Sony has caused a bit of a stir in Japan after it announced that, for the first time in 25 years, it is swapping the functionality its X and O buttons.
Like Nintendo, PlayStation always mapped the O button as “confirm” and the X button as “back” for the Japanese market. It has always been the other way around for the west and pretty much everywhere else.
However, Sony has globalised the PS5’s DualSense controller buttons for the first time in 25 years, and while that will make little difference to the vast majority of us, it has annoyed the Japanese media no end.
You’ll understand what they will be going through if you own a PS4 (or Xbox One) and Nintendo Switch. We often press the wrong button on the Switch when we are navigating the menu system, for example, as the button configuration is reversed. Now imagine that times 25 years of habit forming.
This is such a bad decision – at least make it an option you can set for yourself in the system settings. Playing PS4 games that have Circle as confirm and then having to switch to X for PS5 menu nav is gonna be a nightmare https://t.co/th0Ieszifc
— John Ricciardi | BLACK LIVES MATTER (@johntv) October 4, 2020
Now, it remains to be seen if Sony will allow for system-wide button remapping but we doubt it. After all, developers will be working hard on mapping their games to the new format. In fact, by taking a more universal approach for the DualSense, PlayStation’s move might actually benefit them.
We’ll have to see ourselves once western PS5 review units start to roll out.