I'm actually pretty good with the Wii as a lefty. Uprising, on the other hand (no pun intended), was a nightmare, so I got rid of it. I wouldn't mind giving it another go if it's cheap enough now that I have a new!3DS though.
Funny about the Wii. When playing Mario Galaxy or Zelda, sometimes I'd grab the remote with my left hand and the nunchuck with my right. Then I'd feel really awkward and not know why for a little while; realizing that I was moving with the wrong thumb. Then I'd switch and still feel awkward for a while. Sometimes that setup was more trouble than it was worth.
Nunchuck is a good point - total disaster for a lefty. I also never used it and discounted any game that did as poor design (except the early launch Metroid if I remember correctly). Ironically though, is it so bad because we were trained to use the dpad on left (by games and systems which were likely designed with no rhyme or reason especially in regards to ergonomics)?
Oddly, I never had a problem using the nunchuk with my right hand as a leftie. The only time I ever thought being a leftie was a disadvantage while gaming was while playing Skyward Sword during the Ghriahim boss battles. I refused to play that game with the wiimote in my right hand so that made getting my strikes past his blocks a really tough challenge.
Most controllers are designed with right handed people in mind so I'm wondering if that can effect you in some ways.
Not really, IMO. (that is, distinctly designed for right-handedness)
Using a d-pad with your dominant had feels fine, and I think might actually make me better at all sorts of games since my dominant hand is in control of character motion.
Two or more buttons require the use of independent fingering. It is at this point additional dexterity becomes paramount at maintaining an advantage. With multiple buttons, I do not perform well at all with my left thumb or fingers. Since 83% of the population is right-handed, it makes sense that control schemes evolved from right hand use to left hand use for player movement as buttons evolved from controlling a single action to whole arrays of fighting moves. However, much like playing a musical instrument or typing on a keyboard, gaming is largely an ambidextrous affair, with equally important but different functions assigned to each hand. Ever look at a dual shock PS2/3/4 controller? They are almost perfectly symmetrical. At this late stage, whether you are naturally left-handed or right-handed, you have adjusted and trained to play a specific type of configuration, and suddenly reversing the controls at this point would likely feel very awkward.
They only use independent fingering on arcade cabinets, though.
Any home console control, you are still just controlling 4 buttons with each thumb (d-pad on your left thumb, a/b/x/y on your right thumb).
Basically, SNES-and-later controllers are more-or-less ambidextrous in their demand for how you use them.
NES favors lefties, IMO. (4 buttons left hand, 2 buttons right)
Though I still think character movement (i.e. the d-pad or left stick) is more important to good gameplay than the right-hand button usage, in general.
Two or more buttons require the use of independent fingering. It is at this point additional dexterity becomes paramount at maintaining an advantage. With multiple buttons, I do not perform well at all with my left thumb or fingers. Since 83% of the population is right-handed, it makes sense that control schemes evolved from right hand use to left hand use for player movement as buttons evolved from controlling a single action to whole arrays of fighting moves. However, much like playing a musical instrument or typing on a keyboard, gaming is largely an ambidextrous affair, with equally important but different functions assigned to each hand. Ever look at a dual shock PS2/3/4 controller? They are almost perfectly symmetrical. At this late stage, whether you are naturally left-handed or right-handed, you have adjusted and trained to play a specific type of configuration, and suddenly reversing the controls at this point would likely feel very awkward.
They only use independent fingering on arcade cabinets, though.
Any home console control, you are still just controlling 4 buttons with each thumb (d-pad on your left thumb, a/b/x/y on your right thumb).
Basically, SNES-and-later controllers are more-or-less ambidextrous in their demand for how you use them.
NES favors lefties, IMO. (4 buttons left hand, 2 buttons right)
Though I still think character movement (i.e. the d-pad or left stick) is more important to good gameplay than the right-hand button usage, in general.
It can still be daunting though when too many buttons are added into the mix. Like when I play six button fighting games, I generally start mashing random shit and wonder why my ass gets handed to me. Joystick or Dpad or thumbstick is elegance. A half dozen buttons, not so much, but it really depends on the game and how they are utilized. Weapons management system by assigning buttons to each weapon and selecting the layout based upon the requirements of the dungeon or area are quite effective IMO. Just keep basic sword and shield to A/B and use X/Y for ie bombs and arrows or whatever. That's effective usage of extra buttons. Three puches and three kicks (and knowing when to use them), not so much.
