this post was submitted on 15 Aug 2025

40 points (85.7% liked)

Ask Lemmy

asklemmy@lemmy.world

42,280 readers

8,023 active

1,419 users here now

A Fediverse community for open-ended, thought provoking questions

Rules: (interactive)

1) Be nice and; have fun

Doxxing, trolling, sealioning, racism, toxicity and dog-whistling are not welcomed in AskLemmy. Remember what your mother said: if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all. In addition, the site-wide Lemmy.world terms of service also apply here. Please familiarize yourself with them

2) All posts must end with a '?'

This is sort of like Jeopardy. Please phrase all post titles in the form of a proper question ending with ?

3) No spam

Please do not flood the community with nonsense. Actual suspected spammers will be banned on site. No astroturfing.

4) NSFW is okay, within reason

Just remember to tag posts with either a content warning or a [NSFW] tag. Overtly sexual posts are not allowed, please direct them to either !asklemmyafterdark@lemmy.world or !asklemmynsfw@lemmynsfw.com. NSFW comments should be restricted to posts tagged [NSFW].

5) This is not a support community.

It is not a place for 'how do I?', type questions. If you have any questions regarding the site itself or would like to report a community, please direct them to Lemmy.world Support or email info@lemmy.world. For other questions check our partnered communities list, or use the search function.

6) No US Politics.

Please don't post about current US Politics. If you need to do this, try !politicaldiscussion@lemmy.world or !uspolitics@lemmy.world

7) No Hit-and-Run questions.

Please don't delete your post for no apparent reason. If you plan on deleting a question later, say so in the post, or if you feel that you have a good reason to remove it, message a mod beforehand. It's not fair to the ones who took their time to answer, and it's not in the spirit of the community.

8) No Bots.

Posts or comments from bots, LLM's, AIs, Neural Networks, Transformers, or Marvin the Paranoid Android are not welcome in AskLemmy. Real humans only please.

Reminder: The terms of service apply here too.

Partnered Communities:

No Stupid Questions

You Should Know

Logo design credit goes to: tubbadu

founded 3 years ago

moderators

Bluetreefrog@lemmy.world

Asudox@lemmy.world

lemmy_bot@lemmy.world

beefbaby182@lemmy.world

ModeratorCan@lemmy.world

neidu3@sh.itjust.works

asudox@lemmy.asudox.dev

candyman337@lemmy.world

candyman337@sh.itjust.works

What should be the ONE universal controller layout that everyone would agree on? (sopuli.xyz)

submitted 1 year ago by sbeak@sopuli.xyz to c/asklemmy@lemmy.world

78 comments fedilink hide all child comments

What are your wackiest ideas for a "universal" controller layout that would appeal to the fans of the Xbox, Nintendo, and PS layouts? You certainly can't pick one of the three, that would be lazy and frankly unfair for the other two layouts. It's got to be something that everyone agrees on, something different!

I've got a few ideas: NSEW (the cardinal directions), RGBA (colours, also transparent button could be cool...), or maybe CMYK (printer ink colours for ease of printing)

What are your ideas for the universal controller layout?

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments

[–] Zagorath@aussie.zone 12 points 1 year ago (29 children)

It has to be symmetrical. The asymmetry that Xbox uses is just so uncomfortable.

I don't really care too much what the buttons are called. I grew up with PlayStation so its button names are the easiest for me to recall. That bias aside, I do think there's something innately easier about the four shapes than memorising where X, Y, A, and B go, and numbering the buttons R1, R2, and R3 is simpler than the weird names Xbox users use.

hideshow 29 child comments

[–] Schal330@lemmy.world 10 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (14 children)

I personally prefer the asymmetric joysticks over the playstation symmetrical ones. RB, RT is descriptive of the button itself. B being Bumper and T being trigger.

