Left-handed or right-handed...

[horsie]

I agree that the weaker hand should operate the controller and the stronger hand (right if you're right-handed) do the firing. This is also how instruments such as the violin, guitar are played: the PHYSICALLY demanding stuff is done with the weaker hand. I would imagine this is because it frees the other side of the brain (your dominant side) to allow you to concentrate more on DIRECTING what you are doing (basic concentration, calculating/strategising, and so on).

I came to this conclusion because I notice a difference in my style of play playing each way 'round. I'm left-handed but am actually used to playing right-handed, unfortunately,because that's how arcade machines are set up (though as a kid I played left-handed...good ole Atari joystick!). But I find that when I play that way around (right-handed) I am forced to rely on intuition, and it's harder work to THINK about what I'm doing... The other way around I can be more analytical and can time things much more precisely. Bosses are easier! If anyone's seen a recording of mine you might notice my "body language" is more panicky than it needs to be, perhaps. I think it's because I'm not judging things discretely but relying on impressions (or intuition).

I've only tried DonPachi a few times but I've found that I'm much better playing the other way round - the way I'm NOT used to (left-handed) - which is the way I'm supposed to play. It's simply impossible to "feel" my way around a game like that intuitively - there's just so much going on that it swamps the senses.

I mean to get used to playing the other way around, but I've only got a keyboard which hampers things anyway. Maybe I'll start submitting the other way around if I can be bothered sitting down and relearning a game with that approach...

The recording will demonstrate what the heck I'm talking about. Yeah, I've thought about this subject too much... But it is important because I feel disadvantaged at the things I've mistakenly picked up on doing right-handed, probably just through imitation. I don't know if it's the same for everyone; "handedness" (right-/left-brain dominance) I think varies.


-Graham (GSH@TeamBee)

[sikraiken]

Oh, hey, amazing 19xx recording. Nice job. There are a decent amount of left handers here.

[MKL]

Why cabinet's control are made for left-handed ? Joystick for the left hand and buttons for the right hand.

Got it all wrong, man...That lay-out is in fact designed for right-handed people...ALL commercial products are made for right-handed people...the left-handed are considered only when the "left" features of a product can easily be added: just check the evolution of arcade control panels: back in the 80's most games did not allow for two simultaneous players and therefore there was a lot of room on the CP itself: the joystick was installed right in the middle and the pushbuttons were placed at both sides in a simmetric manner. Of course the buttons to the left of the stick were meant for left-handed players. When games started to be designed for two simultaneous players and two sticks had therefore to be present on the panel (whose size remained the same) the "left" buttons had to go...