Some advanced techniques, such as the spinning long jump in Super Mario World (Hold Y, tap A) are difficult or impossible on the SNES pad yet relatively easy to pull off when discrete fingers are used, ie arcade panel. Imagine fighting game button combos on a pad, hence why most pro players use arcade sticks.
Two or more buttons require the use of independent fingering. It is at this point additional dexterity becomes paramount at maintaining an advantage. With multiple buttons, I do not perform well at all with my left thumb or fingers. Since 83% of the population is right-handed, it makes sense that control schemes evolved from right hand use to left hand use for player movement as buttons evolved from controlling a single action to whole arrays of fighting moves. However, much like playing a musical instrument or typing on a keyboard, gaming is largely an ambidextrous affair, with equally important but different functions assigned to each hand. Ever look at a dual shock PS2/3/4 controller? They are almost perfectly symmetrical. At this late stage, whether you are naturally left-handed or right-handed, you have adjusted and trained to play a specific type of configuration, and suddenly reversing the controls at this point would likely feel very awkward.
They only use independent fingering on arcade cabinets, though.
Any home console control, you are still just controlling 4 buttons with each thumb (d-pad on your left thumb, a/b/x/y on your right thumb).
Basically, SNES-and-later controllers are more-or-less ambidextrous in their demand for how you use them.
NES favors lefties, IMO. (4 buttons left hand, 2 buttons right)
Though I still think character movement (i.e. the d-pad or left stick) is more important to good gameplay than the right-hand button usage, in general.
It can still be daunting though when too many buttons are added into the mix. Like when I play six button fighting games, I generally start mashing random shit and wonder why my ass gets handed to me. Joystick or Dpad or thumbstick is elegance. A half dozen buttons, not so much, but it really depends on the game and how they are utilized.
Some advanced techniques, such as the spinning long jump in Super Mario World (Hold Y, tap A) are difficult or impossible on the SNES pad yet relatively easy to pull off when discrete fingers are used, ie arcade panel. Imagine fighting game button combos on a pad, hence why most pro players use arcade sticks.
Stuff like that involves some contortion, but it's possible to hold Y or X with the tip of your thumb and rock to the A or B buttons with the first joint of your thumb.
It's not appreciably different, IMO, than holding B and tapping A on the NES controller. (which is easily accomplished with just your right thumb)
Yes, those sorts of things are easier with discrete fingers on arcade buttons, but it's not impossible on the console controls.
I don't generally play fighters, but more than the controller ergonomics, the reason better players use arcade sticks is presumably because they are playing the same games with the same move sets in the actual arcade, so for your skills to transfer you need the same hardware layout.
^^I added some stuff about weapon's management in Zelda after you quoted me, where the extra buttons actually make sense when you need them handy but not continuous usage. I don't think "X" does anything in Super Mario World so not sure how you'd do a spinning long jump without contortions as the Y and A buttons are spaced to far apart, and mashing both without hitting B is not very ergonomic.
^^I added some stuff about weapon's management in Zelda, where the extra buttons actually make sense when you need them handy but not continuous usage. I don't think "X" does anything in Super Mario World so not sure how you'd do a spinning long jump without contortions as the Y and A buttons are spaced to far apart, and mashing both without hitting B is not very ergonomic.
If X doesn't do anything then you can safely hit it as you hit both Y and A and avoid B (by biasing toward X).
Unfortunately, arcade style controls don't do a lot for you, in general, on SNES, since laying out your right-thumb keys as 4-abreast, like Neo Geo, still leaves you without the ability to properly utilize L/R with your index fingers like you are meant to.
EDIT: either way, I don't think that example would favor a righty, since I doubt most people use more than just their thumb on the right-side of a standard controller face.
^^I added some stuff about weapon's management in Zelda, where the extra buttons actually make sense when you need them handy but not continuous usage. I don't think "X" does anything in Super Mario World so not sure how you'd do a spinning long jump without contortions as the Y and A buttons are spaced to far apart, and mashing both without hitting B is not very ergonomic.
If X doesn't do anything then you can safely hit it as you hit both Y and A and avoid B (by biasing toward X).
Unfortunately, arcade style controls don't do a lot for you, in general, on SNES, since laying out your right-thumb keys as 4-abreast, like Neo Geo, still leaves you without the ability to properly utilize L/R with your index fingers like you are meant to.
