Ever given thought to the buttons used in your playstation games to select options, or cancel actions?
In
Japanese versions of games, it is usually the
circle button,
maru, which is used to choose an option. The
X button,
batsu, usually cancels or steps back in the menu tree. In
American games, even just the American release of the same title, it is usually
reversed.
In
Japan, the circle is considered lucky and
perfect whereas the X is used to cross out
wrong answers. In
America, the X (or a
checkmark) is used to fill in boxes on
questionnaires, whereas a circle can be used to highlight mistakes.
An
artifact of this Japanese bias can be seen in the game,
Monster Rancher, which records wins as circles and losses as X's.
The
triangle button,
sankaku, which is used by teachers and professors to signify "incomplete answer, partial credit", often brings up additional menus or options
"Researched" by playing hours of rpg's and fps's. If you have any other trends you have noticed, please /msg me.