why nintendo's controllers are reversed

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*this video was originally posted to tiktok in November 2023

[@therollingcreeper1]

Its worth noting, the sega dreamcast, released two years before the xbox, had the xbox layout for the buttons.

[@purelogarithm]

That and MS worked with Sega to build the OS for the Dreamcast - it was based on Windows CE I believe. That makes me think that MS took a page from Sega.

[@FantasyZoneGaming]

Sega was CRAZY!!! So that makes sence for them. Microsoft is just in it for the money... and the piñata 🪅 (that piñata horse game 🐎 i remember. My friend had it. I never had anything but nintendo) except now i just bought snk vs capcom card fighters on the neo geo on my switch yesterday, so now maybe i can't say that anymore hahaha)

[@emilylefebvre646]

Indeed, Sega had the six button ABC XYZ layout, which for the Dreamcast was simplified to the first two buttons of each to match the SNES diamond layout, which left AB and XY

[@cyxceven]

Xbox is using the Dreamcast layout. Not the other way around.

[@calebmon]

The controls aren't reversed on nintendo controllers they are the correct way, they did it first. Everyone else is reversed from the original control scheme

[@HeelBJC]

Who cares how you word it? You could argue they do it the standard way now and Nintendo doesn't. There's zero need to be pedantic about that.

[@wesshiflet2214]

The Super Nintendo controller is objectively wrong. B should be on the left, A should be on the bottom. They should have known something was wrong when they made Super Mario World and made it B to jump.

[@knatkniht]

​@@wesshiflet2214 And your reasoning for this is that you have to use B to jump?

[@knatkniht]

​@@HeelBJC It's not really pedantic. Nintendo did it first. Everyone else did it the opposite way.

[@emeraldtheninja9128]

Both B and A were the jump button. Both X and Y were attack

[@liliqyr]

I *really* strongly prefer the Nintendo layout, so I think we just need to standardize proper remapping

[@MrPLleBOSS]

Button should be able to display the button you want like some kind of little display and it should match in game HUD.

[@knatkniht]

​@@MrPLleBOSS I hope you realize that this would be absurd

[@MrPLleBOSS]

@@knatkniht I think I didn’t explained well enough the concept if you think this is absurd.

[@GraysonicYT]

@@MrPLleBOSS they’re actually is a controller that does that and I think it’s made for switch and PC

[@Everything-Wii]

Its funny because I grew up with nintendo and only this year did I start using playstation- and I forget to use the right buttons every time I turn it on. I'm always pressing back and wondering why it isn't working and then I realize. It's kinda dumb, why did they have to change it and make it confusing??? What was wrong with the Nintendo layout 😭😭😭

[@CRCR0201]

The Xbox took inspiration from Sega Dreamcast controller, if I remember correctly, as Sega was an early supporter of Microsoft while developing the Xbox, even suggesting backwards compatibility with the Dreamcast.

[@origamifolder2255]

The Xbox controller is the same as Nintendo besides A and B as well as X and Y being swapped.

[@CRCR0201]

@origamifolder2255 and so was the Dreamcast's button layout, before the Xbox.

[@KitsuneJimmy]

@CRCR0201 Dreamcast's button layout also happened to be ABC/XYZ but without C and Z, which is where the ABXY layout came from

[@purelogarithm]

@@KitsuneJimmythat’s the Saturn layout. The Dreamcast was different.

[@KitsuneJimmy]

@@purelogarithm I know the ABC/XYZ came from the 6 button Genesis and Saturn. Dreamcast, and by extension Xbox, just got rid of C and Z

[@hyakin7818]

Nintendo layout just feels more natural and i feel like is better as yes your thumb lays naturally on the bottom button so it's faster to unselect, close, etc. Things easier if you accidently went onto something Accept on right is perfect as you have to make a more or less conscious decision to accept something as you move your thumb there

[@wesshiflet2214]

but they made SMW B to jump. If they were trying to follow up the Nintendo/Famicom, they should have put B on the left, A on the bottom.

[@hyakin7818]

@wesshiflet2214 what is the jump button and what not is a whole different story as multiple nes, snes, gamecube,... games used jump on b, even first party games And also games like sm allstars allowed you to remap nes a to snes a and nes b to snes b It's best compared to the pc as you don't use space/jump key but use the e/accept key which outside of menus is used for interacting and such

[@Emayeah]

@hyakin7818 i use y to accellerate in mario kart, i cannot stand a (easy to press b and x at the same time :D)

[@wesshiflet2214]

@hyakin7818 what first-party NES or Gamecube game used B to jump?? Plenty of SNES games did… because the SNES layout is wrong. Which would have been why they let you remap it later.

[@wesshiflet2214]

@hyakin7818 also I don’t get why accidental cancels would be better than accidental confirms… for most games, the consequences are about the same for both, and you’ll be using the “confirm” option wayyy more often. I get the long-term advantage of making the player look down and take note of the layout, but I’m not sure if that’s worth the short-term disadvantage of accidentally backing out of menus. I will say that there are SOME games where that makes more sense to me. Like, I recently found I prefer Kingdom Hearts with the Japanese layout. But a major part of that is because the cancel button is also the jump button in that game lol- in a _regular_ Final Fantasy, it doesn’t really seem to make a difference if you swap them or not.

[@samuelbeaudoin7377]

As a fan of the Mario & Luigi serie of games since childhood, the Nintendo layout is ingrained in my soul

[@xreev0x]

You have Square and Triangle reversed. Square represented menus and Triangle was intended to interact with an object (hence pointing to what you are trying to interact with).

[@wesshiflet2214]

Triangle was the “point of view” button, representing a shift to first-person or behind-the-should. The Square was intended to represent a map; I have no idea why Sony thought so many games would require a dedicated map button.

