Why is it that A, B, Y, X are the buttons on the gamepad?

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SS1o7crazydude

SS1o7crazydude

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Have you ever wondered why is it those buttons A, B, Y, X? Why can't it be the first 4 letters on the gamepad A, B, C, D? Same with Xbox, it is A, B, Y, X. Why were those buttons selected? Is there a reason behind it?
 
A&B where orginally used because they are first two in the alphabet. X&Y have a nice flow together because they are associated with genetics. No other two letters are together like they are
 
Well, it was the original. A child learns the alphabet early in life, so it is only right. However, since play station could not use this due to patents, They used shapes, also universal. In my opinion, shapes were better because they are easier to remembe. In games like hatsune miku project marai, you have to remember where x, y, a, and b are. I always messed up when it came to to press x and y because i had to look first before going for them. Hard mode, was truly hard
 
In the case of Nintendo I don't know the reason, but it is something related to what @ultra said. In the case of X and Y, it can be because of 2D planes (which I doubt since their location is swapped).

In case of Xbox controller, they just copied the Dreamcast controller.
 
Well the saga is A,B,C,D
 
Well at first (Gameboy, Gameboy Advance, NES), there were only two buttons, A and B.
And you may already wonder "why is A on the right? it makes BA instead of AB". Well, because it makes sense that A is more of a main button than B, and it makes sense to have the main button closer to the thumb that will press it.
6947_1472218177_57c04441b0503.jpg

They tilted the buttons a bit on their handhelds to reduce the distance between B and your thumb.
6947_1472218186_57c0444a0f000.png

Then they needed two more buttons (SNES) but still wanted the A and B buttons to keep their original purposes (when navigating for example, you always validate with A and cancel with B), that's why they kept A to the right, B to the left a little bit below, and added the two new buttons above them (in a cross shape) so that A and B are still the closest ones to your thumb.
And to emphasize the fact that these two new buttons were an addition to the classic A and B ones, and not a "we went from 2 to 4 and forget about your habits", they visually grouped them on the controller and didn't name them C and D.
SNES-Controller-Flat_resized.jpg

Also notice that this YX-BA pattern happens when you mod a gameboy case to add two buttons to it to play SNES games with it on retropie. You're left with BA at the bottom and YX necessarily above.
game-boy-zero-ed2_resized.jpg

And nowadays, not only there is little reason to change names everyone know, but it's still true that A and B are the main buttons used for navigating, and X and Y are additional buttons. So the name isn't likely to change. Even the Gamecube controller which doesn't have a cross shape still has the "main buttons in diagonal" pattern with two additional buttons.
6947_1472218312_57c044c8e5698.png
 
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Wow! You know a lot about the controller history!!
 
I think the better question is, why do the Playstation controllers have, Square, Cross, Circle, and Triangle as their buttons. (no srsly why do they have those?)
 
Well at first (Gameboy, Gameboy Advance, NES), there were only two buttons, A and B.
And you may already wonder "why is A on the left? it makes BA instead of AB". Well, because it makes sense that A is more of a main button than B, and it makes sense to have the main button closer to the thumb that will press it.
6947_1472218177_57c04441b0503.jpg

They tilted the buttons a bit on their handhelds to reduce the distance between B and your thumb.
6947_1472218186_57c0444a0f000.png

Then they needed two more buttons (SNES) but still wanted the A and B buttons to keep their original purposes (when navigating for example, you always validate with A and cancel with B), that's why they kept A to the right, B to the left a little bit below, and added the two new buttons above them (in a cross shape) so that A and B are still the closest ones to your thumb.
And to emphasize the fact that these two new buttons were an addition to the classic A and B ones, and not a "we went from 2 to 4 and forget about your habits", they visually grouped them on the controller and didn't name them C and D.
View attachment 14923

Also notice that this YX-BA pattern happens when you mod a gameboy case to add two buttons to it to play SNES games with it on retropie. You're left with BA at the bottom and YX necessarily above.
View attachment 14924

And nowadays, not only there is little reason to change names everyone know, but it's still true that A and B are the main buttons used for navigating, and X and Y are additional buttons. So the name isn't likely to change. Even the Gamecube controller which doesn't have a cross shape still has the "main buttons in diagonal" pattern with two additional buttons.
6947_1472218312_57c044c8e5698.png
How is super mario world on the gameboy?
 
  • #12
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Wow! You know a lot about the controller history!!
Well I grew up seeing those so that's easy :p
Obviously, people whose first consoles were 3DS and Wii U were presented with ABXY roughly on the same level and can wonder why the names. But even on Wii controllers (the Wii Classic ones, Pro or not), AB and XY are different (transparent/solid).
How is super mario world on the gameboy?
I don't like Mario games in general so I guess any answer I'd give here wouldn't be satisfying :p
 
  • #14
Im not sure why but it just seems normal because when using a ps4 for the first time controls are difficult
 
  • #15
I have always heard the x and y were selected because, when games began to have a 3D perspective and more buttons were needed, x and y were chosen because they correspond to the x and y planes in 3D or even 2D games. Thus, the x button is often used to gain vertical distance (e.g. jumping in Smash Bros.), although this is not always the case.
 
  • #16
The other question still unanswered is why xbox is a b y x. Is it them trying to copy Nintendo? Probably, considering the colors of the 360 buttons are the same as the snes controller, exept mixed around. The x and y are just swapped.
 
  • #17
They use these things, like shapes and letters because they are easy to understand and name even for little children. Everyone knows square and it helps children remember such things and appeals to them. Shapes and letters have already been used by Nintendo and PlayStation, therefore Xbox has nothing left to use except something like pictures. This, however, can be seen as extra childish and may not appeal to older teens and adults (having to call out, "Rapidly tap teddy-bear!"
 
  • #18
Bart in preschool

Bart: A,B,C.... line"

Teacher: D

Bart: E.... line

Teacher: F Bart. You will be getting plenty of those.

The Simpsons.
 
  • #19
How is super mario world on the gameboy?
It's a port and you don't need the XY buttons for Mario.
 
  • #20
Bart in preschool

Bart: A,B,C.... line"

Teacher: D

Bart: E.... line

Teacher: F Bart. You will be getting plenty of those.

The Simpsons.
OK, you necroposted to a very old post
 
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