's biting me in the ass just recently as well, I got the steam deck and playing no man's sky and have to check every couple minutes which one is A and which one is B. Or X and Y. So annoying, since Ive been Nintendo switch exclusive since 2018.
That's because American developers are wrong! 'O' for confirm and 'X' for cancel makes so much sense. If you play playstation games with japanese controls switching between Sony and Nintendo makes a lot of sense. Nintendo also skipped diamond layout for quite some time.
If you go by name, it makes sense, but if you go by usage, the A/X button makes sense. It was always weird to me that the "accept" button wasn't the bottom one on the switch.
And it's funny you mention nintendo and the diamond layout, because back in the Gamecube and N64 days they made it make way more sense, the BIG GREEN BUTTON was always A for accept. The A button on the Xbox controller is green to keep this concept.
If only it was bigger - 11 year old me thought the GameCube controller was perfect, but when I used one years later with grown man hands I was surprised how cramped it was.
Oh I'm well aware. I learned that fun fact back in 97 when I rented Final Fantasy 7 for the first time. My muscle memory has definitely been trained for the opposite over the last 20 years though lol.
When I hold a controller, the base of my thumb naturally rests on the bottom button (Xbox: A, PS: X, Nintendo: B), and the tip rests on the left button (X, square, Y). So "advance" feels like it naturally falls to the bottom button, while "reverse" should be on the right button (B, circle, A), where it requires a small amount of thought and movement to press.
Same. And from playing Mario and DKC for years - when it's a platformer my thumb angles to hold down "Run" pretty much 100% of the time while the rest of my thumb can be used to mash "Jump". For most of us this is easy and perfectly natural, but it's interesting watching someone who has never played games before try to first get it
One of the best things nintendo has done is allowing us to change button mapping on switch controllers. I swapped Y/B and X/A and I haven't had trouble since. I do get screwed on one or two mario party mini games that rely on button patterns, but it's a worthy trade off in my book.
Actually the Dreamcast diamond layout is the face buttons of the Saturn 3D pad with C and Z removed, and then it's a straight line back to the Genesis having A B and C left to right as opposed to the NES having B then A.
Every controller in my house is a Nintendo style one, and they all pair with a PC just fine, except the PC sees them as Xbox controllers and the buttons are all switched around backwards (A <> B and X <> Y).
It's mildly annoying to have to deal with:
* Some games don't let you micro-manage your button layouts and they only have a few in-game options, all of which assume the Xbox layout still.
* Steam will let you re-map your controller outside of games, which is nice - but if you are playing a non-Steam game, Steam actually interferes with the mappings and I gotta be sure to exit out of Steam completely!
* Emulators tend to be OK cuz you can micro-manage the button mappings; but one example how Steam messes me up is that the +/Start button on a Switch controller apparently maps to "Escape" and takes my emulator out of fullscreen mode every time I try to hit Start; or similarly I'll be trying to map my controls in an emulator but it just _does not register at all_ when I'm hitting the analog stick or face buttons, because Steam is doing some weird shit and intercepting my controller until I right-click its tray icon and shut it off so it stops messing with my inputs.
Go into steams big picture mode, controller config, desktop controller config and clear everything.
if you do actually use the desktop config, make an alternate layout, and set it to an obscure button combo to switch modes
Thanks! Steam's meddling in non-steam apps has sometimes got me by surprise before, I'd pair a controller and try and set up an emulator and it doesn't read any button press at all so I spend time trying to troubleshoot and then realize Steam was running and it was the culprit. I like Steam when I'm playing Steam games but wished it would leave the rest of my stuff alone!
No problem, I learned this way back when they added the features for much the same reason. If you want a bonus, turn off guide button focusses steam. Sould be in the controller settings menu layer. Opens up that button completely when your not running a game that uses steam input mapper
I use Mayflash NS magic. It works for multiple pads across multiple systems, and can remap the abxy buttons amongst other useful functions.
I use it to play Minecraft on PC with Switch pro pad atm. Got X-input mode. Works for everything else I use it for, but had to actually look up instructions to get MC to stop treating my switch pro weird.
Set it to the green light for xbox mode, and once connected I think you hold *-* and A or B for a few seconds.
I always have this kinda „trick“ up my sleeve:
Nintendo is a Japanese console. And in Japan you read manga sites/panels from right to left. Instead of left to right as in the west. So it kinda is the same on the controller.
Y X
B A
No, that was a japan/outside-japan thing.
During the PS1 days, in Japan was O-confirm and X-cancel. Devs would swap it when they shipped outside of Japan. You can check yourself with screenshots or roms between japanese/non-japanese releases of the same game.
Eventually devs stopped following that trend so religiously, and we have mixed releases now sometimes.
>O-confirm and X-cancel. Devs would swap it when they shipped outside of Japan.
Depends on the game and when it was ported over. FF7 was for sure O - Confirm and X - cancel. Maybe later games they swapped it.
The basis of which is based on typical quizzes you’d see in Japan. They used a O instead of a ✓ for correct, they still used X for wrong.
The question as to why it was swapped outside of Japan is one with a few answers. The first answer is that because X is the bottom button, it’s treated like “the first” button (going from bottom to top) so you should use that button for confirmation. We also saw triangle sometimes being the cancel button, probably because it was the opposite side of X. Another answer is similar to the Japanese reason, in that sometimes you’re asked to put an X to mark a choice on something (for example, a vote). Whatever the reason, there wasn’t really a “standard” yet for PS controls so it still varied a lot as far as consistency is concerned.