[@stephenhapp4141]

They're abstract shapes; they can represent anything that makes enough sense to the game developers and players. Green triangle could be interact, change camera, special attack/action. Square could be menu, map, shield. Most important part is that the icons are easy to tell apart from each other.

[@xreev0x]

@ No, Sony had a design document the dictated the “intended” purpose for the buttons. That is what this video is talking about. Only Japanese developers followed it, but not all. It was first explained to me way back in 1997 because Final Fantasy Tactics followed this model and I was completely baffled by the layout.

[@Z64bit]

Yet in the US triangle is sometimes back even though it also looks like an up arrow which is probably why some used one of the other two buttons

[@natetheaverage5270]

I hate it when people go "Why is Nintendo's button layout so unintuitive and backwards?" like no buddy you just grew up with an Xbox, I struggled learning their controls just as much. On a more serious note, I can deal with the changing prompts and yes/no swap fine. I ignore the actual buttons on the controller and interpret prompts depending on the individual game so I'm not confused using my Switch controller on PC, but multiplatform games will often just reverse the controls and it really messes up my muscle memory. They keep the action on the "same" button but that button is in a different spot now. For example, you press "Y" to attack in both the Switch and Xbox/PC version, but "Y" is now North rather than West.

[@SaltyMaud]

I can deal with A and B being reversed, but X on the vertical and Y on the horizontal axis makes my brain shortcircuit.

[@BugLondon]

As the video pointed out, cross was made confirm instead of exit on the playstation controller in the west because people intuitively wanted it to be that way. without any prior learned habits. It makes sense to have the button you use most be the lowest.Nintendo having the A button be higher than the b button actually makes lots of NES games less comfortable to play.

[@CDsNoots]

​@@BugLondona is not higher in nes

[@wchorski]

Then there is me who switches between consoles throughout the week and just hope my muscle memory works in the moment

[@Spearra]

I remember using the PS2 so much that going to a Xbox I kept using the D-pad instead of the stick since Sony has both sticks on the bottom 😂

[@zengwenxin8402]

You forgot SEGA, who just wanted to be the ass different from Nintendo and put A to the left of B initially. As an asian gamer who grow up with Nintendo and old Sony, I felt deeply betrayed when Sony decided to reverse the X and O also in asian contries.

[@SoundToxin]

When you have three in a row like that, having it be A B C does make the most sense. Although if they'd flipped it around to be C B A that might've been fine as well.

[@m8rs558]

They made X confirm? Why?

[@Trianull]

Even though the Steam Deck has the option to use the Nintendo layout, "A" and "B" in the menus still refer to their placement on the deck itself, so whenever I see "A", I still hit B instinctively.

[@hirotrum6810]

who said it first vs who said it louder

[@theologamer]

In nintendo's defense, someone at design DID attempt to compromise with the switch's "bottom, left, right, top button" highlighted icon thingy. Visually it's very clear. But as my comment's clumsiness demonstrates it's pants trying to write or say.

[@wesshiflet2214]

@@theologamer I never liked the nomenclature of the C-buttons, but honestly “C-down, C-left, C-right, C-up” comes off way clearer in text

[@theologamer]

​@wesshiflet2214 oh i agree with you. But that isn't what I'm talking about. Boot up your switch and look at the visual representation on the XYBA buttons on screen; if memory serves (admittedly i don't play much switch), the default schema is to show the all four circles together as hollowed-out circles, but with the intended button as "filled-in" and solid. This was down, to my knowledge, in order to make sure that the joy-cons were visually accurate even when they were rotated from their default position to the one-joycon=one-controller sideways position. If XYBA were printed on them, they would rotate 90 degrees and suddenly be incorrect.

[@madelinehoyle1059]

Great overview. One detail that you're not necessarily wrong about but doesn't give the whole history is the fact that Sega and Microsoft had already been working together for the Dreamcast. When Microsoft was preparing to enter the market with their own console as Sega was exiting, they modeled their controller design completely after the Dreamcast's, including button layout and button style (e.g. check out the dual memory card slots at the top, and the analog triggers with a fairly deep throw). Sega had already flipped the A and B buttons compared to Nintendo's layout since the master system days, and when they simplified from 6 buttons on the Gensis and Saturn down to just 4 on the Dreamcast, that resulted in the layout that you still see today on current-gen Xbox controllers. The Xbox is sort of a Dreamcast 2 from an industrial design standpoint, and it's something worth mentioning when talking about console UI design.

[@hyakin7818]

Sega and microsoft really worked together after it was clear that the dreamcast will die The dreamcast controller layout was basically the layout of all previous sega controllers, after the change to lettered buttons from numbered ones, with just the c, and z buttons removed for simplicity or maybe even to cut costs

[@CRCR0201]

@hyakin7818 The DC controller is more so just the Sega Saturn 3D controller minus c and z. Wouldn't really say the DC controler has a layout similar to that of the SMS, Genesis or Saturn controllers

[@mario4everd]

​@CRCRthats thats not entirely true...if you look at the 6 button genesis controller then the saturns, you can see that the abxy layout is actually already there, which was eventually going to be formed on dreamcast, just a bit more diagonal than usual. The 3d pad was just your usual six button layout with an analogue stick

[@CRCR0201]

@@mario4everd The six button configuration originates from fighting games, which makes sense for the Genesis six button controller since it was meant to play arcade ports (and also keep up with certain more complicated games), and the Saturn, having one of its main selling points being arcade accurate, had that configuration and these buttons were also in a 2- lane configuration with the upper buttons being slightly smaller. The abxy scheme on the DC controller was not a natural evolution from that configuration, as it is clearly inspired by its competitors' slanted button layout. And as for the Saturn 3D Pad part, the analog stick, the dpad, the triggers, the face buttons and the start button share the same location as the Dreamcast controller, with the only differences being the cable's location, the lack of the memory card slot and the 2 extra face buttons.

