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Why Are Controller Buttons Like That?

Why Are Controller Buttons Like That?

We all use controllers. We all look at the buttons. But do we know why they’re like that?

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References
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2:39 | Early history of Spacewar! and its controller
Graetz, J.M. “The Origin of Spacewar.” Creative Computing (Vol. 7, No. 8). Aug 1981. p61. https://archive.org/details/creativecomputing-1981-08/page/n63

3:04 | Someone recreating Spacewar’s original controller
Tilley, Thomas. “Spacewar! Controllers.” ThomasTilley.net. 2015. https://tomtilley.net/projects/spacewar/

3:08 | History of Tennis for Two and its controller
“Tennis Anyone?” They Create Worlds. Jan 28, 2014. https://videogamehistorian.wordpress.com/2014/01/28/tennis-anyone/

3:25 | History of Ralph Baer and the first joystick
Edwards, Benj. “Video Games Turn Forty (2007).” Vintage Computing and Gaming. May 15, 2017. http://www.vintagecomputing.com/index.php/archives/1107/video-games-turn-forty

4:00 | Atari 2600 and the CX40’s popularity
Ahl, David H. “Blisters And Frustration: Joysticks, Paddles, Buttons and Game Port Extenders for Apple, Atari and VIC.” Creative Computing Video & Arcade Games (Vol. 1, No. 1). 1983. p106. https://www.atarimagazines.com/cva/v1n1/joysticks.php

4:45 | Interview with a developer for the Cassette Vision
“Epoch and the Cassette Vision – 1997 Developer Interview.” Shmuplations. Accessed Feb 21, 2024. https://shmuplations.com/epoch/

5:20 | Article talking about the video game crash of 1983
Andersen, Kenneth. “How the 1983 video game crash offers a warning for today’s world.” Metro. Feb 19, 2024. https://metro.co.uk/2024/02/19/1983-video-game-crash-offers-a-warning-todays-world-20213778/

5:20 | Book about the history of video games. Covers the video game crash of 1983
DeMaria, Rusel. Wilson, Johnny L. “High Score!: The Illustrated History of Electronic Games, Second Edition.” McGraw-Hill. 2003. p103. https://www.amazon.com/High-Score-Illustrated-History-Electronic/dp/0072231726

6:34 | Magazine covering video game crash of 1983 and Nintendo taking up 70% market share
Belson, Eve. “The Most Popular Playthings of the Last 50 Years.” Orange Coast Magazine (Vol. 14, No. 12). 1988. p88. https://books.google.ca/books?id=82AEAAAAMBAJ

8:00 | History of Street Fighter 1, including the punch pad and six button arcade machines
Leone, Matt. “Street Fighter 1: An oral history.” Polygon. Jul 7, 2020. https://www.polygon.com/2020/7/7/21270906/street-fighter-1-oral-history-takashi-nishiyama

9:03 | Interview with Takashi Nishiyama, creator of Street Fighter and the NeoGeo
Leone, Matt. “The Man Who Created Street Fighter.” 1UP. Dec 14, 2011. https://web.archive.org/web/20160310033337/http://www.1up.com/features/the-man-who-created-street-fighter

9:42 | Nintendo Power article on the SNES CD-ROM, which became the PlayStation
“Super NES Technology Update: CD-ROM.” Nintendo Power (Vol. 35). Apr 1992. p70. https://archive.org/details/NintendoPower1988-2004/Nintendo%20Power%20Issue%20035%20%28April%201992%29/page/n71/mode/2up?view=theater

10:16 | Teiyu Goto explaining the PlayStation’s button layout
Gifford, Kevin. “All About the PlayStation 1’s Design.” 1Up. Aug 25, 2010. https://web.archive.org/web/20160303220540/www.1up.com/news/playstation-1-design

11:14 | PlayStation changing the X an O buttons in Japan for PS5
Phillips, Tom. “In a historic move, PlayStation 5 swaps X and Circle button use in Japan.” Eurogamer. Oct 5, 2020. https://www.eurogamer.net/in-a-historic-move-playstation-5-swaps-x-and-circle-button-use-in-japan