EDIT: either way, I don't think that example would favor a righty, since I doubt most people use more than just their thumb on the right-side of a standard controller face.
Four-in-a-row Neo-Geo style is bad IMO. This was how I designed mine, with an extra "L" button by the joystick.
I took a very literal approach to the controller design. Y/B feels a bit awkward in Super Mario World, and perhaps a six button Street Fighter style layout would be more practical:
For three button platformers like SMW or DKC the Capcom stick layout would be ideal:
[L][X][R]
[Y][B][A]
For fighters, the SFII layout would be ideal:
[Y][X][L]
[B][A][R]
So you'd need some kind of logic or triple-ganged DPDT switches to alter the button layout if using it on real (non-emu) hardware, since games aren't reconfigurable. But I'm getting way OT here...
I find it's actually an advantage because you need more precision with the D-pad than with the buttons with most games except maybe for beat em' ups and fighting games.
I'm a lefty, and I've never really thought about this before either. It's been interesting to see how many other lefties are here on the forum, too. I really appreciated Kosmic StarDust's history lesson on the background of arcade/console controller design. But now that several folks have said it, I'm wondering if my mediocrity at tournament fighters is related to me struggling to manage six action buttons with my less-precise hand.
I understand your pain. Being right handed, I'm pretty much ambidextrous when it comes to single button Atari style sticks, but any control panel with multiple buttons actuated by multiple fingers requires my right dominant hand on the buttons to use.
Originally posted by: nerdynebraskan
I'm a lefty, and I've never really thought about this before either. It's been interesting to see how many other lefties are here on the forum, too. I really appreciated Kosmic StarDust's history lesson on the background of arcade/console controller design. But now that several folks have said it, I'm wondering if my mediocrity at tournament fighters is related to me struggling to manage six action buttons with my less-precise hand.
Build a custom right-handed stick and find out. Retrobuiltgames sells a DIY "fight stick v3" kit with laser cut plywood. The kit could easily be inverted by assembling it backwards. If you don't use any glue, it should be completely reversible. If you pair it with a Cthulhu USB joystick encoder instead of a Raspberry Pi (the Cthulhu PCB may require drilling a couple extra holes to secure it), you'll have direct access to PC (USB HID), PS3, and PS4 using a standard USB A-B cable. The Cthulhu PCB autodetects whether it's plugged into a Playstation or PC.
Better check with tournament rules but I see no reason why custom fabbed sticks wouldn't be allowed, assuming you're not using turbos or macros.
Comments
Funny about the Wii. When playing Mario Galaxy or Zelda, sometimes I'd grab the remote with my left hand and the nunchuck with my right. Then I'd feel really awkward and not know why for a little while; realizing that I was moving with the wrong thumb. Then I'd switch and still feel awkward for a while. Sometimes that setup was more trouble than it was worth.
Nunchuck is a good point - total disaster for a lefty. I also never used it and discounted any game that did as poor design (except the early launch Metroid if I remember correctly). Ironically though, is it so bad because we were trained to use the dpad on left (by games and systems which were likely designed with no rhyme or reason especially in regards to ergonomics)?
Oddly, I never had a problem using the nunchuk with my right hand as a leftie. The only time I ever thought being a leftie was a disadvantage while gaming was while playing Skyward Sword during the Ghriahim boss battles. I refused to play that game with the wiimote in my right hand so that made getting my strikes past his blocks a really tough challenge.
Most controllers are designed with right handed people in mind so I'm wondering if that can effect you in some ways.
Not really, IMO. (that is, distinctly designed for right-handedness)
Using a d-pad with your dominant had feels fine, and I think might actually make me better at all sorts of games since my dominant hand is in control of character motion.
Two or more buttons require the use of independent fingering. It is at this point additional dexterity becomes paramount at maintaining an advantage. With multiple buttons, I do not perform well at all with my left thumb or fingers. Since 83% of the population is right-handed, it makes sense that control schemes evolved from right hand use to left hand use for player movement as buttons evolved from controlling a single action to whole arrays of fighting moves. However, much like playing a musical instrument or typing on a keyboard, gaming is largely an ambidextrous affair, with equally important but different functions assigned to each hand. Ever look at a dual shock PS2/3/4 controller? They are almost perfectly symmetrical. At this late stage, whether you are naturally left-handed or right-handed, you have adjusted and trained to play a specific type of configuration, and suddenly reversing the controls at this point would likely feel very awkward.