[@mario4everd]

@CRCR0201 omg you are over complicating it. Just look at where the x, y, a, and b are positioned on a 6 button controller and take away the z and c. If you look at the layout, x is on the left of a, b is on the right of a, and y is above it. It doesnt take rocket science to figure out why sega decided to stick with this letter layout for dreamcast. All you have to do is tilt a 6 button slightly and VIOLA, you have the dreamcast layout of abx and y.

[@Yipper64]

0:25 honestly A should have been at the bottom then instead of Y it'd be B. To keep the same function for where your thumb is. Arguably this is what the gamecube controller did.

[@JustinBumpusBarnett]

So like the N64 *nod*

[@Galaxpider]

The N64 and GameCube perfected the layout but nobody's ready for that conversation

[@radicaltrafficcone8284]

I feel like you can't talk about the xbox without talking about the dreamcast, the dreamcast did that button layout first

[@awesomness6775]

The real question I want answered here is why is the Xbox's Y and X flipped from Nintendo as well? When Xbox was adapting their controller from Nintendo's layout they just decided "Y'know, since this is the Xbox, we should show our love for the letter X by demoting it from the prominent and highest postion and just move it off to the side somewhere."

[@Peteboi64932]

Fun fact: with the wii u gamepad/pro controller and the switch joycons, a being right and not down was a very good idea, and it's very comfortable. now the pro controllers, they're messed up.

[@stevieie2837]

This gets even more screwed up because Nintendo has also been mapping functions usually associated with "confirm", EG "jump", to the lowest button, so Nintendo games often have a seemingly random control scheme depending on what mix of Western and JP players are on the dev team.

[@TheMamaluigi300]

Frankly, they’ve been doing this since the SNES era, with Super Mario World mapping run to Y and jump to B, probably why other consoles ended up mapping A to the bottom button, since that’s where the jump button used to be mapped, and thus they decided to make that main button the A button

[@illustriouschin]

Y as run or shoot and B as jump is the most ergonomic layout.

[@wesshiflet2214]

@@TheMamaluigi300 that should have tipped them off that the layout was a mistake lol

[@donstarlancer]

Nintendo set the standard so everyone else is reversed

[@Seajack64]

Pushing Nintendo to change to a worse ABXY layout for standardisation is like a bunch of kids who pee in pools peer pressuring the one kid who doesn't pee in pools... Also no, the Sony button symbols are from the Japanese cultural usage of those shapes in things like marking grades: ◯ - Correct, Yes, Confirm (equivalent to ✓) ╳ - Incorrect, No, Reject △ - Partial marks, Partially, Caution (equivalent to ⍻ which also isn't typically used) □ - Empty, Missing, Blank (equivalent to _ or ?) Sony mistakenly believed that the usage of ◯╳△□ symbols were universal, leading to the confused reception outside of Japan. Objectively, Nintendo's original ABXY (and Sony's intended usage of ◯╳△□) is the better layout with the thumb resting on the 'Back/No/Reject' button and is consistent with design best practices for almost anything. When affirmative/negative binary options are presented to a user ('Yes/No', 'Agree/Disagree', 'On/Off', 'Guilty/Not Guilty'), good design assumes the default state as negative until affirmative input.

[@wesshiflet2214]

All ABXY layouts are wrong. If we were to devise an ABXY layout for the same lineage that includes the NES/Famicom and N64, it should be Y on top, B on the left, X on the right, and A on bottom. The fact that Super Mario World is *NOT* A to jump betrays this reality.

[@jorgeparrales7108]

​@@wesshiflet2214 I mean, you can jump with A, it's just a different type of jump, in Mario All-Stars they could let you change how it worked even if it was planned for X and Y to be the comfortable buttons for running

[@wesshiflet2214]

@@jorgeparrales7108 dass a spin jump

[@dhgmrz17]

I disagree, video games menus have you confirm way more often than you cancel. Video games are not built like computer software where you don't want a user confirming something they didn't intent to. I've played Japanese games on the PlayStation and hate the O being confirm, because the X button I find is needed the most and cancel is least used button when traversing menus and dialogue.

[@Seajack64]

@@dhgmrz17 The accelerator pedal in a car is used the most, but design best practices still puts the brake pedal as the default. Not all video games follow best practices in their design, but those with good design do. Hitting B to speed up dialogue, then using A to proceed is very common and by design mitigates accidental dismissal of dialogue, while still allowing a player to speed through dialogue by sliding over B and A. I suspect significant but largely unnoticed part of the issue is what kind of grip the controller is designed to be comfortable with. The XBox controller is designed for only one default grip to be comfortable: - right thumb extended over X and A - bumper and trigger designed share a single finger The Switch Pro controller is designed for comfort with multiple grips: - right thumb over B and A - right thumb over B - right thumb over Y and B (equivalent to XBox X and A) - first finger over bumper, second finger over trigger - first finger over bumper and trigger, second finger on grip - etc. (However, the Switch Pro has a design flaw where the distance between Y and A is longer than the distance between X and B, which is a... strange and less comfortable choice.) I can't speak to the PS5 controller as it's been too long since I've held one. Personally, I find the XBox controller design far too limiting as I prefer a grip that allows for my right thumb default to switch between YB and BA as needed with first finger on bumper and second finger on trigger, which just isn't comfortable on Xbox.