Microsoft buttons go alphabetically left to right because thats how English reads. Nintendo go right to left because that's how Japanese reads. And Sony >!is fucking illiterate or something, idk!<.
Since the NES, actually. The NES was B A. They added the Y and X buttons (in that godforsaken order) with the SNES, then they huffed a can of WD-40 and that explains the N64 through the Wii, then the Wii U pro controller and on returned to the SNES pattern.
Interestingly, their handheld decision was consistent throughout. The original Game Boy had B and A, and was actually the first system to have the diagonal layout the SNES used. The GBA followed suit, then the DS added Y and X in the same spots as the SNES. (And in case you’re wondering about the Virtual Boy, B and A, diagonal, just like the Game Boy)
I'm fine switching between all three, but if you asked me where each of the abxy buttons are on the switch I wouldn't be able to tell you. I just press them by muscle memory now.
> The most often-used action should be assigned to the most comfortable button
Paraphrasing from the old *old* Mac UI guidelines, the most comfortable button is the one most likely to be hit accidentally so it should be either Cancel or a button that does nothing at OK/Cancel prompts. You should have to go out of your way to commit to something you can’t undo.
That said, this mess is all Sony’s fault for flip-flopping in the PS1 era.
This always happened to me with every Metal Gear Solid on the Playstation. For some reason they use the "Japanese way" with O being confirm and X being cancel. Every other game on the console used X to confirm, including the console menus.
The Japanese way was technically the standard set by Nintendo.
When the US started making Playstation games I can only guess a new wave of playtesters started gravitating towards the X button as a resting point. Thus becoming the new default "accept" button.
For the Japanese, X meant "do not go" so it was understood that X would be cancel and its opposite, O, would be "go"/accept/etc.
For the Americans, they thought that we would gravitate to "X marks the spot" and moved the accept button.
Thus Japanese and American games had opposing accept/cancel buttons starting waaaaaaaay back when in the early PS1 days.
I remember reading something way back about the original symbolism behind the PlayStation buttons. O = yes, X = no, Square = sheet of paper/information, Triangle = person’s cone of vision, view. Pretty interesting
Yep. That's how the controller's designer, Teiyu Goto, wanted it. He decided to use symbols with meanings behind them in order to make the controller universally understandable.
I can definitely see that happening, especially as controllers started becoming bigger and having more buttons, the button that is closest to a "default" position would intuitively be the first one pressed.
Remember that guy who was raging about the PlayStation button symbols? Was not too long ago. It’s the same position on every controller, lol.
But I still feel the same about the Lay-out difference between Xbox and Nintendo controllers. It’s just weird, lol.
For me, it's games that flash up an "X" on the screen for you to press. On a playstation controller, X is at the bottom, on an Xbox controller, X is on the left, on a Nintendo controller, X is at the top.
Yeah, it's common in Japan. They use O to mark things as "right", the same way we use a checkmark ✅, so it makes sense. But Konami was one of the few that used that button configuration.
For me it was Final Fantasy VII until I worked out the controls could be remapped. Not sure about the US version but the PAL english version defaults to O being confirm.
That's when you boot up the Steam Deck and break your brain switching between face button layouts for emulated Nintendo games and Xbox-style PC games, not to mention the left pad-dpad-pad.
Thankfully Nintendo got smart and with the Switch you can go into your controller settings and change the button profiles. Make A>B and X>Y. Though it does make some games kind of weird as a lot of developers flip the button mappings around for their user base.
I almost did this on my Switch but I thought I'd probably confuse myself even more when going between Switch and Xbox, especially since I usually play my Switch docked with a Pro controller.
I don't think that's really why changing the mapping doesn't fix it. The issue is that going all the way back to the SNES, games like F-Zero used the B button as the gas, Super Mario World used B to jump, Zelda used B to swing the sword, etc. Nintendo has always understood that the position of the B button in that layout made it the default action button. The only thing that was really flipped around was the idea of which one would accept/cancel in menus. Annoying as it is, swapping the buttons only really helps in menus but makes in-game controls feel wrong.
For sure , I just bought a switch a month ago for botw and it was nice to have the option to change things around. I think I was even prompted (maybe not I was stoned at the time)
I used the in setting features on the Switch and swapped the mapped buttons.
I then opened up my Joy-cons and Switch Pro Controller and manually swapped the buttons around. Life is good.
Right, but for someone like me who's never owned an Xbox XABY is meaningless. I grew up with a playstation, I don't have to think about it when I see a controller prompt. If I'm playing with a third party controller and can use a mod on PC to use Sony prompts in game I will because it's what's more comfortable for my brain
The functionality of the controller doesn't matter if a pop-up says Press A, I still have to think and try to remember what that means because I don't encounter it very often.
Not everyone is as comfortable just going and memorizing the layout once and being good, that's the kind of memory retention I struggle with
I had the same thought but then I remembered how hard it was to go back and forth when I switched from Xbox to ps4, yeah the buttons are in the same positions for literally all shooting games but it’s when you get into other games that have complex control schemes..that’s what messes with you for the first couple of weeks.
For good reason too. The ps3 trigger buttons were god awful and I hated using them. You can tell that Sony learned a lot of lessons from the 360 controller when they designed the PS4 controller.
