Why does Nintendo reverse A and B on their controller?

[winb83]

Xbox and PlayStation get it right. Nintendo has to be stubborn about it or maybe that’s just this Pro controller on the Switch. It just feels unnatural.

 

[Gizmo_Duck]

Xbox and PlayStation get it right. Nintendo has to be stubborn about it or maybe that’s just this Pro controller on the Switch. It just feels unnatural.

Because Japan

 

[daze23]

I think they stick with it for compatibility with their legacy titles

but it definitely throws me off

 

[tripleaamin]

Because Japan

Basically this. They view O as confirm and for Nintendo that’s A. X as cancel which is B for Nintendo. Obvious here we view the opposite. You can see this in persona 5 strikers iirc since they didn’t adjust the confirm and cancel on the English version on.

Tho tbh Snes had the same layout. Granted they didn’t go back to the 4 button layout till the Wii U iirc. And Xbox and PlayStation have had theirs since their first console.

 

[Wild self]

Super Nintendo

Come to think about it, the next Switch called the SUPER NINTENDO SWITCH would sell like mad

 

[NZA]

edit: i think they made alphabetical hierarchy starting where the thumb naturally rests on a controller, which is to the far right and down low. the most awkward part of the controller would be high and to the {left}, which is Y. when it came time to add a second row of letters, that is probably why B+A stayed on the bottom

 

[feelosofer]

i think they made alphabetical hierarchy starting where the thumb naturally rests on a controller, which is to the far right and down low. the most awkward part of the controller would be high and to the right, which is Y. when it came time to add a second row of letters, that is probably why B+A stayed on the bottom

This is the correct answer.

I don't even think a lot of gamers realize the NES and Super NES controllers were prototyped by high end engineers and the letter buttons were designed and referenced in a way that would maximize the hands natural positioning and movement.

 

[Illuminatos]

Y’all remember when the back button used to be Triangle back on PS1/PS2?

 

[Hitman's Shades]

I always thought it was a holdover from Japan because they read text right to left.

 

[ORDER_66]

I had not noticed this until OP mentioned it...

 

[Why-Fi]

iirc that layout might be protected. the workaround ended up making more sense

 

[MrLogic]

it's been like that since NES

Maybe culture reasons

 

[Allen Poe]

I always thought it was a holdover from Japan because they read text right to left.

 

[CarltonJunior]

Y’all remember when the back button used to be Triangle back on PS1/PS2?

This was a hard adjustment for me for many years until probably the PS4 era.

Now I'm struggling with select buttons no longer being standard and pressing that shyt on accident all the time and taking screenshots and shyt

 

[Black_Jesus]

Japanese reads from right to left