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?

REFERENCES

2:39 (Early history of Spacewar! and its controller)

Graetz, J.M. “The Origin of Spacewar.” Creative Computing, Vol. 7, No. 8, Aug 1981. p. 61

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. p. 106. 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. P. 103. 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. p. 88. 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. P. 70. 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)

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. P. 24-27. 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. P. 427. 434, 466. 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)

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. P. 16.

https://archive.org/details/ElectronicGamingMonthly_201902/Electronic%20Gaming%20Monthly%20Issue%20083%20%28June%201996%29/page/n15/mode/2up?view=theater

Why Are Controller Buttons Like That?

Watch On Patreon

Watch On YouTube

Music Used

REFERENCES

FURTHER READING