I do agree with you in the shapes being more memorable though.

parent

hideshow 14 child comments

[–] Zagorath@aussie.zone 1 point 1 year ago (13 children)

But how do you remember whether it's the bumper or the trigger? Counting downwards 1 and 2 is easy. Knowing the one they've named "bumper" and the one they've named "trigger" is…less so.

parent

hideshow 13 child comments

[–] Schal330@lemmy.world 8 points 1 year ago (12 children)

I remember it because one is a bumper and the other is a trigger. Bumper like the front of a car, and a trigger like...a trigger.

parent

hideshow 12 child comments

[–] Zagorath@aussie.zone 2 points 1 year ago (11 children)

I have no idea what makes one a "bumper" and one a "trigger". The only meaningful difference is one is on top of the other.

parent

hideshow 11 child comments

[–] RaivoKulli@sopuli.xyz 5 points 1 year ago (7 children)

One is a trigger lol

parent

hideshow 7 child comments

[–] BigBananaDealer@lemmy.world 3 points 1 year ago

and the other one is a bumper

parent

[–] Zagorath@aussie.zone 1 point 1 year ago (5 children)

Someone else pointed out that when you say "trigger", you mean like the trigger of a gun, as opposed to in the sense I was thinking, which is in terms of event scripting, where a "trigger" is the event that causes another event to begin. I was thinking of it like that because, well...none of the buttons look even remotely like a gun trigger to me.

parent

hideshow 5 child comments

[–] IronKrill@lemmy.ca 2 points 1 year ago* (1 child)

It was clearer in the 360 days when the trigger was narrow. Now that it's as wide as a bumper the distinction feels a bit dated. I still prefer the 360 triggers, they felt great for fine control.

parent

hideshow 1 child comment

[–] Zagorath@aussie.zone 1 point 1 year ago

Oh yeah that definitely looks more trigger-y.

parent

[–] RaivoKulli@sopuli.xyz 2 points 1 year ago (2 children)

1000041997

1000041998

The form is similar and in fps games the use is the same

parent

hideshow 2 child comments

[–] Zagorath@aussie.zone 1 point 1 year ago (1 child)

Ok that bottom image is interesting. It certainly looks a little more trigger-like. I dunno what console that is, but I think it's noteworthy that the PS2 controller has convex buttons for both R1 and R2. And even the PS5 seems to have only gone so far as making the button relatively flat:

With a steep convex bump out at the top, and a very gentle concave curve (much too gentle IMO to still be described as "similar to a gun trigger") across the rest. Personally, I don't particularly like the idea of naming the buttons in a way that is dependent on minute details of design like whether it is convex or concave. It's unintuitive and particularly if you throw third-party controllers into the mix, could lead to the names being even more misleading and unintuitive.

parent

hideshow 1 child comment

[–] RaivoKulli@sopuli.xyz 1 point 1 year ago

It's Xbox Elite controller. The trigger makes sense because out of the two "buttons", it's the one that's more like a trigger. Not sure why giving it a number would make things clearer, you'd still have to guess which one of the buttons is #1 and which one was #2. Intuitively you'd probably able to guess which is which on both systems.

parent

[–] skye@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago (2 children)

the trigger is like the trigger of a gun. the bumper is a bump/bigger button

parent

hideshow 2 child comments

[–] Zagorath@aussie.zone 1 point 1 year ago (1 child)

In what way are any of the buttons like the trigger of a gun? Plus, unless I'm mistaken, isn't the bigger button the one you'd call a "trigger"? Just picking up the USB PS2-shaped controller I bought off Ebay, R2 is definitely the bigger button by a large amount, and I thought R2 is the one you'd call the "right trigger". Am I misunderstanding something?

parent

hideshow 1 child comment

[–] skye@lemmy.world 1 point 1 year ago

Bigger button as in, compared to the XYAB/Symbols buttons. The bumper just feels like a big button you press down. And the trigger does look like a gun trigger, due to the shape. Well, at least on an Xbox controller

parent

[–] platypode@sh.itjust.works 5 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (7 children)

I think the asymmetry is great! It makes it really easy to move my thumb off the camera stick to grab the dpad without letting go of movement or doing the claw. I like the aesthetic of a symmetrical controller, but offset sticks just works better for me.

parent

hideshow 7 child comments

[–] Zagorath@aussie.zone 2 points 1 year ago (6 children)

