Wait...A and B?

[Abedeus]

Aaaand they are in QWERTY because it allows for maximum efficiency when writing.

Noooooooo

They're in QWEWRTY because in the days of typewriters people could too fast for the mechanical typewriter to keep up. Originally all keyboards were ABCDEF, the QWERTY arrangement was designed to force typists to re-learn the keyboard as well as slow them down.

Oh. My bad.

I just find it hard to write on an ABCDEF keyboard OR a typewriter. Then again, I have never used one. Seen them, even people using 'em, but never actually wrote anything. And I don't know if those models were new ones or the old ones.

 

[Agayek]

A and B buttons harkon back to the days of the NES. They had a D-pad, and 2 buttons, A and B. Since then, it's basically become a convention, except for with Sony, rebellious bastards that they are. X and Y are there just purely arbitrarily, keeping with the lettered button tradition.

Aaaand they are in QWERTY because it allows for maximum efficiency when writing.

Noooooooo

They're in QWEWRTY because in the days of typewriters people could too fast for the mechanical typewriter to keep up. Originally all keyboards were ABCDEF, the QWERTY arrangement was designed to force typists to re-learn the keyboard as well as slow them down.

You really don't wanna touch Dvorak then.

 

[elitecrewer]

The start of the alphabet, a tribute to the NES (might be some earlier console that I'm missing), an attempt to not be copying Sony and an utterly arbitrary choice. I'm trying to decide whether they would have sold even one less (or more) Xbox if they'd picked G and P instead.

 

[fix-the-spade]

You really don't wanna touch Dvorak then.

Had a go with one of those, made me feel like I was six and couldn't find the write letter.

Dvorak keyboards are pure simplified evil.

 

[Eldritch Warlord]

Start of the alphabet? When did they whole A B X Y tradition start... dammit, now you've made me think about it!

The buttons on the SNES controller were A B X Y. On the NES it was just A B.

I guess they went to x because it sounds cooler.

 

[ssgt splatter]

does it really matter?

 

[coldfrog]

A and B buttons harkon back to the days of the NES. They had a D-pad, and 2 buttons, A and B. Since then, it's basically become a convention, except for with Sony, rebellious bastards that they are. X and Y are there just purely arbitrarily, keeping with the lettered button tradition.

Aaaand they are in QWERTY because it allows for maximum efficiency when writing.

Noooooooo

They're in QWEWRTY because in the days of typewriters people could too fast for the mechanical typewriter to keep up. Originally all keyboards were ABCDEF, the QWERTY arrangement was designed to force typists to re-learn the keyboard as well as slow them down.

You really don't wanna touch Dvorak then.

So OK, I had to look it up because I heard both of these stories. Turns out QWERTY is as you say, meant to confuse and slow down typists, but Dvorak is intended to be more efficient in the English language but switching over would be rather difficult to do now since QWERTY is so widespread. Thank you urbandictionary.com, I learned something new.

Additionally, I actually really liked Sony's shape-button controller, it broke the mold of letters/numbers which is basically what anyone used while still keeping the buttons obviously unique. Plus it'll make it really easy for children to play games, since we know how child-oriented the Wii Playstation is.

 

[AdmiralWolverineLightningbolt]

Aaaand they are in QWERTY because it allows for maximum efficiency when writing.

Noooooooo! (dramatic dive towards screen)

They're in QWEWRTY because in the days of typewriters people could type too fast for the mechanical typewriter to keep up. Originally all keyboards were ABCDEF, the QWERTY arrangement was designed to force typists to re-learn the keyboard as well as slow them down.
It also avoided (or lessened) the problem of jamming in the typewriter.

no that's also wrong, it's QWERTY so that in old fashioned typewriters, the hammers of the letters wouldnt jam because common letter pairs were placed far apart stopping their hammers clashing when typed in quick succession
http://home.earthlink.net/~dcrehr/whyqwert.html

 

[fix-the-spade]

Aaaand they are in QWERTY because it allows for maximum efficiency when writing.

Noooooooo! (dramatic dive towards screen)

They're in QWEWRTY because in the days of typewriters people could type too fast for the mechanical typewriter to keep up. Originally all keyboards were ABCDEF, the QWERTY arrangement was designed to force typists to re-learn the keyboard as well as slow them down.
It also avoided (or lessened) the problem of jamming in the typewriter.

no that's also wrong,

The last sentence of what you just quoted, read it again.

 

[Fightgarr]

I liked the Gamecube, where the name of the button was secondary to the shape of the button. Press the big green circle, now the bean shaped one to the left. I still consider it the best controller design yet.
As for why ABXY. I take it its A and B because its the start of the alphabet and X and Y because of the Cartesian plane. As to why the Cartesian plane has X and Y as its co-ordinate system you'll have to ask a mathematician.
I like to think that its X and Y because BAXY is a funny word.

 

[Sevre]

Aaaand they are in QWERTY because it allows for maximum efficiency when writing.

Sorry I just had to do it.

DVORAK and COLEMAK seem to be more efficient yet didn't catch on.

 

[The Shade]

Dammit...I read the first few posts and now I can't think about anything else other than controller layout.

I'm supposed to be studying for my exam! Curse you!

 

[TenthRegeneration]

I have question too.
Why PC keyboards have letters on them like all of them.
Shouldn't it be easier if there be like small pictures of animals ?

Oy! My keyboard has symbols that unlock the secrets of the universe, what caveman like tools are you using? -_o

 

[hopeneverdies]

Because telling people to pressing Z button and D buttons would be too confusing.

Wait didn't the N64 and GC have Z triggers and the C-Stick is close enough to being a D button, other than the fact one is a stick and one is a button. I think MS ripped off of the Sony Dualshock style with the 4 Nintendo buttons instead of shapes. But made it more uh I have no idea what this word means but it sounds appropiate, ergonomic.

 

[Sewer Rat]

Because they wanted to get a good laugh at the people who would over-analyze it.

 

[TheTygerfire]

I don't spend a lot of time looking at game controlers mainly because I'm either playing the game or off doing real world things, but I took a brief pause for a moment to consider something about the xbox controller: Why are there an A and B buttons? I understand why the buttons themselves must be there (obviously), but why call them A and B? I mean, X and Y make sense (X and Y being the axis in any two dimentional direction), as well as all the other buttons names, but why A and B? Am I the only person to consider this?

Because A and B were first.

 

[AceDefective]

Start of the alphabet? When did they whole A B X Y tradition start... dammit, now you've made me think about it!

it started with the super nintendo

 

[Pimppeter2]

Ha, never tought of it

 

[AdmiralWolverineLightningbolt]

Aaaand they are in QWERTY because it allows for maximum efficiency when writing.

Noooooooo! (dramatic dive towards screen)

They're in QWEWRTY because in the days of typewriters people could type too fast for the mechanical typewriter to keep up. Originally all keyboards were ABCDEF, the QWERTY arrangement was designed to force typists to re-learn the keyboard as well as slow them down.
It also avoided (or lessened) the problem of jamming in the typewriter.

no that's also wrong,

The last sentence of what you just quoted, read it again.

fair play sir, i take off my hat to you

 

[Blood_Lined]

Never thought about it until now, but maybe the idea is to get new players to know which button is which until the controller format is memorized by the player.