[@todesziege]

Xbox copied the Sega/Dreamcast layout (except for button colors), not the PlayStation or Nintendo. Also note that the PS buttons translate to numbers: circle is 1 line, cross 2 lines, triangle 3 and square 4, so it perfectly mimics the SNES controller layout (the PS1 controller was just an off-brand SNES controller with horns after all, a holdover for when it was developed as a SNES add-on I assume).

[@EireProductions]

What's very interesting is that, in the vast majority of platforming games on the SNES (I'll use _Super Mario World_ as an example), B is the jump button, and Y is the run/fireball/cape-whip button, which means that even Nintendo knew that the bottom button is the most comfortable to rest your thumb on. That's not to say there aren't SNES games that use A to jump (I know _Super Metroid_ does), but I thought it was worth mentioning.

[@jamiek8123]

and then there's those of us with the GameCube controller who know what a superior controller is like, and that these cross shaped button layouts are just silly, and that the A button belongs in the middle

[@Refreshment01]

i came to the solution for this problem since the end of the snes era. For example, in a nintendo controller you got the dpad to the left. And to the right the 4 face buttons. Just label the 4 face buttons triangle up, triangle left, etc. Or arrow up, arrow down, etc. Just different from the dpad. This way you retain the directional theme everyone is familiar with but just differentiate the first icon. Either a triangle, arrow or whatever pointy symbol you want to use.

[@RouxTheKitsune]

Nintendo isn't reversed. The Xbox is reversed. Sony is reversed

[@tomshatt5440]

It's also worth mentioning that the back button on many ps1 and ps2 games was triangle. It wasn't until ps3 where playstation standardized circle being the back button. This took a while to get used to and I'm someone who played playstation my whole life.

[@12DAMDO]

people always talk about the X and O buttons, and its Japanese symbolism, but rarely about the fact that it all started with NES so, great video.. didn't learn anything new btw, but still educational to those who didn't know also side note: X and Y are axis on the GameCube and like another commenter said, Xbox mapping was inspired by Dreamcast

[@kylespevak6781]

They created the standard. Everyone else deviated

[@UltravioletNomad]

Two other things to consider are 1) In Japanese you read right to left, matching the layout of the controller 2) the shapes on the PlayStation controller also represent numbers, base on the amount of lines each shape has. Circle is one, cross is 2, etc.

[@Monsuco]

I still don't understand why Nintendo's X and Y buttons are reversed EXCEPT with the GameCube controller. The way that the Dreamcast, Xbox & GameCube controllers were laid out meant that if you were going to hit the x button you would move your thumb left along the x-axis and if you were going to hit the y button you would move your thumb up along the y-axis. The SNES did the reverse of this & the DS/3DS, Wii Classic Controller, Wii U controller & Switch all basically just decided to follow the SNES layout rather than the GameCube layout. The GameCube controller decided to move the x button right instead of left but it's kind of the same idea.

[@ParodyKnaveBob]

The GCN is still reversed. Y to the left, X to the right.

[@jackofallgamesTV]

Another problem is when we're switching from joysticks to pads. If you start with the Sega Genesis they put their main button on B and had an auxiliary button on C and a tertiary button on a. However if you are used to playing arcade sticks the index finger button is always Your main select button so therefore it would be 1 on the Sega Master System and A on the Sega Genesis. And that's before you throw in the fact that Sega used to be an American company before 1983 and were very familiar with and thought everyone preferred right-handed joysticks which everyone did until Nintendo gas lit everyone. They're official joystick model was right-handed joystick but the problem is they didn't swap the buttons to mirror the left-handed arrangement of their pad. So their main button button one became the middle finger button which became obviously painful when you're playing R type on the master system, rapid firing with your middle finger and calling out your helper with the main button is very backwards on a right-handed joystick. So no one won as far as that was concerned. The Americans who are used to right handed joysticks were stymied by the reverse layout, but with the pad had to play left-handed. And that's before you factor in the fact that Sega of Japan and Sega of America were at loggerheads about many issues one of them being right-handed versus left-handed. If you look at Sega of America's prototype for the Genesis pad it was kind of like maracas except it didn't have motion control therefore it was intended to be an ambidextrous pad where you could move with the left hand or the right and buttons with the other. That's why early Sega Genesis games let you choose any function to be A B or C. That was apparently dropped when Sega went six button, and no longer became a requirement of the Sega Genesis system.

[@fishactivation5087]

A > accept B > back

[@jackofallgamesTV]

Why would you put the A as accept button on the place that has your middle finger the A button when the B button has your index finger which is your primary pushing and pointing finger? The whole changeover from Fight Sticks to pads in the 8-bit era caused a lot of these troubles.

[@BigAssBalls]

@@jackofallgamesTVwhat kind of grip do you have on your controllers to be using your index and middle fingers on face buttons? your thumb rocks around the four buttons, especially on nintendo's most modern controllers it's very comfortable and becomes natural to slide between the two

[@jalipeno97]

completely disregarding how the sega megadrive (genesis for the yanks) came out before the snes and while it has 3 face buttons (a b c), a is the lowest and leftmost one additionally when the 6btn md controller released, it placed 3 additional buttons (x y z) over the existing 3. if you take away the c and z buttons from that layout, youll see what we nowadays associate with xbox, with a on the bottom, b on the right, x on the left and y on top

[@todesziege]

On the Mega Drive pad, C or B would typically be the primary button though, with A having a tertiary function (or in many games just duplicating the function of C).

[@jalipeno97]

@todesziege ive seen it vary alot on the md, it really just depended on the developer like in phantasy star 2 which ive been playimg recently: a: talk to people/skip dialogue b: cancel c: open/navigate menus

[@todesziege]

@@jalipeno97 There are some exceptions, like Phantasy Star, but I'd say the vast majority uses B or C as primary. When playing Master System games on the Mega Drive pad buttons 1 and 2 will translate to B and C.

