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[jcorb]

Just something I was thinking over. Sure, we now have a “Share” button, and Playstation has their stupid little touch-pad (cool idea, but I’ve literally never seen it used in an interesting or organic way), but I feel like everyone I’ve ever really interacted with still uses “Start” and “Select” to refer to those extra, menu-centric buttons.

Anyone think we’ll ever see a more uniform naming scheme for those? What would even make sense? Nintendo’s Plus and Minus buttons seem easy enough to remember, but they’ve still never managed to trump the “Start” and “Select” names in my head whenever I see them.

 

[Magic Carpet]

The “Hamburger” and the “Other One”

 

[AV]

Yep. I genuinely don't even know what the Select button is called on my Xbox pad. Never did, don't care, it's Select.

 

[DownLikeBCPowder]

Yes. When my daughter is ever playing the PlayStation or Switch I will tell her to hit start or select and she's starting to understand what I mean but sometimes in the earlier days I did have to clarify I meant plus or minus or whatever it may be.

 

[cireza]

For my kids I tend to say "Start" but it doesn't make any sense, it isn't written start anywhere, and "the other button".

Even adult friends always mix up RT and RB, because for them both are triggers.

Controllers and buttons designed by a UX team of 20 designers and experts over the course of 5 years, and we can't even recognize the shit icon nor know how to call it. That's what happens we you pay too many people to overthink.

 

[RagnarokIV]

Yes and L3 and R3 is "stick click" or something now.

 

[Kacho]

I still do but my kids never know what buttons I’m talking about when I tell em to press them lol

 

[Matsuchezz]

No. That shit is ancient.

 

[Morrie’s wig shop]

Absolutely and always will lol

 

[Acti]

Yup.

 

[Elysium44]

I think of them as back button and start button based on the Xbox 360 layout. I couldn't tell you what the official name for them is now without looking it up.

 

[Tsaki]

Nahh I use "Options" or "Center/Touchpad"; get with the times. Start and Select were always horrible names anyway. What were you supposed to start? Were you selecting something?
I remember I was playing Frogger on PS1 with my cousin one day and he wanted to pause the game so I told him "Press Start" and my aunt was in the background and was like "That's pause; start means the opposite." "No aunt, it's called Start and it makes the game pause"

 

[Killjoy-NL]

I just call the buttons exactly as they're currently named, instead of being stuck in past.

 

[consoul]

I have accepted the 'Share' button, but that other button is and always will be Start.

 

[Esppiral]

I Will still call them select and start forever, I don't even know what silly names do those buttons are named on ps5 and Xbox now.

 

[AJUMP23]

I do, but my kids have no idea what I am referring to when I say it. I have to show them.

 

[cash_longfellow]

The share button really threw me for a loop on the PS4 when it first came out. Because before that, that button was always the “select” button, but then “select” ended up being the left side of the touchpad instead. I can’t tell you how many accidental screenshots and videos I made when ps4 first came out lol. But yea, it’s always just start and select still for me.

 

[cash_longfellow]

I Will still call them select and start forever, I don't even know what silly names do those buttons are named on ps5 and Xbox now.

I think it’s “select” and “options” on ps5. But select isn’t a traditional button any more, it’s the left half of the touchpad lol

 

[Three]

Controllers and buttons designed by a UX team of 20 designers and experts over the course of 5 years, and we can't even recognize the shit icon nor know how to call it. That's what happens we you pay too many people to overthink.

The official name of the hamburger button is the "Options button". "Start button" doesn't really make sense anymore if we were to be pedantic about button names. 'Start' and 'select' didn't even make much sense when they where introduced to consoles. Select wasn't really used for selection people pressed A or X.

 

[Dr. Wilkinson]

With Xbox I call it the "button with three lines on it", if it ever comes up.

 

[Trunx81]

What are you talking about, op? It´s RUN and SELECT.

Though I showed my kids lately a 3D-printed 3.5" "Save button" from Microsoft Word.

 

[Alexios]

My favorite.

The share button really threw me for a loop on the PS4 when it first came out. Because before that, that button was always the “select” button, but then “select” ended up being the left side of the touchpad instead. I can’t tell you how many accidental screenshots and videos I made when ps4 first came out lol. But yea, it’s always just start and select still for me.

Even worse on PC that's the default mapping with a DS4 but the share does nothing anyway so there was no reason to not map it there instead.

 

[MonkeyClaw36]

Spacebar and Enter

 

[cash_longfellow]

My favorite.

Even worse on PC that's the default mapping with a DS4 but the share does nothing anyway so there was no reason to not map it there instead.

Yep, I noticed that when I used my DS4 on my PC for the first time not too long ago, lol

 

[KingHippo1967]

Start and Select were always horrible names anyway. What were you supposed to start? Were you selecting something?

It comes from the early days of the NES, which was the first controller to feature Start and Select buttons. In the first batch of games, the Start button was used to start the game (obviously) while the Select button was the only way you could toggle through the game modes on the title screen menu, instead of pressing up and down on the D-Pad.

