The Swapping of X and O

Sony confirmed PlayStation 5's DualSense controllers in Japan will be different than former generations since they're changing the action and cancel button to match its global model. Although PlayStation traditionally used the circle button as the action button in Japan since its 1994 original console, they no longer want to support making a controller specific to one region. "The decision was made to avoid different button settings across countries, as well as easing the burden for developers," a Sony spokesperson recently said, as reported by Kotaku. Japan's PlayStation controllers uniquely used the circle button as the action button, unlike the rest of the globe that uses the X button as the action button. The reason for this button change initially was due to a cultural difference to what the circle symbol represents. In Japan, the circle symbol or "maru means ok or correct" whereas the X symbol or "batsu botan" translates to "no" or "not available," leading Japan gamers to see the X button as one that means cancel and the circle as one which means accept, as explained by Kotaku. After the announcement, early feedback from Japanese gamers was mixed, with some gamers being happy to have some clarity when they play non-Japanese games and others being upset by having to reframe how they've always played games on the PlayStation console. I’m not from Japan, though, so this doesn’t really concern me.