[@jalipeno97]

@@todesziege true, but my point really was that we dont have alternate face button layouts for any particular reason, with the exception of sony and microsoft who took inspiration for their layouts from nintendo and sega respectively. the labelling of buttons you wont be looking at doesnt matter all that much at the end of the day and the real reason they remain different is for branding purposes

[@todesziege]

@@jalipeno97 You're not wrong. And yeah, function was always based on a button's _placement,_ not the symbol written on it.

[@FoxMcCloud3173]

The way I remember it, 3/4, if not all 4 face buttons on the SNES controller do the same thing when you get to a certain point on menus, no matter which one you press it’ll always select the option, sometimes I wanna go back in a menu by pressing B and it goes further into the menu instead, same goes for X and Y. At least this is how it happens on NSO lol

[@ParodyKnaveBob]

@@FoxMcCloud3173 I'd love to know games' menus *you've* been facing.

[@ParodyKnaveBob]

@@FoxMcCloud3173 I'm setting up that my experience is SNES menus where 2-3 main face buttons do 2 different thi gs in general. I'm literally asking what games you've seen where B, A, Y, and X all do the same in SNES menus (bc I don't recall any except maybe _Killer Instinct_ ).

[@nxx99]

What kinda menus are you seeing?

[@FoxMcCloud3173]

@@ParodyKnaveBob A link to the past and Super Puyo Puyo 2. The DKC trilogy also does this to a lesser extent. Also the fact that you mentioned Killer Instinct (which in fact does this as well) proves that I didn’t just come up with this.

[@ParodyKnaveBob]

@@FoxMcCloud3173 I didn't say you're wrong but that my experience (like this video creator's) differs. Hm, been too long to remember _ALttP,_ and completely unfamiliar with _SPP2._ I only played _DKC_ really, whose only real menu didn't accept face buttons iirc except for secret codes like DYDDY and BARRAL. Sounds like Rare broke from N's menu _status quo_ a lot, though, if other _DKC_ ( _DKL_ ?) games and _KI_ did that. Hm.

[@catholiccontriversy]

Funny thing about the playstation controller and "Americans preferred X over circle, so American ports used X for select and circle for back," the PS2 port of Sonic Heros kept the Japanese "circle for select, X for cancel" convention, and it took my brother and I longer than we care to admit to figure this out. For some reason the game would keep sending us back to the title screen and we couldn't start the game, and even now muscle memory "x to select" causes me to accidentally jump back a menu or 2.

[@missingno2401]

some games didn't even use O as cancel, you had X as confirm and triangle as back

[@nathanmarshall745]

2:55 yeah it does Specifically with the backbone phone controller, it feels like switch joycons so i keep accidentally pressing B to confirm

[@supdan]

This comments section is hilarious. If there was only one button layout, nobody would think about it. I've grown up with all 3 major companies. All layouts are great. Stop fussin.

[@knatkniht]

The absolute ignorance people have to say that nintendo does it backwards when they invented the whole format

[@wesshiflet2214]

If anything, Xbox does it _backwards._ Nintendo does it _rotated_ lol

[@chris1229sonic]

Yeah but its 3 controllers with the new buttons nintendo is the only one doing it weird

[@knatkniht]

@@chris1229sonic 3 controllers?

[@chris1229sonic]

Xbox ,ps, and steam deck

[@knatkniht]

@@chris1229sonic okay, and why wouldn't they be?

[@original__gmebvy]

This is also why Japanese PlayStation consoles and Japanese PS games have X as no and O as yes. In the West, aka anywhere outside of Japan, the functionality of those two buttons were reversed. And it’s been that way since the beginning

[@Kaitou1412Fangirl]

That explains why 99% of JRPGs use triangle for menus. Also, FFVII used O for select and X to back out. Tripped me up alot. XD

[@GraysonicYT]

Fun fact, the Xbox actually just took Dreamcast button layout just changed the colors around And the Dreamcast face buttons was the Saturns with C and Z cut off so actually the reverse buttons was a coincidence

[@artbanks27]

Nintendo did it first and everyone else recersed it to avoid getting sued by big boi Kirby.

[@PabbyPabbles]

1:30 and because of that one focus group that one time, every SNES kid is forever getting messed up in every game, because $100m+ games that let you rebind _every other fricking button_ won't let you put Confirm and Cancel in their right places 80% of the time, and even more frustrating, it'll usually be put back the right way if you switch to Japanese. ... and for those who remember, the XBOX360 era had a _lot_ of quicktime events, that'd flash you something like "A!" and give you half a second to react At least Steam lets you hop into an extra layer of controller rebinding where you can do whatever tf you want with buttons instead of being restricted to what the devs thought a western gamer ought to enjoy, and yes I took the time to entirely reverse the Elden Ring control scheme just so I could stop wasting items and exiting out of the menu when I didn't mean to.

[@hewiebecker6165]

My first system was a Nintendo64 and even though I've owned different systems all my life and excluding very specifically muscle in specific games, I can't claim to have memorised any of the controller button layouts. Except of course for my Nintendo64

[@TheRythimMan]

I switch between Nintendo controller and Xbox controller so frequently the different layouts don't bother me. It also helps that the type of games I play with the Nintendo controller are different than I play on PC with an Xbox controller so my muscle memory is tied more to the game than the system or controller.

[@TheFlick175]

Before and After

[@zachjones4551]

The steam deck probably has the Nintendo remap option cuz it’s easier to press the right button on controllers that don’t have thighs aka switch and steam deck

[@PJNyte]

I'm used to it now, but i always thought it was stupid for X to confirm and O as cancel/back, literally reversed. Also, using an xbox layout on the switch throws me off sometimes, lol, since I mostly used the Nintendo layout in my life

[@8bitnation419]

The layout is same on Japanese PlayStations. Circle is yes and X is no. So to a Japanese person the Xbox to them is the no box. Also the layout of the Xbox controller is the same as the Dreamcast controller, Duke is similar in size to the DC controller and the Triggers are analogue on both controllers.

