The "Start" Button - Replaced for the Newest Consoles

[Ryukouki]

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Well, this is certainly a bit of a surprise. The "Start" and "Select" buttons, two buttons that have been on controllers for quite some time now, have been renamed and given different functions for the Playstation 4 and XBOX One. So, let's say you inserted your new game into your shiny (hopefully) console, and then you want to begin playing it? Gone are the days when the "Press start" blurb appears on the system menu. As of now, the trend of pressing any button is becoming more and more common. Times are a-changing, to say the least. It's very interesting to wonder why the buttons were changed. I find that the system wasn't broken or anything, so why change it?​

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The "Start" Button goes back to the older retro era, in which the start button was used after your coins were accepted into the machine. It was a play of sorts to say, start your own little adventure romp, back in the days of the arcade. I haven't played arcade games in a while though, and it has certainly gotten a lot harder to find an arcade around my location.​

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Feel free to grieve, reminisce, rage, or comment below!​

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Source​

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Cheers to Another World for the information!​

 

[nasune]

I dunno, is it really going to matter what the companies call them? I think that everyone who's been playing games for a while is still going to call it start/select.

 

[3bbb7]

Usually the A or X button (the primary button respectively) works to load the menu so i just use that.

 

[Black-Ice]

You may take away the button, but you can never replace the great service it performed.
There is no alternative to the start button, it will be replaced with something that does the same thing, or games will merely start themselves, which is a step towards self conscious games that play us instead of us playing them

 

[BlackWizzard17]

Start button - The child hood friendly button whom many people looked up to.
Select button -That other one that was rarely used much but had good potential

 

[ShadowSoldier]

The WiiU has the + and - button, they're basically the exact same thing. Even games say "Press +".

But shit, I've always pressed A or something and not start.

 

[Taleweaver]

The WiiU has the + and - button, they're basically the exact same thing. Even games say "Press +".

Not only that: they are actually labeled 'start' and 'select', so...what the wiiu is concerned, those buttons are certainly still there (though I admit the games tend to talk more or even exclusively of + and - ).

 

[tbgtbg]

This is what passes for news?

I mean it's an interesting thing to talk about and all, but there's nothing newsworthy about it.

 

[Maxternal]

This isn't new. Sega removed their select buttons long ago, converting it in another fire button. Even with Nintendo, the N64 and GC controls didn't have a select button. It was only brought back to the Wii for the sake of backwards comparability with VC games (you'd say it was replaced but + and - are ALSO labeled start and select on the classic controllers as well as the Wii U gamepad and Pro controller) Similarly, all the GameBoy/DS iterations have start and select only because of their tradition of backwards compatibility.

"Start" to start a game can easily be replaced by other confirmation buttons (A and X traditionally as mentioned before)
"Select" to select an option from a menu is probably better done with the d-pad or joystick which can actually go in BOTH directions.

Gone or renamed ... I won't miss them.

 

[Gahars]

If it's replaced by buttons that provide the exact same function, does it really matter?

I'll leave that up for you to decide, but the answer is no.

 

[DinohScene]

Only function the start button had on most games of the 7th gen was to pause the game.
"Press Start to play", always pressed A or Cross.

 

[Depravo]

Damnit! Whenever a game instructed me to press 'Start' to play I would always try any of the other buttons just to be contrary.

 

[spiritofcat]

The only function of the Start button that I'll miss is that of pausing.
Pressing Start to get past a title screen can and has been easily replaced with pressing any one of the normal right thumb buttons, and select hasn't had any real use that I've noticed in a very long time.

What will you do when you want to pause a PS4 or XBone game though? I guess pressing the system logo button might do the job, but it still seems a bit strange. It's like removing the ESC key from a computer...

 

[Tom Bombadildo]

...people use Start for stuff besides pausing a game? I thought everyone always just used A/X/Whatever when starting a game

tl;dr who gives a flying fuck? They're fucking buttons.


EDIT: And it's not like those buttons are fucking gone, they're just called something else

 

[calmwaters]

"The start button? What is that?" - some punk on Xbox Live. Me: "It's been so long, I can't remember. I think it was used to pause games."

...people use Start for stuff besides pausing a game? I thought everyone always just used A/X/Whatever when starting a game

tl;dr who gives a flying fuck? They're fucking buttons.

It so happens that people like shortcuts. I can use the d-pad to access the other four submenus in Paper Mario 2: pressing Start gives me Mario's information. The idea is not to be stringent with controls, but develop a flexible style. It's like on your computer: you can click the start button with your mouse or hit the key on your keyboard. Now you've taken away the ability to click the start button with your mouse; then the shortcut will become the new standard until they come out with a new shortcut.

 

[Tom Bombadildo]

"The start button? What is that?" - some punk on Xbox Live. Me: "It's been so long, I can't remember. I think it was used to pause games."

It so happens that people like shortcuts. I can use the d-pad to access the other four submenus in Paper Mario 2: pressing Start gives me Mario's information. The idea is not to be stringent with controls, but develop a flexible style. It's like on your computer: you can click the start button with your mouse or hit the key on your keyboard. Now you've taken away the ability to click the start button with your mouse; then the shortcut will become the new standard until they come out with a new shortcut.

Yeah, that's nice and all...it's just that the button isn't being removed, it's just renamed. The PS4 controller has an Options button instead of Start, and the XBone controller has a menu button. They literally do the same thing, they're just not called "start". It'd be more like replacing the "Start" button in windows with a "Menu" button instead. It still functions the same, it's just renamed.

 

[Hyro-Sama]

Meh. I'm indifferent. I can't really remember the last time I've needed to use the start button on a console. As others have said, other buttons basically function the same.

 

[WhiteMaze]

So do they click inwards or something..........or is it like the steam controller, all about the feels

It's all about the feels. You can push them inwards too. Organic controller ftw <3

 

[shadow1w2]

PC game controllers still have start buttons, PC gaming forever!

Ya I don't get why they remove the start button.
Replacing it with confusing thing that aren't there to pause your game.
I foresee the PS4 pad getting touch to pause that works half the time and the WiiU pad getting an on screen button. (Wii U still has Plus and Minus which say Start and Select on it cause Nintendo knows)
Steam gamepad will no doubt have a touch screen pause so that ones kinda ok I guess.
The Xbone pad will just not let you pause so it can watch you playing games lol
Actually I think they still have a button dedicated to pausing called something else.

Still, removing it seems stupid, I don't get to why they would need to do this in the first place.
Its a dedicated button for pausing and opening a main menu so you can take a break.
Lemme tell ya that guide menu never works half the time when you have games rely on it to pause.

Well I'm sticking with PC anyway, I get a start button cause I'll make the start button if I have to xD

I do miss the arcade days though.
Put in a quarter and press the button to start when your ready.
Back when games waited for you to play not you waiting for it to let you play.

 

[Bladexdsl]

their still on the wii u just renamed to plus and minus