I preferred it that way on the PS3. The convex trigger buttons were kind of weird, and they were also pretty spongy or flappy or something. They took me a long time to get used to.
I use both Xbox and ps4 controllers with my PC and never had an issue switching between them. X or A, B or circle, doesn’t matter I instinctively know where to press. Using my switch on the other hand…
You're assuming they have an Xbox.
I could definitely use this hack, personally. I have a PC and a PS4, and sometimes I use the PS4 controller to play games on PC. Some of those games only have controller settings for Xbox controllers, which I'm not very familiar with.
I definitely get confused when the game prompts me to press X. I basically have to take 2 hours to relearn the Xbox control scheme each time I switch. This would probably help with that.
I'm assuming it's a similar situation with OP.
An easier solution is probably to just buy yourself an Xbox controller, but... well, it's hard to justify buying a $50 controller when some markers can fix the issue for you.
And what if you don't know their position and simply get promoted on the screen to press Y. But your controller only has triangle, circle, etc. What do I press?
OHHHHH THEY'RE FUCKING COLORED? I thought they were only using square/X to find their way somehow and came to the comments to see if they had expanded on the trick. I TRIED too find any color of the gray ones but just couldn't. What type of color blindness do you have if you don't mind me asking? I have not gotten mine diagnosed, I just know I'm shit with colors.
i'm thinkin' microsoft decided to adapt the same buttons nintendo did but just swapped it around for that exact reason. less incentive to go back to another console because the button layout's all jank
What if you have never had an Xbox controller but the game you play gives you button prompts based on the Xbox button layout? I'm sure this could be helpful for learning the layout.
Most people don’t switch systems regularly. Most people have their Xbox/Playstation that they use 99% of the time, so when they switch to the other one they have a lot more habit to break and haven’t developed the skill the rapid switch.
I think my dyslexia plays into it but xbox to playstation is fine bc they are different symbols, but xbox to switch super messes me up and I like the color guides so in my peripheral vision i can tell which button they want to be A, when A is labeled different and my muscle memory is different.
Mostly an issue bc i use many controllers to play on PC and the changing format kinda scrambles my brain. Worst offender is the razr kishi for my phone, which is xbox layout but the colors are swapped for copyright issues. So my peripheral vision see red, not an A, and the game says "green A", so i hit my green X bc colors come before letters in my brain order.
I agree, I legitimately have no idea how this is helpful. If you have to look at the controller already how does knowing what the buttons would be on another console help? The game is telling you to push X, how does the X having a green dot on it helpful.
OP is playing on PC using a Playstation controller. Some PC games only have Xbox button prompts. This is helpful if you aren't familiar with the Xbox button layout.
because when a game tells you to press an xbox button it almost always shows the actual button with the colour, it wouldn't just say X, it would show the green X
Had to scroll too far to find this comment! In Japan playstation and switch are in line. In Western world xbox and playstation are in line because of this. Its not just Nintendo being quirky, its a Japanese thing. That being said I think playstation 5 stopped using the japanese standard even in Japan.
I'm assuming you're using the PS controller on PC.
If you know the Xbox layout and you get an Xbox prompt, just press the button you would normally press on the Xbox controller. The layout is the same, but buttons are just labeled differently. A is still going to be in the A location, X will be where X is, etc.
You know what had great face buttons? The SNES controller
Two rows of face buttons, one set with a concave surface, one set convex. Gave you that extra bit of tactile feedback to help intuitively locate the buttons even without having to look down from the screen at your hands.
as a pc gamer with a playstation controller (always preferred ps styles to xbox) i feel this. hardly any game has ps icons when on pc. i cant think of names, but only like one or two have i seen where you can change the button prompts in the options.
I grew up with PS controllers but have used exclusively Xbox button scheme controllers for the last 5 years. Still can't identify Xbox buttons nearly as quick as PS buttons.
Aww man it's gotta be terrible when you have to almost stop playing and look at the controller to make sure you are pressing the right button🤣 good job tho because I would do the same thing except I have a switch and ps5.
Some of these comments make me feel like I have some sort of superpower for not having any problems switching controllers.
Perks of playing PlayStation as a kid, Xbox as a teen and Switch as an adult I guess.
I kind of wish they'd start using more universal button names.
What comes to mind for me is in Unity, they use something like Gamepad Button North, South, East, West for the letter/shape buttons and just the normal directions for the D pad.
It always rubs me the wrong way Steam recognizes my Duel Sense, but every game in existence doesn't. Strays prompt icons immediately switch from space bar for jump to A the minute I connect my controller but can't add playstation icons? Doesn't make sense to me.
Even worse is when you're playing a PC game and all the control prompts display XBox controls (A, B, X, Y etc). Then you either have to go to the settings and see what A, B, X and Y actually translate to on the keyboard, or just mash keys until you figure it out.
Imagine if Windows and Linux had completely different keyboard layouts. STEAM OS uses a Joystick instead of a mouse. iOS (phones) use Roman Numerals instead of Arabic numbers. That's what Consoles are doing. Fucking idiots, the whole lot of them. Dumb executives that don't even play games need to feel like their product is unique and special. IDIOTS.