[@davidaitken8503]

Sega and Microsoft are the whole reason why I struggle so much with those rhythm games in Wanted Dead. Nintendo's controllers aren't the ones that are backwards as they were first. Everyone else should have followed suit, but idiots always have to make things more complicated for everyone.🙄

[@meikaishi]

Baffling to see so many people calling the original layout "reversed", its everyone else who are using the reverse layout, hell in Sony's case it was literally reversed from how it is in Japan

[@mikoswhackgameandstuffvids480]

I memorize the button layouts for Nintendo and PlayStation. Whenever i play Xbox i have to look at the controller because i just can't memorize it haha

[@knatkniht]

Nintendo switch DOES allow complete button-mapping on a system level. I get that this doesnt fix prompts in-game, but they do allow it.

[@dragonslayer3552]

I personally dont mind that, you get used to it very easily honestly even after you haven't played on Nintendo for a while it still feels natural What i hate about the controller is the left stick being up like in XBox... The playstation controller is the absolute best for that reason, the stick being up literally doesn't make sense as in order to use the arrows you have to let go of the stick, meanwhile you can use both the stick and the arrows if the stick is down due to the bottom of the thum using the stick while the top uses the arrows

[@captainjimo]

i have this weird case where i have played a bit on pc with xbox controller, but i also played Monster Hunter on the 3ds (and other DS / 3DS games). Because of this i play monster hunter World/rise/wilds on pc with the nintendo layout, but everything else with the xbox layout. And often when i switch from some game to monster hunter or vise versa i need time to adjust what buttons i'm pressing to confirm / deny

[@LightyKD_]

Aaaaannnndddd THIS is why I use GameCube layout controllers for GameCube, Wii U, Switch and Steam. No having to relearn where my buttons are at 🤣

[@bland9876]

I emulated a few PlayStation one games and they usually use Cross from going into menus and Triangle for backing out wtf?

[@_Silly]

For me it depends on the shape of the controller for which layout feels better.

[@peacemaker9807]

That moment when you realize a on Nintendo and b on Xbox, and whatever the heck it is on ps (not bothering to look), means nothing. It's same location on the controller.

[@darkcoeficient]

Whoever complains about Nintendo's button layout is either a big baby in diapers or play stupid.

[@giganticmoon]

nintendo controls were never reversed. they were the original, and then playstation changed them

[@Altefkatr]

*Western PlayStation changed them

[@bisapien123]

always bugged me in sonic mega plus’s versions of the original games, when x would take you back to the start. Still does tbh. I have the ps4 version with amy, but I have a retroscaler 2x and it eliminates dithering from composite but doesn’t take in hdmi so yeah

[@ImmacHn]

Nintendo has the correct layout 😅

[@ivanangelov8825]

This is getting out of hand. When I play game ported to PC from xbox and it says press A, I am confused, since I use knock-off ps style controller, that even the shapes are not what they should be. And it is fatal when I don't have controller at all. Pressing keyboard button A doesn't cut it.

[@baratacom]

Americans when someone did something before them: we did the same but different and now everyone else is wrong

[@benreay6698]

look again at a Dreamcast controller and then look again at the Duke controller and tell me again that the Xbox controller is somehow based off of the playstation. the Xbox clearly uses the SEGA button layout, only with C and Z missing, that's been used since the Genesis.

[@SoundToxin]

On PS3 and Vita I would enable circle to confirm like the Japanese layout as I was used to Nintendo stuff and preferred that. Sadly I heard with the PS5 they standardized on the American layout globally (but I believe there's an accessibility option to swap the buttons still). I think the two Japanese companies should've stuck together with that one same layout, and who cares what Xbox wants to do. Interestingly a lot of the Chinese handhelds made for emulation also use a Nintendo layout, such as Anbernic's devices. A is on the right and it confirms, though you can change that on the software side in settings for EmulationStation if you don't like it. I am pretty used to the Xbox layout also from playing on PC and Steam Deck with controller a fair bit, but if we're standardizing on one layout I really would still prefer the Nintendo or Japanese PlayStation layout. On the subject of labels being reversed between Nintendo and Xbox, for trying to refer to face buttons in a generic way, I find it best to either use the cardinal directions (North, East, etc.) or the PlayStation labels just to avoid people asking "which A". I've got leverless arcade controllers that can be in an XInput mode and a Switch mode and it swaps which button is A/confirm which can be a little confusing since you're using the exact same hardware. I'd also like to see symmetrical stick layouts standardized on controllers. I grew up with GameCube and a bit of Xbox 360, but I still think the stick should be symmetrical. It looks better and makes more sense to me. Plus I like having the dpad more easily accessible. The Wii Classic controller, Wii U Pro controller, Steam Deck, and DualShock controllers all have fine layouts. The Steam Deck's idea to put the sticks and dpad next to each other is a pretty cool and creative way to kinda please everyone.

[@favgameisundertale1912]

Yooo is that an Um Actually board game?! Let's go!!!

[@seanelmlinger2052]

I had no idea of this…

[@jBM7420]

why would Nintendo put B before A in the first place? If it's because you were meant to use the right most button more then why not just have B be the most used button? I don't see any major problem with that

[@BahuschBahusch]

1. Japanese reading direction 2. Emphasizing importance through alphabetical order

[@TumoFiji]

Great video. Straightforward, concise, and thorough. Thanks for great simple content.