So "what were you supposed to start?" The game. "Were you selecting something?" Yes.

 

[MonkeyClaw36]

With Xbox I call it the "button with three lines on it", if it ever comes up.

Thats called a Hamburger menu button.
The one with 3 dots is funnier. Called a Kebab menu button.

 

[yamaci17]

well on PC for most games (xbox games, old games, random games) I have to use my dualshock/dualsense as emulated into x360 so Share button still ends up being an actual Select button

i also play a lot of ps2/ps3 games through pcsx2 and rpcs3 so that's where share is actually select too

this also gives me freedom to use touchpad for system wide macros like volume up/down/mute/screenshot/video capture/replay/rivatuner overlay toggle amd maybe game specific keyboard macros (like press 5 to right touchpad click to quickly access a specific weapon through touchpad, just one of many uses of touchpad)

on PC you can assign macros to touchpad click, touchpad swipe, touchpad combos and button combinations with DS4Windows (such as touchpad + X / touchpad + O etc.) practically allowing a lot of combo potentials

for native dualshock/dualsense games, I just assign multitap combo to Share button itself (practically making it as useful as it is on actual ps4/ps5)

 

[Reizo Ryuu]

Yep. I genuinely don't even know what the Select button is called on my Xbox pad. Never did, don't care, it's Select.

It's called 'view', now you know; menu and view.

 

[Fermbiz]

Start Select, maybe sometimes back button.

 

[alucard0712_rus]

This is nice thread

 

[cireza]

The official name of the hamburger button is the "Options button". "Start button" doesn't really make sense anymore if we were to be pedantic about button names. 'Start' and 'select' didn't even make much sense when they where introduced to consoles. Select wasn't really used for selection people pressed A or X.

Who cares about the names. The buttons were labeled on the controllers, so it was simple and it made sense. Now we don't even know how to call them.

 

[GymWolf]

Of course.

That share\back shit can gtfo.

 

[existensmaximum]

I am stuck in the past in so many ways when it comes to gaming but this isn't one of them. Don't really see how start and select even would make sense for these buttons, today.

Never even thought about it to be honest.

 

[Bond007]

I accept share- cause select means nothing really anymore
Start is still start and many games still incorporate it as such

 

[Chuck Berry]

I just call the buttons exactly as they're currently named, instead of being stuck in past.

Name also checks out. Double points!

 

[Three]

Who cares about the names. The buttons were labeled on the controllers, so it was simple and it made sense. Now we don't even know how to call them.

We know what to call them is what I'm saying. They're called the "options button", "touchpad button" and "share button" we just didn't adapt to the change very well from 'start' and 'select' because we weren't used to it.

 

[R6Rider]

I call the right one both Start and Options about the same amount. I don't call anything Select anymore.

 

[Pelta88]

Nope. Option and Share.

SONY trying entice gamers into purchasing its stock on the sly.

 

[MonkeyClaw36]

Game: Press Start to continue.
Me: Presses random button and game starts.

Me:

 

[Tsaki]

It comes from the early days of the NES, which was the first controller to feature Start and Select buttons. In the first batch of games, the Start button was used to start the game (obviously) while the Select button was the only way you could toggle through the game modes on the title screen menu, instead of pressing up and down on the D-Pad.

So "what were you supposed to start?" The game. "Were you selecting something?" Yes.

But I was talking about the PS1 versions of them, the ones the vast majority associate with as did the OP and no games used them that way (why would they? They are redundant functions for hyper specific circumstances). It was just bad naming and really baffling how they returned not only for the PS2 but the PS3 as well.

 

[Celcius]

Yes

 

[poppabk]

I just call the buttons exactly as they're currently named, instead of being stuck in past.

How do you know what they are called? They just have symbols now.
As a PC gamer I wish we could get controller standardization, not going to happen unfortunately with the PlayStation buttons being part of their trademark.

 

[FoxMcChief]

Kinda. Start is always start. On Xbox I use select. PS5, it’s just the touchpad (which I hate). On switch, it’s plus and minus.

 

[JohnnyFootball]

It would feel weird to call those buttons "three lines" or "dual squares" on my xbox controller.

 

[Roberts]

Yeah, for me it is start and the other button.

 

[TexMex]

As a god fearing Christian yes I do

 

[skit_data]

I think I might have started to use "share" instead of "select" because I've probably used the equivalent button the past two gens more than I ever did before.

"Options" though, that one will always be the "start"-button.

Edit: Lol, didn't even know they changed it to "Create" instead of "Share". Anyway, might just call it the
"Experienced a funny bug 30 secs ago and I wanna save a clip"-button

 

[SpokkX]

Yes of course

 

[ReBurn]

Nah they're option and menu now. Game menus are so complicated now that you have to use those buttons to get to something that requires the left stick and bumpers to navigate and the primary action button to confirm.

 

[Killjoy-NL]

How do you know what they are called? They just have symbols now.
As a PC gamer I wish we could get controller standardization, not going to happen unfortunately with the PlayStation buttons being part of their trademark.

Official Playstation description?

Controller website