It's hard to imagine a controller without the iconic A, B, X, and Y buttons. This combination, popularized by the Super Nintendo, became standard on most consoles that followed — from the Dreamcast to the Steam Deck, and even the Xbox. A layout so familiar that we almost forget to ask the question: why these letters, and not simply A, B, C, D?

Originally, other manufacturers had actually gone in a different direction. Sega, with its Mega Drive, opted for A, B, C buttons, while SNK completed the alphabet with A, B, C, D on the Neo Geo. But it was Nintendo who, in the early 1990s, chose to break away from this alphabetical logic.

This choice apparently dates back to the development of the Super Famicom. A reader of Nintendo Power, intrigued, even asked the company directly in 1993. And the answer is quite surprising: according to Lance Barr, a designer at Nintendo of America, the letters X and Y were borrowed from the world of CAD (Computer-Aided Design). (The magazine clipping was shared by Sasha’s Retrobytes on BluSky and reported by Time Extension.)

In these 2D and 3D modeling programs, the X and Y axes are used to represent horizontal and vertical directions. A nod to industrial design tools, illustrating Nintendo's methodical approach to controller design.

A and B were intended as the primary action buttons (the most used, placed on the bottom right), while X and Y served as secondary buttons. They are sometimes visually differentiated (concave/convex shapes and colors varying by region) to help players distinguish them.

A choice that is both technical and ergonomic, which eventually became a new standard in video gaming. Even Sega later adopted the letters X, Y, Z on some of its controllers, proving that Nintendo's intuition was correct.

And even today, more than thirty years later, this layout is ingrained in our gaming reflexes, and it must be said that A, B, X, Y sounds better than A, B, C, D. It’s hard not to mention PlayStation, which has engraved the look of its action buttons into pop culture, instantly recognizable and now universal.

Now the question remains whether this theory is correct, as none of the original SNES or controller creators have either confirmed or denied it.