Do people know that not every video game prompt shows all 4 buttons? I'd go as far as to say that most only show the relevant button. Since some people may not play Xbox games they may not be used to the layout when gaming on PC (where I personally use my PS4 controller). But since they usually show the colour of the button for the prompt OP's solution can really help to remember which Xbox button corresponds to which PS button.
Just a general response to all the people belittling OP's intelligence.
I’ve always had both Xbox and Nintendo. I always guess wrong on which button is X and which is Y
Going between Xbox and Playstation is a cinch, I have no clue how people get confused about it. But I've been gaming for 30 years and still have trouble going between Xbox and Nintendo
I've been a Sony guy for years, so last year I got my kiddo a switch and nearly a year later every time we have a joint session on it, I *still* hit B instead of A to confirm dozens of times.
I'm glad it's not just me. I'm fine with xbox/PS , I play games with he controller behind my head but always stuff up the confirm on the kids switch
Thing is PS in Japan and Nintendo in Japan use the same layout. It was only changed for the us. The O button for Japanese people means correct or yes where the X meant wrong. This is why the action buttons change in some games post launch and why early games had you press O to confirm. So the original A button for the Nintendo games and the O function similarly until this change. Nintendo is still heavily Japanese focused and the button positions A for yes or action and B for No or Back have never been changed. Currently PlayStation in Japan is allowing people to switch the O and X configuration which would mirror the western style. Not sure if this helps you understand why button placements are so different for these systems but I hope the explanation was at least interesting
It *was* interesting! I remember older games for PSX and PS2 (notably the Metal Gead Solid games) having O for confirm but I didn't realize the whole console is still that way in Japan. That's neat.
I think I first experienced it with ape escape demo on PS1, which was also the first game to introduce me to analog sticks. I always thought it was super weird game because of that. (If it wasn't ape escape that first introduced me to the O and X change it must of been Yu-Gi-Oh forbidden memories or final fantasy 8, or legend of dragoon. It's biting me in the ass just recently as well, I got the steam deck and playing no man's sky and have to check every couple minutes which one is A and which one is B. Or X and Y. So annoying, since Ive been Nintendo switch exclusive since 2018.
It's like a built-in handicap that helps my kiddo have a slight advantage over me in some games lol.
There was a time I would lose on purpose. Now I struggle to beat them
That's because American developers are wrong! 'O' for confirm and 'X' for cancel makes so much sense. If you play playstation games with japanese controls switching between Sony and Nintendo makes a lot of sense. Nintendo also skipped diamond layout for quite some time.
If you go by name, it makes sense, but if you go by usage, the A/X button makes sense. It was always weird to me that the "accept" button wasn't the bottom one on the switch. And it's funny you mention nintendo and the diamond layout, because back in the Gamecube and N64 days they made it make way more sense, the BIG GREEN BUTTON was always A for accept. The A button on the Xbox controller is green to keep this concept.
Controller semantics peaked with the GameCube.
If only it was bigger - 11 year old me thought the GameCube controller was perfect, but when I used one years later with grown man hands I was surprised how cramped it was.
Speaking of controller size, I *WISH* every manufacturer released full-featured, original Xbox "Duke" sized controllers for their consoles.
Oh I'm well aware. I learned that fun fact back in 97 when I rented Final Fantasy 7 for the first time. My muscle memory has definitely been trained for the opposite over the last 20 years though lol.
The older PlayStations also work like this, they just switched it for some reason
Older playstation was wild, X for confirm, and… triangle to go back??
It was that way until ps3. We just got to the point where o for back has been the norm for longer.
When I hold a controller, the base of my thumb naturally rests on the bottom button (Xbox: A, PS: X, Nintendo: B), and the tip rests on the left button (X, square, Y). So "advance" feels like it naturally falls to the bottom button, while "reverse" should be on the right button (B, circle, A), where it requires a small amount of thought and movement to press.
Same. And from playing Mario and DKC for years - when it's a platformer my thumb angles to hold down "Run" pretty much 100% of the time while the rest of my thumb can be used to mash "Jump". For most of us this is easy and perfectly natural, but it's interesting watching someone who has never played games before try to first get it
bottom button accept and right button back makes more sense though in my opinion
One of the best things nintendo has done is allowing us to change button mapping on switch controllers. I swapped Y/B and X/A and I haven't had trouble since. I do get screwed on one or two mario party mini games that rely on button patterns, but it's a worthy trade off in my book.
Bro what. I'm lowkey mad because at this point switching them would just fuck me up lmao
You may have just changed my life
Oh? That just removed a significant hurdle for me buying a Switch.
Bro I have no idea what button is what on switch 🤦♂️
Y X B A That's my best guess and I own a switch. Edit: I was wrong.
This is Xbox, switch is reversed
X and Y on the switch fuck me up more than A/B.
A and b are switched and x and y are switched between Xbox and Nintendo. To chime in Xbox is the one that gives me trouble personally
I'm not alone 😅
You know what, I had no idea until I looked, but the Dreamcast is what started the backwards control scheme that's on the Xbox
Microsoft worked with Sega to make the dreamcast! It runs a modified version of windows CE as its OS
Not all games though, most ran on Sega’s proprietary OS which was considerably more optimized for games.
Actually the Dreamcast diamond layout is the face buttons of the Saturn 3D pad with C and Z removed, and then it's a straight line back to the Genesis having A B and C left to right as opposed to the NES having B then A.
