People shocked after finding out what the PlayStation buttons actually mean

The designer of the original Playstation controller, Teiyu Goto, has opened up about his rationale behind the design

Original PlayStation controller designer Teiyu Goto has revealed the ‘simple’ meaning behind the buttons.

Before you get too busy obsessing over the amazingly detailed easter egg hidden within the PS5 controller, do you know the story behind the original PlayStation device?

Most people know the PlayStation controller buttons as being to jump, cancel, interact and punch, however, the original meaning of the symbols was actually quite different.

The button’s meanings

Video game news Twitter account Genki took to the platform to offer a ‘reminder’ of the original ‘meaning of the PlayStation symbols according to original PlayStation Designer Teiyu Goto! #PlayStation30thAnniversary’.

The post reveals: “X – No

“○ – Yes

“△ – Viewpoint (head/direction)

“□ – Piece of Paper (menu/ documents)”

Indeed, in an interview with Famitsu Magazine, as quoted by PSU, designer Goto explained his rationale behind the design of the PlayStation controller in more detail.

Do you know the original meaning of the PlayStation controller buttons? ( Guven Yilmaz/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)

The design process

He said: “Other game companies at the time assigned alphabet letters or colors to the buttons. We wanted something simple to remember, which is why we went with iconic or symbols, and I can up with the triangle-circle-X-square combination immediately afterward.

“I gave each symbol a meaning and a colour. The triangle refers to viewpoint; I had it represent one’s head or direction and made it green. Square refers to a piece of paper; I had it represent menus or documents and made it pink. The circle and X represent ‘yes’ or ‘no’ decision-making and I made them red and blue respectively.

“People thought those colors were mixed up, and I had to reinforce to management that that’s what I wanted.”

And it’s not taken long for people to flock to social media to weigh in.

Learn something new every day eh? (LOU BENOIST/AFP via Getty Images)

One Twitter user said: “I actually never knew this 🙂 thank you for sharing.”

“Always thought this was a cool detail of design,” a second commented.

A third wrote: “You know that makes a lot of sense lmao.”

“This does put stuff in perspective. i can almost feel myself playing the classic games w/ these setups. but did square and triangle change at some point ? triangle is the menu button in so many jrpgs,” a fourth said.

And a fifth added: “Really wish they would revert back to the circle as YES and X as no. I build muscle memory playing PlayStation and then it’s a pain to play Nintendo Switch for a couple hours until I get used to it again.”