They only use independent fingering on arcade cabinets, though.
Any home console control, you are still just controlling 4 buttons with each thumb (d-pad on your left thumb, a/b/x/y on your right thumb).
Basically, SNES-and-later controllers are more-or-less ambidextrous in their demand for how you use them.
NES favors lefties, IMO. (4 buttons left hand, 2 buttons right)
Though I still think character movement (i.e. the d-pad or left stick) is more important to good gameplay than the right-hand button usage, in general.
Two or more buttons require the use of independent fingering. It is at this point additional dexterity becomes paramount at maintaining an advantage. With multiple buttons, I do not perform well at all with my left thumb or fingers. Since 83% of the population is right-handed, it makes sense that control schemes evolved from right hand use to left hand use for player movement as buttons evolved from controlling a single action to whole arrays of fighting moves. However, much like playing a musical instrument or typing on a keyboard, gaming is largely an ambidextrous affair, with equally important but different functions assigned to each hand. Ever look at a dual shock PS2/3/4 controller? They are almost perfectly symmetrical. At this late stage, whether you are naturally left-handed or right-handed, you have adjusted and trained to play a specific type of configuration, and suddenly reversing the controls at this point would likely feel very awkward.
They only use independent fingering on arcade cabinets, though.
Any home console control, you are still just controlling 4 buttons with each thumb (d-pad on your left thumb, a/b/x/y on your right thumb).
Basically, SNES-and-later controllers are more-or-less ambidextrous in their demand for how you use them.
NES favors lefties, IMO. (4 buttons left hand, 2 buttons right)
Though I still think character movement (i.e. the d-pad or left stick) is more important to good gameplay than the right-hand button usage, in general.
It can still be daunting though when too many buttons are added into the mix. Like when I play six button fighting games, I generally start mashing random shit and wonder why my ass gets handed to me. Joystick or Dpad or thumbstick is elegance. A half dozen buttons, not so much, but it really depends on the game and how they are utilized. Weapons management system by assigning buttons to each weapon and selecting the layout based upon the requirements of the dungeon or area are quite effective IMO. Just keep basic sword and shield to A/B and use X/Y for ie bombs and arrows or whatever. That's effective usage of extra buttons. Three puches and three kicks (and knowing when to use them), not so much.
Some advanced techniques, such as the spinning long jump in Super Mario World (Hold Y, tap A) are difficult or impossible on the SNES pad yet relatively easy to pull off when discrete fingers are used, ie arcade panel. Imagine fighting game button combos on a pad, hence why most pro players use arcade sticks.
Two or more buttons require the use of independent fingering. It is at this point additional dexterity becomes paramount at maintaining an advantage. With multiple buttons, I do not perform well at all with my left thumb or fingers. Since 83% of the population is right-handed, it makes sense that control schemes evolved from right hand use to left hand use for player movement as buttons evolved from controlling a single action to whole arrays of fighting moves. However, much like playing a musical instrument or typing on a keyboard, gaming is largely an ambidextrous affair, with equally important but different functions assigned to each hand. Ever look at a dual shock PS2/3/4 controller? They are almost perfectly symmetrical. At this late stage, whether you are naturally left-handed or right-handed, you have adjusted and trained to play a specific type of configuration, and suddenly reversing the controls at this point would likely feel very awkward.
They only use independent fingering on arcade cabinets, though.
Any home console control, you are still just controlling 4 buttons with each thumb (d-pad on your left thumb, a/b/x/y on your right thumb).
Basically, SNES-and-later controllers are more-or-less ambidextrous in their demand for how you use them.
NES favors lefties, IMO. (4 buttons left hand, 2 buttons right)
Though I still think character movement (i.e. the d-pad or left stick) is more important to good gameplay than the right-hand button usage, in general.
It can still be daunting though when too many buttons are added into the mix. Like when I play six button fighting games, I generally start mashing random shit and wonder why my ass gets handed to me. Joystick or Dpad or thumbstick is elegance. A half dozen buttons, not so much, but it really depends on the game and how they are utilized.