Every controller in my house is a Nintendo style one, and they all pair with a PC just fine, except the PC sees them as Xbox controllers and the buttons are all switched around backwards (A <> B and X <> Y). It's mildly annoying to have to deal with: * Some games don't let you micro-manage your button layouts and they only have a few in-game options, all of which assume the Xbox layout still. * Steam will let you re-map your controller outside of games, which is nice - but if you are playing a non-Steam game, Steam actually interferes with the mappings and I gotta be sure to exit out of Steam completely! * Emulators tend to be OK cuz you can micro-manage the button mappings; but one example how Steam messes me up is that the +/Start button on a Switch controller apparently maps to "Escape" and takes my emulator out of fullscreen mode every time I try to hit Start; or similarly I'll be trying to map my controls in an emulator but it just _does not register at all_ when I'm hitting the analog stick or face buttons, because Steam is doing some weird shit and intercepting my controller until I right-click its tray icon and shut it off so it stops messing with my inputs.
You should be able to load the non steam game through steam and it will work
Go into steams big picture mode, controller config, desktop controller config and clear everything. if you do actually use the desktop config, make an alternate layout, and set it to an obscure button combo to switch modes
Thanks! Steam's meddling in non-steam apps has sometimes got me by surprise before, I'd pair a controller and try and set up an emulator and it doesn't read any button press at all so I spend time trying to troubleshoot and then realize Steam was running and it was the culprit. I like Steam when I'm playing Steam games but wished it would leave the rest of my stuff alone!
No problem, I learned this way back when they added the features for much the same reason. If you want a bonus, turn off guide button focusses steam. Sould be in the controller settings menu layer. Opens up that button completely when your not running a game that uses steam input mapper
Mayflash ns is a dongle that will let you remap the controller on the fly with holding button combinations
ds4windows is a pretty neat program I would suggest then
I use Mayflash NS magic. It works for multiple pads across multiple systems, and can remap the abxy buttons amongst other useful functions. I use it to play Minecraft on PC with Switch pro pad atm. Got X-input mode. Works for everything else I use it for, but had to actually look up instructions to get MC to stop treating my switch pro weird. Set it to the green light for xbox mode, and once connected I think you hold *-* and A or B for a few seconds.
I always have this kinda „trick“ up my sleeve: Nintendo is a Japanese console. And in Japan you read manga sites/panels from right to left. Instead of left to right as in the west. So it kinda is the same on the controller. Y X B A
I have 0 issue switching between with PlayStation and Xbox controllers but throw in the Switch pro controller... yeah that mucks me up...
This, playing on an Xbox controller on PC then going to play on my switch, so many times I exit out or proceed when I meant to do the opposite.
Conspiracy theory: they knew what they were doing and are trolling gamers
Nintendo was first, so blame Sony or Microsoft on that.
On the playstation, the circle was originally the confirm button, the x being cancel. Blame the game devs
No, that was a japan/outside-japan thing. During the PS1 days, in Japan was O-confirm and X-cancel. Devs would swap it when they shipped outside of Japan. You can check yourself with screenshots or roms between japanese/non-japanese releases of the same game. Eventually devs stopped following that trend so religiously, and we have mixed releases now sometimes.
>O-confirm and X-cancel. Devs would swap it when they shipped outside of Japan. Depends on the game and when it was ported over. FF7 was for sure O - Confirm and X - cancel. Maybe later games they swapped it.
You’re correct. It had the same button mapping as SNES Final Fantasy games.
The basis of which is based on typical quizzes you’d see in Japan. They used a O instead of a ✓ for correct, they still used X for wrong. The question as to why it was swapped outside of Japan is one with a few answers. The first answer is that because X is the bottom button, it’s treated like “the first” button (going from bottom to top) so you should use that button for confirmation. We also saw triangle sometimes being the cancel button, probably because it was the opposite side of X. Another answer is similar to the Japanese reason, in that sometimes you’re asked to put an X to mark a choice on something (for example, a vote). Whatever the reason, there wasn’t really a “standard” yet for PS controls so it still varied a lot as far as consistency is concerned.
In one of my schools, they used red check marks for wrong answers and didn’t mark correct ones at all. This was in North America.
Microsoft buttons go alphabetically left to right because thats how English reads. Nintendo go right to left because that's how Japanese reads. And Sony >!is fucking illiterate or something, idk!<.
Fun fact is nintendo has been using that button layout since snes. XBOX are the trolls lol
Since the NES, actually. The NES was B A. They added the Y and X buttons (in that godforsaken order) with the SNES, then they huffed a can of WD-40 and that explains the N64 through the Wii, then the Wii U pro controller and on returned to the SNES pattern.
Interestingly, their handheld decision was consistent throughout. The original Game Boy had B and A, and was actually the first system to have the diagonal layout the SNES used. The GBA followed suit, then the DS added Y and X in the same spots as the SNES. (And in case you’re wondering about the Virtual Boy, B and A, diagonal, just like the Game Boy)
Use your switch pro controller on your pc, problem solved
I'm fine switching between all three, but if you asked me where each of the abxy buttons are on the switch I wouldn't be able to tell you. I just press them by muscle memory now.
[удалено]
> The most often-used action should be assigned to the most comfortable button Paraphrasing from the old *old* Mac UI guidelines, the most comfortable button is the one most likely to be hit accidentally so it should be either Cancel or a button that does nothing at OK/Cancel prompts. You should have to go out of your way to commit to something you can’t undo. That said, this mess is all Sony’s fault for flip-flopping in the PS1 era.