[@SquallyCoin5664]

Sega Dreamcast predates and uses the same layout as the Xbox.

[@anasbakhit4303]

I love how Nintendo fanboys immediately came to the video in defense of Nintendo ways for the controllers. it doesn't freaking matter whose right or reverse. if atari or Nintendo normalized the current traditional controllers layout, then Sony also normalized the twin sticks idea that became the standard today, in the end everyone's win! it doesn't matter, I grew up with the Playstation controllers and because of the brain memory of where is each button is without looking at the controller I just have no problem at all when holding an Xbox, Nintendo or PC third party controllers they all function the same especially on multiplatforms, meaning if I for an example played Sonic X Shadow Generation across ps5, ps4, XSX/Xbox One or even freaking Steam Deck the button layout is exactly the same without looking down at the controllers etc. also fun fact: due to the brain memory, most people who got used on playing rhythm games on Sony's platforms, when they went playing them on the switch they got confused and ask for a patch to adds Playstation controller button symbols as an optional feature, few games did that like the Hatsune Miku series on the switch. the only time I got an odd feeling while holding a controller was the Xbox 360's. because I got used to the Playstation controllers both sticks in the bottom, but I got adjusted to it immediately in a blinks of an eye.

[@Psychof1st]

Either works fine to me. But, I definitely do need a bit of an adjustment period when I go back to playing a Nintendo console. And when I come back to Playstation or Xbox. But, no adjusting is needed between PS and Xbox. So, what do you have say for yourself, Nintendo? Hmm!?

[@rainynight02]

But people do Nintendo control layout just fine... Doesn't make sense to me to switch it. 🤷‍♀️ People adapt.

[@mercuriete]

Your explanation could be right if you didnt miss dreamcast gamepad from the story.

[@DevonBurgess-pr8fg]

I switched my buttons on my x box controller for my PC for games on my PC (I don't have a x box)

[@dra-hauc87]

I'm used to nintendo I just got an Xbox and im struggling

[@Blue_EmeraldX]

I just got a Steam Deck and the Nintendo setting in the options is so unhelpful, because as a result they change the UI to say "A = Back, B = Select," which for me, being used to the mnemonic of "A=accept/accelerate/affirmative, B=back/brake/bad," and is trying to imagine the Deck's A button being on the right, just ends up being more confusing than simply getting used to A being on the bottom. And there's no option to revert the reading of "A = Back" on the Deck's menus, so if you were to get button caps to make it look like a Switch layout, it's still going to be confusing. It's like playing FF7 on the PS1. Sure, you can remap X and O to work like every other PlayStation game, but the maddening thing about FF7 is that the UI and in-game button prompts aren't consistently updated to reflect that, and now it isn't clear what buttons you're really meant to press in certain situations, so you just end up screwing stuff up like the push-up minigame, to the point that ultimately you were just better off leaving it alone.

[@dra-hauc87]

@@Blue_EmeraldX that is crazy

[@pqsk]

I thought this video was going to answer my questions because I was looking at controllers the last few days working on some changes for an open source emulator. My question is why the letters a and b and then x and y. They could’ve been reversed but regardless I’m curious about the label. They could’ve started with y and x or 2 and 1. That’s my question.

[@Tstumpman]

You are missing Sega's influence on the Xbox controller. Just a general lack of Sega info in general.

[@BadringerGronger]

I’m used to both of the control layouts.

[@mrsquiggles1379]

Very informative you may have my sub

[@otakuatarigamer]

Nintendo isn’t “reversed”. They did it first.

[@Shadow8797_YT]

So its an American thing

[@BeforetheStorm.]

Thanks for the explanation 👍

[@kourtiss64]

Nintendo controllers are WAAAAAAAY better than the PS / XBOX ones. No doubt there.

[@wesshiflet2214]

whichever one you have the most experience with is the best one lol. unless you need to use the D-Pad, then PS is the best

[@Blue_EmeraldX]

​​@@wesshiflet2214 I have to agree that I actually prefer the broken-up D-pad of the PlayStation. Everyone nowadays makes such bad D-pads that, because it's one conjoined button, it might read a diagonal direction when you were going for a cardinal direction. Thing is, I don't recall D-pads ever being this bad before; it's just now they've almost all been bad (the one on Steam Deck has been solid, thankfully). Like, Switch Pro Controller's D-pad is terrible. I can hold the right input on the D-pad to go right, but the moment I push forward on that right input, like even press on the upper-right corner of that right button, it registers an up; it's embarrassingly jank. So, ultimately, I just think the broken-up D-pads of PS and the Switch Joy-Con are the way to go from now on.

[@wesshiflet2214]

@ Yeah, conjoined dpads got worse after the sixth generation for some reason

[@SoleTrionfi]

Let's standardize button layouts, but why does Nintendo have to change? they started everything and were the first, so they shouldn't change also they have 3 consoles of the 5 top-selling in the world well PlayStation has 2 and Xbox has 0

[@صهيبسالم-ي5م]

Meh

[@wesshiflet2214]

Because Nintendo screwed up their own system. You ever try to play an NES or N64 game with the ABXY diamond? Obviously B should be on the left and A should be on the bottom.

[@SoleTrionfi]

@@wesshiflet2214 You completely skip over the SNES? The NES was one of the first consoles to happen after the video game crash, so they had to make it simple also, for the n64 3d was a new thing at the time, so they were trying everything Your precious PlayStation did not even have an analog stick so you could say every 3d PlayStation game is a bust with modern controllers since they only allow 8 directions of movement. Just play on original hardware and theres no problem.

[@wesshiflet2214]

@SoleTrionfi I’m not skipping over the SNES. I consider the SNES layout a mistake. It breaks the pattern and the cross-compatibility Nintendo otherwise had across their other 3 first home consoles. It’s a pain to play games from the other three with a SNES or Pro controller unless you remap, bc B is where your thumb would normally rest to press A, and Y is where your thumb would normally rock to press B.

