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I call those extra buttons:

  • On PlayStation R1, R2, L1, and L2

  • On Xbox: Right Bumper, Right Trigger, Left Bumper, Left Trigger

  • On PlayStation: Right Bumper, Right Trigger, Left Bumper, Left Trigger

  • On Xbox: R1, R2, L1 and L2


Results are only viewable after voting.

Rotobit

Editor at Nintendo Wire
Verified
Oct 27, 2017
10,196
I'd sooner call the Xbox buttons R1/R2, L1/L2 before the full "Right Bumper" "Left Trigger" mouthfuls. Most likely I'd gravitate towards RB/RT, LB/LT for them, though.
 

Kneefoil

Member
Oct 25, 2017
4,450
PS: R2, R1, L2, L1
Xbox: R, RB, L, LB
Nintendo: ZR, R, ZL, L

I say them as they're labelled, except I drop the T from RT and LT. For PlayStation, I'm still unfamiliar enough with the controller that I always have to confirm which number corresponds to which of those shoulder button. Oh, and if ZR and ZL have the same function, I just refer to them with Z.
 
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Red

Member
Oct 26, 2017
11,682
You could just say "ok boomer."

It's like how some people born before 1980 call stages/levels/maps "boards." Some conventions just stick.
The premise of the thread is "what do you call those buttons." It's not necessary to start arguing about the accepted conventions or age brackets. All support of which hinges on anecdotes. It was a weird thing to spontaneously bring up, when it wasn't even in the conversation.
 

Springy

Member
Oct 28, 2017
2,213
I started referring to L2 and R2 as triggers last gen when they redesigned the dualshock 4 to, you know, turn them into triggers

Also seems to be the most helpful descriptor if I'm telling somebody else which button to push
 

UshiromiyaEva

Member
Aug 22, 2018
1,681
I use both the Xbox and Playstation naming conventions interchangeably, sometimes on the wrong console. The Nintendo ones I'm not as comfortable with and usually just end up saying LT or L2 instead of ZL
 

Brodo Baggins

Member
Oct 27, 2017
3,942
When using an Xbox or Playstation controller RB/RT and R1/R2 respectively. But on Nintendo I almost always say RB/RT most of the time. R/ZR never felt right to me.
 

Strings

Member
Oct 27, 2017
31,413
The real question is how to call the weird menu and photo buttons
I'm not sure why the options button offends me so much compared to start, but it does.

Now we've got the kanji for three for whatever reason and

giphy-51.gif
 

Traxus

Spirit Tamer
Member
Jan 2, 2018
5,197
Left scraggle crumper / right scraggle crumper

Left smushy smodger / right smushy smodger
 

Orbis

Member
Oct 25, 2017
2,339
UK
If you say LB/RB, LT/RT or R1/2, L1/2 then I know what to press. In abstract form I guess j see them as bumpers and triggers, or collectively shoulder buttons.

To this day the Switch confuses me, I have to think before pressing pressing R/ZR for example because it's the opposite to what I expect based on the Gamecube, where Z was the bumper and R was the trigger.
 

HBK

Member
Oct 30, 2017
7,978
Can't vote all 4. Depends on the context. I use what will be most easily understood. If people are used to L1/R1, I say L1/R1, if people are used to LT/RT, I use LT/RT, no matter the actual controller used. And for myself ... well I don't need to speak to myself lol

It's actually the same with face buttons.

The only exception may be start/select, but that's because no one calls those buttons "back" or "options" or "view" LMFAO
 

Psittacus

Member
Oct 27, 2017
5,933
ZL and ZR don't bother me, since they're just the evolved form of the Gamecube's weird Z button

the real question is why the Gamecube controller only had one of them
The Gamecube's Z button was in the RB position and subsequent consoles have had ZL/ZR in the LT/RT position. It trips me up a lot because of that.

It also lead to the controls in Smash 4 being backwards by default because they just mapped ZL/ZR to grab and L/R to shield despite the fact that they'd switched places.
 

.exe

Member
Oct 25, 2017
22,230
I call them by their naming scheme on each controller, but when speaking more broadly I default back to the Xbox's terms. They make more intuitive sense to me than R/L1-2.

The Switch's I refer to like the Xbox's. Why did they call the triggers ZR and ZL? Makes no sense. The Z button was where the bumpers are but now they're the triggers.
 
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JershJopstin

Member
Oct 25, 2017
5,332
Yep. except on the Switch because my mind for some reason can't process the ZR and ZL so it trips me up every time

Z on the gamecube was a shoulder button, so shouldn't the two shoulder buttons be the Z buttons and not the triggers?
Yes, but the Classic Controller Pro on the Wii had to mess things up, and Nintendo stuck with it. If we got that version of the controller first, or if it never existed, I firmly believe the triggers would be L/R and the bumpers would be ZL/ZR. But they wanted L/R to match where they were on the original Classic Controller, and here we are.

