Tbf, the Xbox controller can trace its root back to the Sega Genesis, so they aren't actually that far off from one another.
Sega helped develop the Xbox, and so they used the same layout as the Dreamcast, which had the same A B (C) under X Y (Z) layout they had since the Genesis.
FWIW I prefer the Sega/Xbox layout, but Nintendo’s isn’t arbitrary. It goes back to the NES, when there were only two buttons.
A is essentially the forward or “accept” button and B is essentially the back “cancel” button.
So their placement makes logical sense. Right = forward. Left = back. It’s the same as the forward and back arrows on an internet browser, for example.
Moving to the SNES era, there were four buttons in their current placement, but they were paired up in the design. A and B together with a border around them. X and Y together mimicking the other two buttons’ order, with a border around them. So the A and B were still forward and cancel buttons.
In Japan, PS1 games almost all followed this same logic. ‘O’ was accept and on the right. ‘X’ was cancel. If you played Final Fantasy VII on PS1, you’ll remember this was a thing. I want to say MGS was the same.
And it was arbitrarily changed for the west, if anything. The cross symbol meaning yes rather than no is actually way more illogical when you think about it. And the right button meaning forward makes logical sense. Although I can definitely see the argument that the bottom button being the most used button feels logical too. Obviously this is what most of us have defaulted to nowadays.
The Nintendo order also mimics the pedals on a car. A for accelerate on the right. B for brake. Which is probably why Mario Kart continues to use those buttons rather than the triggers.
Is it only pragmatic because that's what we're used to, though? If you and I grew up with the Japanese style I'm sure that's what we'd say feels more natural.
No, you are currently using the same argument americans use to justify the MM/DD/YY system.
The system used in the west is just completely random and follows no logic, and anyone defending it is only defending it because that's the "standard" for them, not because it makes sense. Same with the imperial system and fahrenheit, they are inaccurate, not accepted by the technical fields, and do not follow a standardized logic like the other systems. Yet those who use them (literally just americans) still defend them with their only argument being "this system is pragmatic, the other system is dumb and stupid"
Japanese is traditionally a top-to-bottom right-to-left language, that's why the NES controller goes B A not A B. If that isn't following tradition I don't know what is.
And despite all that, Sega got it right. I II on the master system and ABC(XYZ) on the mega drive.
The original NES controller had two buttons, the primary A button on the right and the secondary B button on the left, these formed a pair.
During the SNES days they upgraded the controller by adding two additional buttons, they did this by taking the original pair of two and copying them above the original two. They kept the hierarchical naming convention of the one on the right "coming first", same as the original AB pair.
Look up a picture of a SNES controller and you'll see the AB and XY button being grouped together.
I owned a nes and a snes, I know this. Japan does things backwards though, that is why it doesnt make sense for many people. This isnt an insult btw, just an observation, like manga being read back to front, on PS in japan it used to be circle to confirm X to cancel (until they changed it with ps5).
Also not trying to be insulting or anything; phrasing it as being "backwards" could get read as being an insult, I'd just call it "different". Different country, different culture, different history, different customs and all that.
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u/PrimeTinus 3h ago
Xbox could have picked any other letter or number but they decided to pick the exact same and shuffle it around