

Since you mention the d-pad. It was patented, so all the big companies had their own legally distinct spins on it. Nintendo has their cross; sega had a circle thing; Sony had discrete buttons, Microsoft had a different circle thing.
The Nintendo patent actually expired a number of years ago now, so nowadays the cross is showing up more places.






I hear people say that all generations have their dumb numbers, but I don’t remember so many establishments having to ban 69 back in the day. Yes, there will have always been something dumb getting popular, but I think it’s more willfully obnoxious now, and I don’t think I’m just an old man yelling at a cloud.
E: Thinking about it a bit, I think there’s truth to it being willfully obnoxious. The rise of social media encourages being more disruptive, causing a bigger scene, anything to go viral. God, now I really do sound old.