Some advanced techniques, such as the spinning long jump in Super Mario World (Hold Y, tap A) are difficult or impossible on the SNES pad yet relatively easy to pull off when discrete fingers are used, ie arcade panel. Imagine fighting game button combos on a pad, hence why most pro players use arcade sticks.
Stuff like that involves some contortion, but it's possible to hold Y or X with the tip of your thumb and rock to the A or B buttons with the first joint of your thumb.
It's not appreciably different, IMO, than holding B and tapping A on the NES controller. (which is easily accomplished with just your right thumb)
Yes, those sorts of things are easier with discrete fingers on arcade buttons, but it's not impossible on the console controls.
I don't generally play fighters, but more than the controller ergonomics, the reason better players use arcade sticks is presumably because they are playing the same games with the same move sets in the actual arcade, so for your skills to transfer you need the same hardware layout.
^^I added some stuff about weapon's management in Zelda, where the extra buttons actually make sense when you need them handy but not continuous usage. I don't think "X" does anything in Super Mario World so not sure how you'd do a spinning long jump without contortions as the Y and A buttons are spaced to far apart, and mashing both without hitting B is not very ergonomic.
If X doesn't do anything then you can safely hit it as you hit both Y and A and avoid B (by biasing toward X).
Unfortunately, arcade style controls don't do a lot for you, in general, on SNES, since laying out your right-thumb keys as 4-abreast, like Neo Geo, still leaves you without the ability to properly utilize L/R with your index fingers like you are meant to.
EDIT: either way, I don't think that example would favor a righty, since I doubt most people use more than just their thumb on the right-side of a standard controller face.
^^I added some stuff about weapon's management in Zelda, where the extra buttons actually make sense when you need them handy but not continuous usage. I don't think "X" does anything in Super Mario World so not sure how you'd do a spinning long jump without contortions as the Y and A buttons are spaced to far apart, and mashing both without hitting B is not very ergonomic.
If X doesn't do anything then you can safely hit it as you hit both Y and A and avoid B (by biasing toward X).
Unfortunately, arcade style controls don't do a lot for you, in general, on SNES, since laying out your right-thumb keys as 4-abreast, like Neo Geo, still leaves you without the ability to properly utilize L/R with your index fingers like you are meant to.
EDIT: either way, I don't think that example would favor a righty, since I doubt most people use more than just their thumb on the right-side of a standard controller face.
Four-in-a-row Neo-Geo style is bad IMO. This was how I designed mine, with an extra "L" button by the joystick.
I took a very literal approach to the controller design. Y/B feels a bit awkward in Super Mario World, and perhaps a six button Street Fighter style layout would be more practical:
For three button platformers like SMW or DKC the Capcom stick layout would be ideal:
[L][X][R]
[Y][B][A]
For fighters, the SFII layout would be ideal:
[Y][X][L]
[B][A][R]
So you'd need some kind of logic or triple-ganged DPDT switches to alter the button layout if using it on real (non-emu) hardware, since games aren't reconfigurable. But I'm getting way OT here...
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1659035215/goofy-foot-an-alternative-nes-controller
I'm a lefty, and I've never really thought about this before either. It's been interesting to see how many other lefties are here on the forum, too. I really appreciated Kosmic StarDust's history lesson on the background of arcade/console controller design. But now that several folks have said it, I'm wondering if my mediocrity at tournament fighters is related to me struggling to manage six action buttons with my less-precise hand.
Build a custom right-handed stick and find out. Retrobuiltgames sells a DIY "fight stick v3" kit with laser cut plywood. The kit could easily be inverted by assembling it backwards. If you don't use any glue, it should be completely reversible. If you pair it with a Cthulhu USB joystick encoder instead of a Raspberry Pi (the Cthulhu PCB may require drilling a couple extra holes to secure it), you'll have direct access to PC (USB HID), PS3, and PS4 using a standard USB A-B cable. The Cthulhu PCB autodetects whether it's plugged into a Playstation or PC.
Better check with tournament rules but I see no reason why custom fabbed sticks wouldn't be allowed, assuming you're not using turbos or macros.
Fight stick DIY kit:
http://www.retrobuiltgames.com/diy-kits-shop/arcade-fight-stick-v3/
Cthulhu PCB:
https://paradisearcadeshop.com/fgc-console-joystick/1828-toodles-mc-cthulhu.html
(I bought mine from focusattack.com sometime last year, but it appears to be OOS online...)