Oh, the "A" button. You inspired such greatness, but I fear the influential path you blazed will become overgrown.

There was a time when you did everything! You allowed us to shoot, to jump, to race. You did the most important things in our games. In fact, you probably should have been the "B" button, but Nintendo had the foresight to reverse the order, making you our most-used button.

And while buttons were added, you held strong. The "X" and "Y" were a stretch, and you put "B" in its rightful place, the bottom of the pad.

The introduction of the PlayStation was the beginning of the end for you. You must have scoffed at those strange symbols. Why would anyone designate a button press with two syllables or even three? "Triangle" is so unwieldy.

The Nintendo 64 was a strong console, but the PlayStation grew and grew. When the PlayStation 2 hit, Nintendo came to your defence! You were bigger and better than ever. You were the center of everything. The "B" button wandered aimlessly, the "C" buttons had an identity crisis, and the "Y" and "X" buttons were mere jellybeans of their former selves. You didn't even flinch when the Xbox came out. Yes, you took the SNES's "B" position, but your mere presence on the competition's joypad was a victory.

But something happened. Thumbs migrated to sticks, and everyone wanted to use fingers.Triggers were a ham-fisted metaphor. When you shoot, you pull the trigger. How clever. But racing games picked it up, and games that had no business taking key character actions off the face buttons migrated their inputs to the top.

The DS left you behind, too. Games could be played without a single button press. Touch screens made everything a button.

Nintendo's release of the Wii was the ultimate betrayal, "A" button. Yes, you were front and center, alone in all your glory. But you were wearing the emperor's clothes. You were waved about with nary a button push. But when button presses were required, the "B" button, your bumbling sidekick, stole all the trigger-tapping glory. Et tu, "B"rute?

Now with Project Natal coming, there will be no button presses. Perhaps you can take solace in that the PlayStation buttons are getting their comeuppance with PlayStation Move.

You will always find a spot on a controller, "A" button, but your use is no longer so important. You used to save lives on a daily basis -- now you navigate through menus..

You may not be gone, but you are forgotten, "A" button.