Camera?

parent

hideshow 6 child comments

[–] platypode@sh.itjust.works 5 points 1 year ago (5 children)

Right stick, generally used for camera control. Reading my comment back that’s super unclear lol

parent

hideshow 5 child comments

[–] Zagorath@aussie.zone 2 points 1 year ago (4 children)

Oh ok I see. I don't really see how it matters for that purpose whether it's symmetric or asymmetric. When moving the camera your hand is in one position, and when using the buttons for things like jump, attack, interact etc., your hand is in the other position. You have to use both positions either way. So I'd rather the kind of natural position of both hands resting on the analogue sticks is symmetric rather than twisted.

parent

hideshow 4 child comments

[–] skye@lemmy.world 1 point 1 year ago (3 children)

on the xbox controller the D-pad is to the left of the Right stick, meaning you can easily move your thumb over it to use it in certain games (like in Dark Souls, you use it to change equipped consumables/weapons). Whereas with the symmetric design, you'd have to move your right thumb a bigger distance, and also get in the way of your left thumb (which is on the left stick for movement). Ofcourde, you can always let go of movement to switch items, but that's not always an easy option (Bossfights, enemy encounters, ehere you have to be moving constantly)

That's just one game i can think of where the asymmetric dedign is better

parent

hideshow 3 child comments

[–] Zagorath@aussie.zone 2 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Wait, you use the d-pad with your right hand on an Xbox‽ I'm gonna be honest, I can't even imagine wanting to do that, and it feels like it would be bad game design if a game necessitates it.

But if you did want to do it, I'd say your best option in a symmetric design would be to use your right thumb on the left stick. It's a little awkward, but it's only for a split second, which IMO is better than sacrificing the comfort of the design as it's used 99% of the time.

parent

hideshow 2 child comments

[–] marito@lemmy.world 1 point 1 year ago

Not ALL the time. For the most part, you use your left thumb on the left analog stick and the D-Pad, and your right thumb on the right analog stick. But, SOMETIMES, you have to keep your character moving with the left stick while at the same time switching weapons/items with the D-Pad, especially when escaping a tough situation.

parent

[–] skye@lemmy.world 1 point 1 year ago

Usually, you use the D-pad with your left hand. But in dark souls, movement is done with the left analog stick. Otherwise, if d-pad is used for movement (and not item switching), you use your left hand

parent

[–] QuizzaciousOtter@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 points 1 year ago (5 children)

R1, R2 and R3 are endlessly confusing to me. I still mix them up sometimes after over a year of owning PS5. It makes no sense that they aren't in any order! It should be 1 - trigger, 2 - bumper, 3 - stick or in reverse. In order in the top - down axis.

parent

hideshow 5 child comments

[–] marito@lemmy.world 1 point 1 year ago (3 children)

Historic order. L1 and R1 (LB and RB) first appeared in the Super Nintendo ( 1991), L2 and R2 (LT and RT) made their debut in the PlayStation (1994) and L3 and R3 came out first in the PlayStation 2 (2000), I think.

parent

hideshow 3 child comments

[–] QuizzaciousOtter@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 point 1 year ago (2 children)

They could choose any name other that L3 and R3 though.

parent

hideshow 2 child comments

[–] marito@lemmy.world 1 point 1 year ago (1 child)

That's what PlayStation calls them. Xbox calls them LSB and RSB (Left/Right stick button). Nintendo has no name for them, they just refer to them as "clicking the left/right stick". Also Nintendo calls the bumpers L and R, and the triggers ZL and ZR.

parent

hideshow 1 child comment

[–] QuizzaciousOtter@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 point 1 year ago

LSB and RSB are so much better in my opinion. They actually have meaning so you don't have to remeber an arbitrary number.

parent

[–] Zagorath@aussie.zone 1 point 1 year ago

The order makes sense to me. R1 is the top button. R2 is the bottom one. We usually read top to bottom so that checks out.

R3 is the weird stepchild option. It goes last precisely because of how weird it is and how rarely-used it is. Or at least was, back when I was last playing games on a console, during the PS2 era.

parent