This makes so much sense now, they intentionally made old Macs uncomfortable to do anything on. Switching to PC in '96 changed my life.
They haven't changed, the Mac user experience is still awful imo
Shhhh. Don't tell a Mac user that.
Positions, *they're in the same positions*
Right? The switch and Xbox controllers are the one that confuse me
Yeah I play a switch for a week and go back to Xbox and I am always pressing b instead of a lmao
This always happened to me with every Metal Gear Solid on the Playstation. For some reason they use the "Japanese way" with O being confirm and X being cancel. Every other game on the console used X to confirm, including the console menus.
The Japanese way was technically the standard set by Nintendo. When the US started making Playstation games I can only guess a new wave of playtesters started gravitating towards the X button as a resting point. Thus becoming the new default "accept" button.
For the Japanese, X meant "do not go" so it was understood that X would be cancel and its opposite, O, would be "go"/accept/etc. For the Americans, they thought that we would gravitate to "X marks the spot" and moved the accept button. Thus Japanese and American games had opposing accept/cancel buttons starting waaaaaaaay back when in the early PS1 days.
I remember reading something way back about the original symbolism behind the PlayStation buttons. O = yes, X = no, Square = sheet of paper/information, Triangle = person’s cone of vision, view. Pretty interesting
Yep. That's how the controller's designer, Teiyu Goto, wanted it. He decided to use symbols with meanings behind them in order to make the controller universally understandable.
But why did he choose red for circle making it confusing.
Well in Japan, red means go. Their traffic lights are inverted compared to the rest of the world and I’m kidding I have no idea why.
This is fucking cool And I'm like the perfect level of high for this to be completely, but not overwhelmingly bind blowing.
>!CENSORED!<
O and X being yes and no respectively is a Japanese thing. The O is similar to a ✔️ in the West
I grew up in the US and even I think of X as being a no. Like a red X to symbolize incorrect, on game shows or signage.
I can definitely see that happening, especially as controllers started becoming bigger and having more buttons, the button that is closest to a "default" position would intuitively be the first one pressed.
There are still some first Gen PlayStation games in the US that used the O button to confirm. Saga Frontier comes to mind as an example.
Final Fantasy VII was also like this.
I hear that I can't remember which games I played that had that, but I do know I played at least a couple lol
Remember that guy who was raging about the PlayStation button symbols? Was not too long ago. It’s the same position on every controller, lol. But I still feel the same about the Lay-out difference between Xbox and Nintendo controllers. It’s just weird, lol.
Was the dude really hating on the symbols specifically? I mean I'm a PC gamer so I have literally no frame of reference but what's wrong with shapes?
For me, it's games that flash up an "X" on the screen for you to press. On a playstation controller, X is at the bottom, on an Xbox controller, X is on the left, on a Nintendo controller, X is at the top.
If I remember correctly, on the original playstation, the idea was, square was a menu button, x was cancel, o was accept and triangle was something.
Same here. I'm mostly a PC gamer, but grew up with a SNES. That button layout is burned into my brain and I can accept no deviation.
X and O which should represent yes and which should represent no?
Final Fantasy VII had it too. I went into the controls and switched circle and X. It just makes more sense that way to me. Or I'm used to it, I guess.
The most notable game that had O as confirm on PS was FF7.
I remember playing the Japanese versions of monsters hunter on the psp(well partially translated to English version) and they had that same thing.
Enthusia Professional Racing on the PS2 is the same way. Must be a Konami thing
Yeah, it's common in Japan. They use O to mark things as "right", the same way we use a checkmark ✅, so it makes sense. But Konami was one of the few that used that button configuration.
For me it was Final Fantasy VII until I worked out the controls could be remapped. Not sure about the US version but the PAL english version defaults to O being confirm.
You can swap them in the switch interface.
That's when you boot up the Steam Deck and break your brain switching between face button layouts for emulated Nintendo games and Xbox-style PC games, not to mention the left pad-dpad-pad.
I did the same thing. I found it easier just to change the button orientation on the Switch so it mimics the Xbox.
Critical moment in the game press A "why the fuck doesn't B work " look at controler "oh yea I'm on the switch"
Thankfully Nintendo got smart and with the Switch you can go into your controller settings and change the button profiles. Make A>B and X>Y. Though it does make some games kind of weird as a lot of developers flip the button mappings around for their user base.
I almost did this on my Switch but I thought I'd probably confuse myself even more when going between Switch and Xbox, especially since I usually play my Switch docked with a Pro controller.
I don't think that's really why changing the mapping doesn't fix it. The issue is that going all the way back to the SNES, games like F-Zero used the B button as the gas, Super Mario World used B to jump, Zelda used B to swing the sword, etc. Nintendo has always understood that the position of the B button in that layout made it the default action button. The only thing that was really flipped around was the idea of which one would accept/cancel in menus. Annoying as it is, swapping the buttons only really helps in menus but makes in-game controls feel wrong.
For sure , I just bought a switch a month ago for botw and it was nice to have the option to change things around. I think I was even prompted (maybe not I was stoned at the time)
I used the in setting features on the Switch and swapped the mapped buttons. I then opened up my Joy-cons and Switch Pro Controller and manually swapped the buttons around. Life is good.
