@The_Nintendo_Pedant No, I just say that Microsoft came up with the AB(C)/XY(Z) before. And the Duke has almost no similarity to the Dreamcast controller, except that both controllers have the 4 button layout. It is more a fusion of the Sidewinder and a traditional PS/Nintendo controller.
And I don't know how you hold your thumb on the controller, but mine usually rests on two buttons at once. For me that is a row.
@The_Nintendo_Pedant The problem with your theory is that Microsoft's first gamepad, the Sidewinder from year 2000, didn't look anything like a Dreamcast controller. This was a cheap Saturn knockoff. And there they already introduced (copied) the ABC buttons from left to right.
When they switched to a more traditional 4 button layout with the Duke, they also added the "back" button, which gives it a layout more similar to Sony or Nintendo than Dreamcast. And with the weird rotation of the buttons, the bottom row was more likely X, A - not A, B.
@The_Nintendo_Pedant Your explanation is that Microsoft copied from the one company that failed horribly? Then, why did Microsoft used another color coding for the buttons?
@FR4M3 Fun fact: In Japan the circle button was used to accept/accept, and the cross meant canel/back. Same mapping as the SNES controller. For western audiances, Sony changed the meaning of the button, as western people assume X = Checked = OK and O = Unchecked = Not OK.
Some early PS1 games however still have the Japanese button mappings.
@The_Nintendo_Pedant Much simpler answer: Microsoft is a western company - labeling from left (A) to right (B} seems natural.
Traditional Japanese reads from top to bottom, then right to left, which made the NES button order maybe seem more natural for its developers. Or A was considered the primary button. Then obviously, Nintendo sticked with it for the SNES controller.
Comments 5
Re: Here's Why Controllers Have 'A, B, X & Y' Buttons, And Not 'A, B, C & D'
@The_Nintendo_Pedant No, I just say that Microsoft came up with the AB(C)/XY(Z) before. And the Duke has almost no similarity to the Dreamcast controller, except that both controllers have the 4 button layout. It is more a fusion of the Sidewinder and a traditional PS/Nintendo controller.
And I don't know how you hold your thumb on the controller, but mine usually rests on two buttons at once. For me that is a row.
Re: Here's Why Controllers Have 'A, B, X & Y' Buttons, And Not 'A, B, C & D'
@The_Nintendo_Pedant The problem with your theory is that Microsoft's first gamepad, the Sidewinder from year 2000, didn't look anything like a Dreamcast controller. This was a cheap Saturn knockoff. And there they already introduced (copied) the ABC buttons from left to right.
When they switched to a more traditional 4 button layout with the Duke, they also added the "back" button, which gives it a layout more similar to Sony or Nintendo than Dreamcast. And with the weird rotation of the buttons, the bottom row was more likely X, A - not A, B.
Re: Here's Why Controllers Have 'A, B, X & Y' Buttons, And Not 'A, B, C & D'
@The_Nintendo_Pedant Your explanation is that Microsoft copied from the one company that failed horribly? Then, why did Microsoft used another color coding for the buttons?
Re: Here's Why Controllers Have 'A, B, X & Y' Buttons, And Not 'A, B, C & D'
@FR4M3 Fun fact: In Japan the circle button was used to accept/accept, and the cross meant canel/back. Same mapping as the SNES controller.
For western audiances, Sony changed the meaning of the button, as western people assume X = Checked = OK and O = Unchecked = Not OK.
Some early PS1 games however still have the Japanese button mappings.
Re: Here's Why Controllers Have 'A, B, X & Y' Buttons, And Not 'A, B, C & D'
@The_Nintendo_Pedant Much simpler answer: Microsoft is a western company - labeling from left (A) to right (B} seems natural.
Traditional Japanese reads from top to bottom, then right to left, which made the NES button order maybe seem more natural for its developers. Or A was considered the primary button. Then obviously, Nintendo sticked with it for the SNES controller.