The button layout of the PS5 will differ in Asian countries from previous consoles. The circle will no longer be the confirm button, but X, as is the case in the West.
What is the current status? For some western players, one of Sony’s latest announcements may sound somewhat confusing. The company intends to introduce the X button as the default confirm button in the system menu on the PS5.
While this has almost always been the case for us, in the Asian region, the circle has been used for confirmation since the PS1 era, which is about 25 years ago.
This button layout has occasionally trickled over to us with games like the original PS1 version of Final Fantasy VII. Conversely, western games with X confirmation came to the Japanese market, such as The Witcher 3 or Red Dead Redemption 2.
More about the new DualSense controller of the PS5 can be found in our article:
Why is Sony changing the button layout? However, this is supposed to change now. In an interview with the Japanese gaming magazine Famitsu, which was able to test the PS5, Sony explained that the X button will now be introduced worldwide as the standard for “confirmation / continue”.
With this, Sony aims to counter the confusion that arose from the games and system menu using different confirm buttons, which led to incorrect inputs from players.
It is possible that Japanese game developers will take up this adjustment in their games and introduce X as the standard confirm button. The producer of the popular “Tales of” games, Yusuke Tomizawa, has already commented on this on Twitter:
In Japan, O means “Correct”
Why is O used as the confirm button? The reason for this difference in button layout is culturally rooted. In Japan, X (Batsu) is generally understood as the symbol for “Incorrect,” while O (Maru) stands for “Correct.”
This is related to the correction system in Japanese schools. There, incorrect answers are crossed out and correct answers are circled.
Accordingly, Sony had adapted their button layout to this system and maintained it for 25 years. In the West, however, X has been used as the confirm button since.
This is what reactions on Twitter say: A change of such a deeply rooted feature after 25 years was of course not well received by all players. Among the tweets regarding the news about the change, some Japanese players expressed their strongly mixed opinions on the matter.
- There was confusion as to why the change is coming only after so many years
- Discontent that Asians must adapt
- Joy about the standardization
There were also players who suggested a middle ground. Some, for example, expressed a desire for an option to customize the button layout themselves.
The PS5 is currently sold out worldwide. However, there is supposed to be hope for a third wave of sales.