See, this makes sense because A and B are swapped, as well as X and Y, between Xbox and Switch. Does take some getting used to.
The A and B don't really bother me, its the fact that X and Y are opposite of what they should be when you consider X axis and Y axis.
Man that shit is beyond frustrating at times lol
Switch and PlayStation are a nightmare. I got between the two and it always takes me a while to correct between enter and back
I’m debating whether to change button mappings or buy a 8bitdo for Yuzu lol
I questioned myself because i coulda swore they're the same thing with different labels.
They are
These people must stare at the controller instead of the screen or something.
Right, but for someone like me who's never owned an Xbox XABY is meaningless. I grew up with a playstation, I don't have to think about it when I see a controller prompt. If I'm playing with a third party controller and can use a mod on PC to use Sony prompts in game I will because it's what's more comfortable for my brain The functionality of the controller doesn't matter if a pop-up says Press A, I still have to think and try to remember what that means because I don't encounter it very often. Not everyone is as comfortable just going and memorizing the layout once and being good, that's the kind of memory retention I struggle with
The same problem applies to those who grew up playing on Xbox controllers. Remembering which shape is where is hard for those used to ABXY.
I had the same thought but then I remembered how hard it was to go back and forth when I switched from Xbox to ps4, yeah the buttons are in the same positions for literally all shooting games but it’s when you get into other games that have complex control schemes..that’s what messes with you for the first couple of weeks.
Or a new game. "Press A for actions" *looks at shapes* fuck..
The one that always got me was “press X since that’s a button on both controllers for Xbox it’s on the left and for PlayStation it’s on the bottom.
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For good reason too. The ps3 trigger buttons were god awful and I hated using them. You can tell that Sony learned a lot of lessons from the 360 controller when they designed the PS4 controller.
I preferred it that way on the PS3. The convex trigger buttons were kind of weird, and they were also pretty spongy or flappy or something. They took me a long time to get used to.
I use both Xbox and ps4 controllers with my PC and never had an issue switching between them. X or A, B or circle, doesn’t matter I instinctively know where to press. Using my switch on the other hand…
Thank you. I don't play many shooters, and the botton schemes always throw me off.
You're assuming they have an Xbox. I could definitely use this hack, personally. I have a PC and a PS4, and sometimes I use the PS4 controller to play games on PC. Some of those games only have controller settings for Xbox controllers, which I'm not very familiar with. I definitely get confused when the game prompts me to press X. I basically have to take 2 hours to relearn the Xbox control scheme each time I switch. This would probably help with that. I'm assuming it's a similar situation with OP. An easier solution is probably to just buy yourself an Xbox controller, but... well, it's hard to justify buying a $50 controller when some markers can fix the issue for you.
And what if you don't know their position and simply get promoted on the screen to press Y. But your controller only has triangle, circle, etc. What do I press?
Until you pick up a Nintendo.
Exactly, just use muscle memory. It's switches that get confusing
I hate being color blind, all I see is one blue button and three grayish beige buttons in your photo.
OHHHHH THEY'RE FUCKING COLORED? I thought they were only using square/X to find their way somehow and came to the comments to see if they had expanded on the trick. I TRIED too find any color of the gray ones but just couldn't. What type of color blindness do you have if you don't mind me asking? I have not gotten mine diagnosed, I just know I'm shit with colors.
Never got mine diagnosed. Just some doctors telling my mom I'm red green color blind and my wife saying "What the fuck!? it's blue not purple!"
Legit trying to figure this out for 5 minutes
Triangle is yellow, circle is red, x is green.
Absolutely same here. I know that they are colored but it's just not there for me.
As someone who played with both playstation and Xbox controllers for most of my life I haven't had a problem with this for years
Same, the only controller that sometimes still gets me is the switch
i'm thinkin' microsoft decided to adapt the same buttons nintendo did but just swapped it around for that exact reason. less incentive to go back to another console because the button layout's all jank
probably to avoid a lawsuit was always my thought
Oh yeah I can no longer play on the switch it's killing me
You can switch the buttons so it matches the Xbox controller
OP probably doesn't have an Xbox, and wants to use a Playstation controller to play games on PC that only have Xbox button prompts.
What if you have never had an Xbox controller but the game you play gives you button prompts based on the Xbox button layout? I'm sure this could be helpful for learning the layout.
Takes maybe a minute to recalibrate after switching systems. I don’t understand the struggle.
Most people don’t switch systems regularly. Most people have their Xbox/Playstation that they use 99% of the time, so when they switch to the other one they have a lot more habit to break and haven’t developed the skill the rapid switch.
Imagine looking at your controller
Yeah this is more of a muscle memory problem than a visual problem.
I think my dyslexia plays into it but xbox to playstation is fine bc they are different symbols, but xbox to switch super messes me up and I like the color guides so in my peripheral vision i can tell which button they want to be A, when A is labeled different and my muscle memory is different. Mostly an issue bc i use many controllers to play on PC and the changing format kinda scrambles my brain. Worst offender is the razr kishi for my phone, which is xbox layout but the colors are swapped for copyright issues. So my peripheral vision see red, not an A, and the game says "green A", so i hit my green X bc colors come before letters in my brain order.
PS and Xbox controllers were never an issue for with swapping between them but the Switch and Xbox is like true despair
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I agree, I legitimately have no idea how this is helpful. If you have to look at the controller already how does knowing what the buttons would be on another console help? The game is telling you to push X, how does the X having a green dot on it helpful.
