I've flyash in my damn socks

Sony actually didn’t lift the idea for their X from Nintendo, they actually tried to make their own symbols and I love the original concept a lot. Sony was originally working WITH Nintendo to make the playstation, but Nintendo backed out somewhere in the prototype phase, leaving Sony with a practically working console and a lot of money lost on R&D. So they just decided to change it a bit and sell it themselves. Part of this process was completely designing a new controller, since the old one was basically just an snes controller. During this process they added the now-standard handles, but they also placed a particular focus on the face buttons specifically because they did not want to copy Nintendo’s design. I want to say they probably weren’t even legally allowed to just use ABXY in the formation nintendo used too, but I also don’t want to look for any patents to confirm rn. It’s just a guess supported by other companies actually copying them later but still changing the homework a lil.

Regardless, instead of ABXY, they actually decided to use symbols to represent different functions in the game, with the hope that it could be more intuitive for beginner gamers. So the square and triangle buttons are supposed to be the “menu/map” and “action” buttons respectfully. The symbols represent the inputs because a menu or a map are squares or at least rectangles and the triangle looks like an A for action. If you go back and play early ps1 games a lot of them follow these rules, but not always, read the manual. Similarly, circle and cross, or “batsu” and “maru” in Japan, are symbols that represent accept/correct or deny/incorrect and are already culturally established symbols, used for grading papers, filling out forms, in game shows, etc. So in Japanese games, they actually click through menus with circle and back out with cross, at least up until ps5 where sony decided to swap the functions over there as well, to conform to the west. The placement and functions of the cross and circle buttons is the same as the A and B buttons on an snes controller, making the transition to their new console easier for established gamers. It also makes sense because it’s literally just a weird snes controller with legs.

You may have noticed that X, as we call it over here, is usually the confirm button though and that’s because uhhhhh. No one seems to agree why? It can be assumed that Sony of America and Europe both agreed that the symbolism wouldn’t translate well, but the alternative doesn’t seem much better to me personally? But some say they decided that X marks the spot and 0(zero) or null would parse better to westerners, others say it was so X was was just in an easier to access space for people so they didn’t hit back on accident, I’ve seen some people say it’s because the blue button means good and the red button means bad but. It’s pink. That’s all conjecture though. I can’t find any sort of official statement about it and I’m not sure anyone has asked and received an answer. Regardless, them swapping the functions is the second step in the fuckery we have today, after sony japan already added a symbol that looks like an X in the first place.

The next step in the fuckery was sega with the dreamcast. They had decided to use ABXY like Nintendo, colored them the same as the snes in Japan, but swapped the a+b and x+y positions and the colors around. This wouldn’t have really been a problem since hardly anyone bought one, except later microsoft decided to copy them for their controller layout on the xbox, keeping the positions of the ABXY buttons as the dreamcast had them, but switching the colors again. But Microsoft also decided to copy Sony America for where the confirm and deny buttons are, making them A to confirm at the bottom and B to deny on the right side, which actually sort of also mimicked A to accept and B to deny on nintendo, but they’re in the wrong spots.