12:53 | PS2 selling 150 million units
Makuch, Eddie. “150 million PS2 units shipped worldwide.” GameSpot Asia. Feb 15, 2011. https://web.archive.org/web/20110913154406/http://asia.gamespot.com/news/6298857.html

13:41 | Ad for the Sega Saturn 3D Pad for the release of Nights into Dreams
“Prepare To Fly. Nights into Dreams Is Here.” NEXT Generation Magazine (Vol. 2, No. 22). 1996. https://archive.org/details/nextgen-issue-022

14:32 | Article about Sega’s close link with Microsoft
Ashcraft, Brian. “How Xbox Could Have Helped The Dreamcast Survive.” Kotaku. Jan 14, 2010. https://kotaku.com/how-xbox-could-have-helped-the-dreamcast-survive-30936219

14:55 | Early XBox controller designs taking inspiration from the Dreamcast
Blackley, Seamus. “Some original Xbox controller designs from November 1999. Enjoy!” Twitter. Jun 26, 2016. https://twitter.com/SeamusBlackley/status/747165550418157574

14:55 | Article about the XBox controller taking design elements from the Dreamcast, PS2, and Genesis
Yin-Poole, Wesley. “Why Xbox failed in Japan.” Eurogamer. Nov 17, 2013. https://www.eurogamer.net/why-xbox-failed-in-japan

20:20 | Gunpei Yokoi interview talking about his biggest achievements
“Gunpei Yokoi x Kenji Eno - Developer Interview.” Shmuplations. Accessed Feb 20, 2024. https://shmuplations.com/yokoixeno/

21:00 | Book about the creation of the Famicom, including its controller design from the Game & Watch
Altice, Nathan. “I AM ERROR: The Nintendo Family Computer / Entertainment System Platform.” The MIT Press. 2015. p24-27. https://www.amazon.ca/Am-Error-Nintendo-Computer-Entertainment/dp/0262028778

21:00 | Translated interview including the story of how the Famicom controller was made
Takano, Masaharu [Translated by GlitterBerri] “How the Famicom Was Born – Part 8.” GlitterBerri. Apr 21, 2012. https://web.archive.org/web/20120505103724/https://glitterberri.com/developer-interviews/how-the-famicom-was-born/synonymous-with-the-domestic-game-console/

24:08 | Super Famicom controller patent
“Controller for a game machine.” Google Patents. Accessed Feb 5, 2024. https://patents.google.com/patent/US5207426A/en

24:08 | Game & Watch patent
“Hand-held game apparatus.” Google Patents. Accessed Feb 5, 2024. https://patents.google.com/patent/US4542903A/en

24:08 | Gunpei Yokoi’s d-pad patent
“Multi-directional switch.” Google Patents. Accessed Feb 5, 2024. https://patents.google.com/patent/US4687200A/en

24:50 | Hideki Sato talking about Sega’s consoles and their work on them
“The History of Sega Console Hardware.” Shmuplations. Accessed Feb 6, 2024. https://shmuplations.com/segahistory/

25:26 | Masami Ishikawa interviewed about the internals of the Genesis
Walter, Jules. “Classic Interview: Masami Ishikawa (Sega Product Designer).” Sega-16. Nov 24, 2018. https://www.sega-16.com/2018/11/classic-interview-masami-ishikawa/

25:28 | Mitsushige Shiraiwa on the Genesis controller’s design
“Check out an interview with Mitsushige Shiraiwa, designer of the iconic look of the original Mega Drive!” Ghost Archive. Sep 28, 2017. https://ghostarchive.org/archive/Hvw4U

25:56 | Sega Genesis taking market share away from Nintendo in the US
Kent, Steven L. “The Ultimate History of Video Games: From Pong to Pokemon and Beyond - The Story Behind the Craze That Touched Our Lives and Changed the World.” Three Rivers Press. 2001. p427. p434, p466. https://www.amazon.ca/Ultimate-History-Video-Games-Pokemon/dp/0761536434/

26:17 | Kickstarter book interviewing Mitsushige Shiraiwa
“SEGA Mega Drive/Genesis: Collected Works.” Kickstarter. 2013. https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/darrenwall/sega-mega-drive-genesis-collected-works/description