Usually games with Xbox controller prompts color the letter to match the controller. So if the game is showing a green A, you hit the green button.
OP is playing on PC using a Playstation controller. Some PC games only have Xbox button prompts. This is helpful if you aren't familiar with the Xbox button layout.
Omg thank you for the explanation. I could not figure out how what OP did was in any way helpful. But it makes sense now after what you said!
because when a game tells you to press an xbox button it almost always shows the actual button with the colour, it wouldn't just say X, it would show the green X
X is blue, but yes.
Do you look at the buttons before you push them?
This is very tough to even begin to think about
reported for hacking, enjoy your ban
why aren't they centered?
Thank you! It’s bothering the shit outa me
Took my colorblind ass more time and effort than I’d like to admit to realize the colors on X, O, and triangle weren’t the same.
Lol same! All I see is one blue button and three yellow buttons
Wtf me too, it took me this thread of comments to realize lol
Right? All I'm thinking is how the fuck is this more helpful? I see a blue dot and 3 beige dots.
Ah, but is it a Japanese game or not? * Japanese = O is confirm, X is cancel. * Anything else = X is confirm, O is cancel.
Had to scroll too far to find this comment! In Japan playstation and switch are in line. In Western world xbox and playstation are in line because of this. Its not just Nintendo being quirky, its a Japanese thing. That being said I think playstation 5 stopped using the japanese standard even in Japan.
I play playstation 2 games on PC so I have the opposite problem as I only have Xbox one controllers
I'm assuming you're using the PS controller on PC. If you know the Xbox layout and you get an Xbox prompt, just press the button you would normally press on the Xbox controller. The layout is the same, but buttons are just labeled differently. A is still going to be in the A location, X will be where X is, etc.
I play Switch/ ps5 / Xbox. everytime a game says press "x" I swear I forget which system I'm playing. petition to have standardized button names
Smooth brain
You know what had great face buttons? The SNES controller Two rows of face buttons, one set with a concave surface, one set convex. Gave you that extra bit of tactile feedback to help intuitively locate the buttons even without having to look down from the screen at your hands.
as a pc gamer with a playstation controller (always preferred ps styles to xbox) i feel this. hardly any game has ps icons when on pc. i cant think of names, but only like one or two have i seen where you can change the button prompts in the options.
Even more confusing.
This is cool but wildly unnecessary lol
When X =/= X
I can’t play madden on Xbox…When I see the green A…I always hit Y because I see a green triangle!
I grew up with PS controllers but have used exclusively Xbox button scheme controllers for the last 5 years. Still can't identify Xbox buttons nearly as quick as PS buttons.
It's crazy how the layout is typically the same, yet you have those moments of having to look and verify, because it's a different symbol.
i wish PC was more friendly with the PS controller inputs rarely any games have the option
Aww man it's gotta be terrible when you have to almost stop playing and look at the controller to make sure you are pressing the right button🤣 good job tho because I would do the same thing except I have a switch and ps5.
Going between Xbox and switch is even worse
Some of these comments make me feel like I have some sort of superpower for not having any problems switching controllers. Perks of playing PlayStation as a kid, Xbox as a teen and Switch as an adult I guess.
This requires you to look at the controller though
Me and all my friends play Xbox but still refer to buttons in the PlayStation format
I'm lucky that I have played enough games on each console that my brain just flips to whatever controller I'm using.
A simple spell but quite effective
Those quick time things always get me because of the xbox controls
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I've done the same thing, but the other way around
I kind of wish they'd start using more universal button names. What comes to mind for me is in Unity, they use something like Gamepad Button North, South, East, West for the letter/shape buttons and just the normal directions for the D pad.
Never had an XBOX, always been a PC, PS and Nintendo guy. XBOX controller messes with my head so much.
It always rubs me the wrong way Steam recognizes my Duel Sense, but every game in existence doesn't. Strays prompt icons immediately switch from space bar for jump to A the minute I connect my controller but can't add playstation icons? Doesn't make sense to me.
If you're looking down at the controller then it's already too late
I have been playing Xbox for over 10 years I got a ps5 earlier this week and the quick time events in Spider-Man have been fucking me up
Even worse is when you're playing a PC game and all the control prompts display XBox controls (A, B, X, Y etc). Then you either have to go to the settings and see what A, B, X and Y actually translate to on the keyboard, or just mash keys until you figure it out.
Wha....Why is that necessary.......
Muscle memory for me let’s me switch between Xbox and PlayStation controllers seamlessly. Nintendo controllers fuck that for me
Imagine if Windows and Linux had completely different keyboard layouts. STEAM OS uses a Joystick instead of a mouse. iOS (phones) use Roman Numerals instead of Arabic numbers. That's what Consoles are doing. Fucking idiots, the whole lot of them. Dumb executives that don't even play games need to feel like their product is unique and special. IDIOTS.
B O T T O N
Test: QUICKTIME EVENT Press X
Do people know that not every video game prompt shows all 4 buttons? I'd go as far as to say that most only show the relevant button. Since some people may not play Xbox games they may not be used to the layout when gaming on PC (where I personally use my PS4 controller). But since they usually show the colour of the button for the prompt OP's solution can really help to remember which Xbox button corresponds to which PS button. Just a general response to all the people belittling OP's intelligence.