[@SoleTrionfi]

@@wesshiflet2214 Playstation switched their confirm buttons too. Just use the original controllers that's how they were meant to be played. If i had to play n64 games with an Xbox controller, I just think you should stop cheapening out when you already have enough money to buy ps5 (which I don't)

[@DioBrando-qr6ye]

Of course American arrogance knows no bounds. Yes, we should standatdize. No, it's not Nintendo that has to change.

[@Bookableclaw]

0:10ayo

[@pinabo]

Franchement... on s'en fou non ? Du moment que le jeu est jouable j'en ai rien a foutre de savoir le pourquoi du A du B du moment que je peux les reconnaître rapidement. J'ai aucun problème a basculer entre une manette xbox et switch, faut juste arrêter de croire qu'il n'y a qu'un seul schéma unique et meilleur pour tout mec

[@SmartCreeper456]

Nintendo is the og. Why are the xbox controllers reversed???

[@Randomninja47]

Nintendo's layout is better. That's just how it is. Everyone else should change to what Nintendo is doing and small brain gamers who can't figure it out will just have to adapt or die out.

[@wesshiflet2214]

both layouts suck. It should go Y on top, B on the left, X on the right, A on the bottom. Nintendo should have realized they were wrong when they made B the jump button in Super Mario World.

[@Randomninja47]

@@wesshiflet2214 I don't follow your logic? Hold Y to run, B to jump. And your control layout is worse

[@wesshiflet2214]

@@Randomninja47 Yeah, so you have to remap B to Y and A to B when playing an NES, N64 or Gamecube game on a controller with the SNES layout. That’s how they should have known it was an inferior decision. The SNES layout breaks the pattern and breaks compatibility.

[@wesshiflet2214]

The Super Nintendo controller is objectively wrong. B should be on the left, A should be on the bottom. They should have known something was wrong when they made Super Mario World and made it B to jump.

[@wesshiflet2214]

I see a lot of comments saying “having cancel/back on the bottom, the easiest button to reach, is optimal design. If you’re going to have accidental menu inputs it should be cancel, not confirm” but that rationale makes no sense to me. I understand why that would be a good design principle for SOME software, even some games, but not _most_ games. You’re going to be using the “confirm” input way, wayyy more, and the consequences for an accidental confirm aren’t any harsher than the consequences for an accidental cancel.

[@LurkingWeb]

That's why the Gamecube layout is best.

[@MarioGreco]

A should be at the bottom, B should be on the left. Done.

[@moddedinkling4168]

Nintendo doesn't have to change. Everyone else does. I don't mean to be a diehard Nintendo fan, but they did it first.

[@wesshiflet2214]

Nintendo screwed up their own system, though. The SNES layout doesn’t mesh with NES or N64 games, because they should have put B on the left, A on the bottom. SMW kinda proves this… why is it B to jump???

[@jackofallgamesTV]

No they did not do it first Atari did it first with a right-handed joystick. The switchover to left-handed was deliberate by the Japanese industry because Americans swept the pre-crash video game championships and Americans were offered choice of hands right from the start whereas the Japanese were forced with left-handed joysticks. Also the move from sticks to pads caused issues. Why would people say that the index finger button or leftmost button assuming you're joystick is left-handed Is that the default button but your middle finger button is? 😊

[@moddedinkling4168]

@@jackofallgamesTV This has nothing to do with the rotated orientation of the Super Famicom face buttons. Besides, the Atari 2600 is a terrible example because of the lack of standardized control methods at the time. Atari didn't even bother continuing with this design when they created the 5200 controller, which was symmetrical.

[@jackofallgamesTV]

@@moddedinkling4168 This shows off the very multifaceted tapestry of how game controls involved. I grew up playing video games during the era of ambidextrity. I grew up in an era where the good things about the controllers were they were ambidextrous but the bad things about the controls is that they were so painful to handle that if you play at the same game for more than 20 minutes you're going to learn to be ambidextrous whether you want to be or not. There are two changes going on at the same time First was the change from ambidextrity to force left-handedness proposed by Nintendo and other Japanese companies. I hear no one complaining about the force left-handed except literally me. But there was a second issue going on, The switch from arcade stick to pads. I always found Super Mario Bros to be backwards because your main button should be your jump button and your auxiliary should be the run. The problem is if you're using a joystick the main button is your index finger button which is always on the inside of the panel which for left-handed joystick is the leftmost button. While simultaneously if you're holding a thumb pad your outermost area is where the thumb most naturally rests hence why the jump button is A on the right of the control because your thumb rests easier on the outside of the controller compared to the inside. Look at the Sega Master System. They were recent immigrants from America coming to Japan. Yes, Sega started out as an American company owned by the same Gulf and Western that owned Paramount Pictures. They came in the video game industry through the American side so therefore they had different presuppositions about the gaming public. The original controller for the SG-1000 was ambidextrous, And their American model for an SMS joystick was still right-handed. The problem with the SMS American joystick was that the buttons were reversed so that your main button was now on the middle finger. But Sega's numbering system assumed your main button would be on your index finger therefore 1 is to the left of 2. Sega was a mishmash of American and Japanese interest at around that time not communicating well with each other coming to a head during the Genesis / Mega Drive era. I'm surprised no one insignally thoughts Oh you press the confirm button with your your main index finger therefore the bottom most button or leftmost button the A button would be the correct button for most people. That would be true for people who default to joysticks but I do agree that if you default to pads the outside button would be the correct button.

[@fossiltortoise]

Called nintendo switch cos they switched the controls