Do you still call the buttons 'Start' and 'Select'?

[Princess Viola]

Look, we all know what the Start and Select buttons are, but they've also not officially been called that on official controllers for some years now.

On Xbox, it's View and Menu. On PlayStation, it's Options and...I guess 'Select' has been functionally replaced with a touchpad click. On Nintendo, it's + and -.

But what do you call those buttons? Do you still call them by the old names of Start and Select? Do you go by what the current official name for the buttons on whatever controller you currently use is? Or do you not care at all and just think of them as 'Yeah those ones' because (minus Nintendo) modern official controllers don't label these buttons with their names at all?

Personally I still call 'em Start and Select, it's just what I'm used to.

 

[PSVitaForever]

I never thought about "Start" and "Select" when seeing + and - on switch, in fact in my mind I always call them "+" and "-", but I never got ps4/ps5/xbox, so with 3ds and vita I'm used to start and select.

 

[CraigJarrett]

The most modern console I own is an Xbox 360 and yes I call the buttons select and start, because "back" (like most of Xbox's branding, Series is a crap console name as is One after 360) is dumb name.

 

[RageBurner]

Yes, this has been too strongly ingrained in my brain to change, now. I don't care if they are called share, back, or press for doomsday - it's just start and select, at the end of the day.

 

[Boo Man]

always Start and Select and the middle button is called The Middle Button

 

[CraigJarrett]

always Start and Select and the middle button is called The Middle Button

I can understand consoles wanting their own image with button names or different buttons but some names are too integrated into gamers.

 

[moon200218]

one on the right is start, one on the left is select. Thats all there is to it. As long as they do what you expect them to do they could be called alpha and omega for all i care

 

[Rocket2049]

idk, i hate all modern things, i always say start button (or pause)
whatver other button (select, back, share, whatever) i just say what it is
i do hate that sony just dropped "select" altogether

 

[Yousef Yousef]

Of course

 

[Azazelivae]

To be honest personally anyway, calling it anything other than "Start" and "Select" feels wrong.

It's like calling Velcro as anything other than Velcro.

 

[usergaycoolguy]

I call them start and select but for switch I guess I call them plus and minus when I talk about them mostly because when I am it's cuz I'm trying to explain to people who don't play video games much what button to press.

 

[Badseed Badseed]

People called them other things?

NO...No one cares TG16 people about your weird run button

Post automatically merged: May 15, 2026

@usergaycoolguy
Hey man your avatar made me think of Puri-Puri Prisoner from One Punch Man.

Maybe the art style

 

[Ikagura]

Even when the SNES came out the Select button became vestigial as it was no longer used to select the game mode yet I will always defend those names because Option/Share and View/Menu are functionally the same thing as Start and Select regardless of the new names given to them.

I can understand Plus and Minus on the Wiimote since that controller was supposed to be like a remote (thus the on/off button on the corner) yet this also became vestigial by the time the Wii U came out.

Edit: I still like Start and Run from the PC Engine pad because it was a fitting name.

 

[LadyCorvinus]

Yeah, I know the names changed over the years but it’s still select and start for me; old habits die hard I guess lol

 

[Mileena]

My brain blocked out that they were even called something else

 

[ArchienineArchienine's icon]

The options button on the DualShock 4 will always be select for me

 

[Megarockman _1987 Megarockman _1987]

The options button on the DualShock 4 will always be select for me

For me too, I still call it select

 

[SamanthaSamantha's icon]

I actually call the "Select" button "Mode", but I will refer to the "Start" button as such to my dying breath.

 

[SoThankful]

Still waiting for a voter that says no

 

[MegaDrive1987]

I've said this for years and was thinking about it the other day...Start and Select. That's how you can tell someone is an old school gamer haha.

 

[arkasth]

always Start and Select and the middle button is called The Middle Button

The only right answer.

 

[nobitakun]

I really do not mind the name of the buttons, what I mind is their functions. PS4 started to have a "Share" button which I find totally useless, so I had to use CFW to disable it or remap to something more useful. Since the other button is used in games, I can't change it, but at least I can use the Share button for something I really want, because Sony does not allow you to do it through the official mapping settings.

 

[arkasth]

Tbh, I still call all the buttons by their PlayStation names, including the face buttons and L1, L2, R1, and R2.

 

[Sheepy765]

I use start/select and their proper terms interchangeably depending on if I'm playing with my sisters.

 

[WitchDetective]

If I were to be abandoned on an island alongside other people (perish the thought, I wanted to be alone). If the words "Share and options button" when a PlayStation controller washes ashore. We should use the fool as food to ensure our survival immediately.