Behind the Playstation Controller
If your anything of a gamer or have at least a fleeting interest in Sony products you would be familiar with the ubiquitous Sony Playstation controller. But what do the playstations circle x square and triangle buttons mean? How did it come to existence? Why do the buttons have these symbols? and what was the methodology that went into designing this console that now graces over 100 million households globally?
All these answers and more can be found in the interview with Sony’s Teiyu Goto.
For those that want the cheat sheet read on:
…”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 icons or symbols, and I came up with the triangle-circle-X-square combination immediately afterward. I gave each symbol a meaning and a color. 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”…