I used to be more mad about this, but when you consider Nintendo's original Z button was the N64 trigger on the rear of the middle handle, it makes more sense.
ZL and ZR don't bother me, since they're just the evolved form of the Gamecube's weird Z button

the real question is why the Gamecube controller only had one of them
Cause it was just a N64 controller designed to actually be comfortable, and use a stick instead of C buttons. Legit, I think it was just because they felt adding another button was unnecessary.

Even if that is the case, the term didn't exist until the Xbox 360. Us adults had already been using L1/R1/L2/R2 for over a decade before that console came along. The naming convention was already established.
I've been gaming since before the PS2 and don't use that terminology but go on
It's meant to show that your perception that bumper/trigger is widespread is flawed. It's mostly just kids who grew up with it that think that. L1/R1/L2/R2 existed long before bumpers and triggers, and we "gave up learning the 'correct' names of controller buttons years ago" (as you say) before the 360 came along. Mostly due to Nintendo's ridiculous naming. By the time the 360 dropped and everyone was college-age or older, L1/L2 was already the standard to avoid confusion.
This post confuses me. A lot.

People that grew up post 360 outnumber those who grew up with PS1/PS2, so arguing it's not widespread because of that is weird. Kids who were 5 years old when the 360 dropped are college-age adults now.

There's also a weird (and I believe unintentional) tone of superiority in your word choice. "It's mostly just kids who grew up with it" downplays those people as somehow less important. And "everyone was college-age or older" is just... huh? Who's everyone here? Everyone relevant?

It's like you're trying to paint the group you belong to as more important, for no other reason than you're older. Again, I'm not sure that's intentional, but that's how it's coming across.
It's also... literally true. I don't know why you took issue with that wording.

I have never heard someone my age call them bumpers.
I'm the right age to have grown up with L1/L2/R1/R2 but never owned a PlayStation. I had Nintendo consoles and therefore have only used L1/L2/R1/R2 when I know they're the only words the person I'm talking to will instantly understand.

Which I guess brings me to my answer, I'll use whatever I think the person I'm talking to is used to hearing. If I'm unsure or addressing a group, I default to bumpers/triggers as they're more general terms.
 
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toth3max

One Winged Slayer
Member
Apr 17, 2018
35
It's L1/L2/R1/R2 on all platforms for me. My Stadia controller has those labels on the shoulder buttons which I think is great.

Looked up the Luna controller just now and it uses LB/LT/RB/RT and I guess it makes sense since you'll be playing PC games which are most certainly made with Xbox controller prompts/UI.
 

Deleted member 49611

Nov 14, 2018
5,052
shoulder buttons.

if i need to be specific i'll say R1/R2/L1/L2 no matter what controller it is. bumper/trigger sounds silly.
 

Skade

Member
Oct 28, 2017
8,860
"Thoses buttons there, on the sides, yeah, the big ones. No idea how they are called. Don't really care either".

In a gist. I almost never use controllers.
 

Rowsdower

Prophet of Truth - The Wise Ones
Avenger
Oct 27, 2017
16,569
Canada
I grew up on PlayStation so any shoulder buttons are always R1, R2, L1, L2.

Funny enough, this is so engrained in my mind that I still have to look at the Xbox controller occasionally to figure out what the RB/RT button is, and I've played on an Xbox system since 2011.
 

Raonak

Banned
Oct 29, 2017
2,170
collectively, i call them shoulder buttons and triggers.
individually, i call them R1, L1, R2, L2
 

JamboGT

Vehicle Handling Designer
Verified
Oct 25, 2017
1,447
Collectively I call them the L and R buttons.

Individually I would call them R1 and L1 and then the left and right triggers.
 

Fiksi

Member
Oct 27, 2017
867
Grew up with PS controllers so it's R1, R2 etc for me. But I understand RT and RB.
 

Mukrab

Member
Apr 19, 2020
7,504
Shoulder buttons.

I don't think I've ever once called them by a "bumper" in my life, nor heard anyone else do so.
Nit exactly the same thing though. They are all shoulder buttons but not all are triggers or bumpers. Triggers and bumpers is a more specific term. Kinda like all fingers are fingers but you can be more specific b saying thumb, index etc
 

jediyoshi

Member
Oct 25, 2017
5,123
Suppose there was a new platform (Stadia, Luna, etc) that had the same controller form factor, but you hadn't seen the label on the buttons yet and you were trying to tell somebody to press the index finger buttons (literally happened to me recently).
What is the first name that pops in your head? That is what OP is asking.
Or, this is the exact opposite of what OP is asking.
 

LSauchelli

Member
Oct 25, 2017
1,036
R, L, ZR, ZL.

Unless it's a Sony console, then it's R1, L1, R2, L2.

Never got around of calling them bumpers and triggers.
 

Helix

Mayor of Clown Town
Member
Jun 8, 2019
23,789
muscle memory always helps me say the right name for the bumpers and triggers for whatever system I'm referring to. so if I'm talking Nintendo, my mind automatically goes ZL and ZR etc.