For the first time in history, the circle will not serve to accept commands in Japan, but the cross will be universalized for these purposes.
The PS5 DualSense will use the X (cross) button to accept worldwide, Japan included. For the first time in twenty-five years, Japanese users will see the circle (right action button) and cross (bottom action button) commands reversed to give actions. Sony has decided to universalize the traditional control mapping of the West.
The information has transcended the test sessions that media such as 4Gamer, Dengeki and Famitsu have had with PS5 during these last days. They themselves emphasize that, unlike in the previous four generations of PlayStation, this time the circle does not correspond to the commands to accept, but to cancel; a mental confusion that collides with the inherited muscle memory of having been doing things that way for so long. In the West nothing changes: it was always like this, with a cross to accept and a circle to go back in the menus.
Real images of the DualSense of PS5 / Source: 4Gamer
The meaning of the circle as “correct” in Japan
Now, what is the reason for this tradition in Japan? Although in Nintendo consoles that language has never left any hint of doubt (A is to accept and B is to cancel), in the other Japanese hardware manufacturer the button configuration was understood as (X) to intuit something wrong and (O) to convey that something was correct, “OK”.
According to the Japanese developer Kenji Iguchi on the social network Twitter, this developer believes that the universalization of control for (X) and (O) will bring more headaches than solutions for the Japanese industry due to this memory issue: they are used to the system traditional; now it will appear to you that everything is reversed.
In addition, as he points out, the line-up change will be a shock when switching between a Nintendo and a Sony console since the right button (A, O) will no longer have the same function as the lower button (B, X).
PS5 will go on sale on November 19 in Europe — November 12 in the United States, Mexico and Japan) in two models: with a disc player and without a disc player. The price in Spain will be 499 euros and 399 euros, respectively.
Via | Kenji Iguchi
