Sony Is Changing The Confirm and Cancel Buttons in Japan and Folks Aren't Happy

5/10/2020 Sony Is Changing The Confirm And Cancel Buttons In Japan And Folks Aren't Happy
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KOTAKU EAST JAPAN
Sony Is Changing The Confirm And Cancel Buttons In Japan And

Folks Aren't Happy
Brian Ashcraft
Today 8:30AM • Filed to: SONY 298 1
https://kotaku.com/sony-is-changing-the-confirm-and-cancel-buttons-in-japa-1845273030 1/7
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In the West, the X button has long been the PlayStation’s button to confirm
selections, actions, and more. But, ever since the original PlayStation went on sale in
Japan in 1994, there the circle button has been the action button. That is going to
change.
Famitsu and AV Watch are reporting that in Japan the PlayStation 5's DualSense
controller will change its action button from circle to X to bring the region into global
uniformity with the international market. A Sony spokesperson explained that the
decision was made to avoid different button settings across countries, as well as
easing the burden for developers.
Culturally, there is a longstanding explanation for this difference. In Japan, the circle
or maru means “okay” or “correct.” However, the X symbol means “no good” or
“wrong.” In Japanese, the X button is called the batsu botan, which Sony translates as
the “cross button.” However, in Japan, batsu is the opposite of maru and can mean
“no”, “no good”, and “not available”. For players in Japan, using the circle button as
the confirm button makes perfect sense, as does X for cancel.
Yet, outside of Japan, “X” can mean “X marks the spot”, and while Sony insists X
button is the ‘cross’ button, for players outside Japan it makes sense as the action
button.
Understandably, many players in Japan are not happy about this decision. On the
Japanese webform 2ch and popular game sites like My Game News Flash and Hachima
many people voiced their frustration—though some did support the decision as
they’ve become used to the button reversal by playing foreign games, especially on
PC.
“What a pain in the ass.”
“For Japan, do it Japanese style.”
“At last they’re making it uniform? Japan has been defeated.”
“Change foreign games. Foreign games did this on their own accord.”
“This helps me because I always get them confused (when playing foreign
games).”
“One less reason to buy the PS5.”
“This really confuses Japanese people.”
“Well, internationally this is the standard. Up to now, Japan has been weird.”
“I’m totally gonna screw this up.”
“Yep, trash.”
“I’ll get used to this in five minutes.”
“More distain of Japan from fucking Sony.”
“I’m not buying a PlayStation anymore.”
“This is the same as on Windows.”
“This is hard to get my head around. Why not just move the buttons?”
“I’ll get used to this quickly.”
“Sony traitors.”
“Foreigners should become uniform with Japan.”
“Good news. This is just like with Steam.”
“I’m not going to get used to this.”
“If it’s the default, that can’t be helped, but make it so this can be changed in
Settings.”
“They need to get rid of using the circle and the X buttons. Use ABCD. In Japan,
circle means confirm.”
“This is discrimination.”
“The PS5 is made by a foreign company...?”

“I really hate this. X is cancel. Circle is confirm. They’re out of their minds.”
“This is a bullshit console.”
“Circle is confirm. X is cancel. This is easy to understand.”
“Proof that they’re looking at Japan as a small market.”
“I think X as confirm is good. I’ve gotten used to that through playing PC games,
so now using circle as confirm feels strange.”
“Make circle confirm and X cancel. I do not care what’s done internationally.”
“I’ve been waiting for this.”
“It’s a Japanese console, so conform to Japan.”
“Stop fucking around.”
“If they keep it like this forever, I don’t care one way or the other.”
“But it’s a Japanese console...”
“This means that the circle on the Japanese flag is now ‘cancel.’”
“The first happy news of the year.”
“Well, that decides it. The PS5 is going to be a failure.”
“Things will be okay.”
S b ib
https://kotaku.com/sony-is-changing-the-confirm-and-cancel-buttons-in-japa-1845273030 l ! 5/7
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“This is a big loss for Japan.”
Brian Ashcraft Posts Email Twitter

Originally from Texas, Ashcraft has called Osaka home since 2001. He has
authored six books, including most recently, The Japanese Sake Bible.
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DISCUSSION
rezzyk
Today 8:45AM
Sony should leave Japan’s mappings the same and change the rest of the world. I’m
real tired of confirm/cancel being opposite on Sony and Nintendo consoles
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5/10/2020 Sony Is Changing The Confirm And Cancel Buttons In Japan And Folks Aren't Happy

Everything you need to know about and expect during

Gaming Reviews, News, Tips and More. Shop Subscribe

KOTAKU EAST JAPAN

Sony Is Changing The Confirm And Cancel Buttons In Japan And

“What a pain in the ass.”

“For Japan, do it Japanese style.”

“At last they’re making it uniform? Japan has been defeated.”

“One less reason to buy the PS5.”

“This really confuses Japanese people.”

“I’m totally gonna screw this up.”

“I’ll get used to this in five minutes.”

“More distain of Japan from fucking Sony.”

“I’m not buying a PlayStation anymore.”

“This is the same as on Windows.”

“I’ll get used to this quickly.”

“Foreigners should become uniform with Japan.”

“Good news. This is just like with Steam.”

“I’m not going to get used to this.”

“The PS5 is made by a foreign company...?”

“This is a bullshit console.”

“Circle is confirm. X is cancel. This is easy to understand.”

“Proof that they’re looking at Japan as a small market.”

“I’ve been waiting for this.”

“It’s a Japanese console, so conform to Japan.”

“Stop fucking around.”

“But it’s a Japanese console...”

“The first happy news of the year.”

“Well, that decides it. The PS5 is going to be a failure.”

“Things will be okay.”

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By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

“This is a big loss for Japan.”

Brian Ashcraft Posts Email Twitter

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