Dear Sony,
Please let me do this on a systemwide OS level:
Thanks,
Nick
*Ahem*.
The PlayStation brand is a storied one, with a long history. Upon the American launch of the original PlayStation in 1995, the erstwhile Sony Computer Entertainment—now SIE—made a curious decision.
It was suggested that developers swap functionality of the ○ and × buttons for the West.
In Japanese culture, "○" is a universal symbol for yes, and "×" a universal symbol for no. With this cultural meaning—as well as the fact the function of these buttons broadly corresponded to those of the Super Famicom/Super Nintendo controller—their placement and intent felt natural. To this day, I am not entirely sure what motivated the decision to reverse "confirm" and "cancel" for Western markets.
Today, it is no longer a suggestion, but built into the PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, and PlayStation Vita platforms. Asian units ship with ”confirm"/”cancel" as ○/×. Western units ship with ”confirm"/”cancel" as ×/○. This cannot be changed by general users.
Yes, I am aware functionality can be swapped via Accessibility menus. However, it does not entirely solve the problem: Games with hard-coded ○ and × functionality get borked, and on-screen button prompts no longer correspond with the physical buttons on your controller or Vita. Development/debugging builds of OS firmware have a simple toggle function that does not affect hard-coded functionality.
I want general user access to that function.
Why? Until the PlayStation 4 launch, all Sony consoles I owned were Japanese. The "Japanese" functions of ○ and × are forever stitched into my muscle memory. Today, with an American PS4 Pro and PSTV (thank goodness my Vita is Japanese!), I still have to adjust to the swap when playing games from different territories.
I realize I'm in a minority here, but I can't be the only one. People weaned on Western ○/× functionality must feel just as odd as I do swapping in and out of OS if they play Japanese or Asian import games.
What think you, NeoGAF?
Edit: Yes, developers usually hard-code these buttons' functionality, but there is an automatic ○/× swap fix embedded in the above platforms. Few developers take advantage of it, but perhaps more would if the toggle were to become accessible in general user OS firmware.
Please let me do this on a systemwide OS level:
Thanks,
Nick
*Ahem*.
The PlayStation brand is a storied one, with a long history. Upon the American launch of the original PlayStation in 1995, the erstwhile Sony Computer Entertainment—now SIE—made a curious decision.
It was suggested that developers swap functionality of the ○ and × buttons for the West.
In Japanese culture, "○" is a universal symbol for yes, and "×" a universal symbol for no. With this cultural meaning—as well as the fact the function of these buttons broadly corresponded to those of the Super Famicom/Super Nintendo controller—their placement and intent felt natural. To this day, I am not entirely sure what motivated the decision to reverse "confirm" and "cancel" for Western markets.
Today, it is no longer a suggestion, but built into the PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, and PlayStation Vita platforms. Asian units ship with ”confirm"/”cancel" as ○/×. Western units ship with ”confirm"/”cancel" as ×/○. This cannot be changed by general users.
Yes, I am aware functionality can be swapped via Accessibility menus. However, it does not entirely solve the problem: Games with hard-coded ○ and × functionality get borked, and on-screen button prompts no longer correspond with the physical buttons on your controller or Vita. Development/debugging builds of OS firmware have a simple toggle function that does not affect hard-coded functionality.
I want general user access to that function.
Why? Until the PlayStation 4 launch, all Sony consoles I owned were Japanese. The "Japanese" functions of ○ and × are forever stitched into my muscle memory. Today, with an American PS4 Pro and PSTV (thank goodness my Vita is Japanese!), I still have to adjust to the swap when playing games from different territories.
I realize I'm in a minority here, but I can't be the only one. People weaned on Western ○/× functionality must feel just as odd as I do swapping in and out of OS if they play Japanese or Asian import games.
What think you, NeoGAF?
Edit: Yes, developers usually hard-code these buttons' functionality, but there is an automatic ○/× swap fix embedded in the above platforms. Few developers take advantage of it, but perhaps more would if the toggle were to become accessible in general user OS firmware.