Features:
On game consoles, many times it is simply a software signal. For example, on the Nintendo 64 and the GameCube, it instructs the currently running software (game or console BIOS) to restart forcibly, usually fading out the volume and/or screen brightness for a cleaner effect. On the PlayStation 2, the button is by default programmed to restart the whole system, but, especially on games using the Network Adapter/HDD, it might clean up the connection, unmount hard drive partitions, and remove power from the hard drive before restarting the machine. In the latter case, many times it switches off the system instead of restarting it (the reset button is actually also the on/off button, but under normal circumstances, the button needs to be held for 2–4 seconds to turn the system off).
On certain games (especially those that use autosave), one can gain an advantage by using the reset button. If a mistake is made, such as getting a character killed, the reset button can be pressed instead of saving, and start from a point before the mistake occurred. Purists consider this poor sport, a sentiment that manifests itself as an easter egg in the Animal Crossing series. In this series, a character named Mr. Resetti appears if the player terminates the playing session other than by the saved and quit procedure defined by the game. Despite the fact that the player may face difficulties in the game (or any other game, for that matter), Resetti says that one should just move on and forget the mistakes. Not saving the game numerous times causes his already-short fuse to light, angering Mr. Resetti. At one point, he even threatened to reset the game himself as a practical joke.