26:41 | Super Famicom prototype controller with ABCDEF buttons
“Super Famicom Prototype controller.” Consolevariations. Accessed Mar 18, 2024. https://consolevariations.com/collectibles/super-famicom-prototype-controller

27:58 | Super Mario World manual, labeling B jump and select
“Super Mario World Instruction Booklet.” Nintendo of America. 1991. https://www.nintendo.co.jp/clvs/manuals/common/pdf/CLV-P-SAAAE.pdf

30:25 | Article on Gunpei Yokoi’s “lateral thinking with withered technology”
Yokoi, Tomoko. “How The Philosophy Of Nintendo’s Game Boy Inventor Is Ripe For These Times.” Forbes. Jan 24, 2021. https://www.forbes.com/sites/tomokoyokoi/2021/01/24/how-the-philosophy-of-nintendos-game-boy-inventor-is-ripe-for-these-times/?sh=aca66714de4a

30:44 | Interview with Hideki Sato talking about beating Nintendo
Sato. “Former Sega President Talks About Making The Mega Drive To ‘Beat Nintendo’.” Silicon Era. Nov 5, 2018. https://www.siliconera.com/former-sega-president-talks-about-making-the-mega-drive-to-beat-nintendo/

31:31 | Teiyu Goto talking about people upgrading from the SNES
Gifford, Kevin. “All About the PlayStation 1’s Design.” 1Up. Aug 25, 2010. https://web.archive.org/web/20160303220540/www.1up.com/news/playstation-1-design

32:07 | Magazine talking about Saturn controller being bigger in the US
“A Tale of Sega’s Two Saturn Controllers.” Electronic Gaming Monthly (Vol. 83). Jun 1996. p16. https://archive.org/details/ElectronicGamingMonthly_201902/Electronic%20Gaming%20Monthly%20Issue%20083%20%28June%201996%29/page/n15/mode/2up?view=theater

Further Reading
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Video talking more about the backwards Nintendo BA buttons and button layout evolution
GTV Japan. “‘The Story Super Mario Bros. and the B-Dash’ or ‘Why Nintendo Controllers Read From B to A’.” YouTube. Jul 24, 2020. https://youtu.be/oAvKPB6OAnc

Video about full history of game controllers
Scott The Woz. “Game Controllers - Scott The Woz.” YouTube. Sep 16, 2018. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z2GMV4yNyfg

Video on why controllers have Select buttons
hotcyder. “Why Do Controllers Have Select Buttons?” YouTube. Nov 19, 2021. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DTMmnDY6-5g

Video about the full behind the scenes of the Famicom, based on I Am Error
LowSpecGamer. “Nintendo’s Cheating Console.” YouTube. Dec 10, 2021. https://youtu.be/OBlu2mdpiJ0

Full translated article of “How The Famicom Was Born
GlitterBerri. “How the Famicom Was Born.” GlitterBerri’s Game Translations. Accessed Feb 5 ,2024. https://glitterberri.com/developer-interviews/how-the-famicom-was-born/

I Am Error, a book about the full creation of the Famicom
Altice, Nathan. “I Am Error: The Nintendo Family Computer / Entertainment System Platform.” The MIT Press. May 1, 2015. https://www.amazon.ca/Am-Error-Nintendo-Computer-Entertainment/dp/0262028778

Interview with Masami Ishikawa about the Mega Drive. Excerpt from that Kickstarter book
Polygon Staff. “How Sega built the Genesis.” Polygon. Accessed Feb 5, 2024. https://web.archive.org/web/20150204030747/https://www.polygon.com/features/2015/2/3/7952705/sega-genesis-masami-ishikawa

Interview with Masayuki Uemura about the Famicom’s design
“Masayuki Uemura, Creator of the NES: ‘I knew I couldn’t beat the Game & Watch.’” Shueisha. Apr 27, 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20130615232304/https://wpb.shueisha.co.jp/2013/04/27/18636/

Another interview with Masayuki Uemura
Parish, Jeremy. “Cover Story: NES Creator Masayuki Uemura on the Birth of Nintendo’s First Console.” USGamer. Oct 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20160103231756/http://www.usgamer.net/articles/nes-creator-masayuki-uemura-on-the-birth-of-nintendos-first-console

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