It folds together a lot of user cues around input: that the controller that presses start is the one that the player wants to use, that they are present and rea

It folds together a lot of user cues around input: that the controller that presses start is the one that the player wants to use, that they are present and ready to play(vs sitting back and watching a cutscene, which, uncued, can be confusing if the game subsequently transitions to gameplay). It can also act as the centered calibration for the sticks. Older games' "press start" messages were tied to the title screens being part of an "attract mode". This is something done both in the arcade and in retail store displays: it's much less eye catching to have the game sitting there wherever the last patron left it, than to have a rolling demo with a little trailer, some gameplay shown, and a "press start" message. The attract mode does the work of a sales pitch, and a lot of older games were big on the concept and invested time into that feature.