eyeball_kid
Member
I doubt most people give the button symbols on the PlayStation controller much thought. But apparently there was a lot of thought behind it.
According to Teiyu Goto (designer of the controller) in a 1UP interview I can no longer link to:
Interesting, but why do the circle and cross represent "yes" and "no"? Apparently this is a Japanese cultural convention, as explained in this article about a couple of strange emoji you've probably seen on your smartphone. In a Medium essay referenced in that article:
This is probably also why the O is on the right side, as the "right" is usually considered the correct side.
I never would've considered the abstract symbology for the triangle and the square, but I wish Sony had included these explanations in their documentation. It might've been easier to remember what each button is meant for in an iconic sense, rather than just memorizing meaningless shapes.
note: please don't turn this into another "x" versus "cross" pronunciation thread
According to Teiyu Goto (designer of the controller) in a 1UP interview I can no longer link to:
The circle and cross represent "yes" and "no," respectively; the triangle symbolizes a point of view and the square is equated to a sheet of paper there to be used to access menus.
Interesting, but why do the circle and cross represent "yes" and "no"? Apparently this is a Japanese cultural convention, as explained in this article about a couple of strange emoji you've probably seen on your smartphone. In a Medium essay referenced in that article:
Batsu (x) is the symbol for incorrect, and can represent false, bad, wrong or attack, while maru (o) means correct, true, good, whole, or something precious.
This is probably also why the O is on the right side, as the "right" is usually considered the correct side.
I never would've considered the abstract symbology for the triangle and the square, but I wish Sony had included these explanations in their documentation. It might've been easier to remember what each button is meant for in an iconic sense, rather than just memorizing meaningless shapes.
note: please don't turn this into another "x" versus "cross" pronunciation thread