system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5: What is the purpose of the 'Press Start" screen at the beginning of almost every video game?
gpt
It has two purposes, one modern and one more historically.

Right now the main reason of the start screen is to identify the player (in case of more than one controller connected). The player is the one that presses the start key. It also gives an opportunity to ask which storage device should be used.

The second reason is that console manufacturers require the player to have an input before a certain time frame has passed. This to ensure that the game is being started properly. The press start screen is a perfect opportunity to do this since it doesn't require many resources to be loaded yet.