Left-handed or right-handed...

[xanadu71]

One question is walking in my head. Why cabinet's control are made for left-handed ? Joystick for the left hand and buttons for the right hand.
I remember some cabinets with controls for right-handed but very rare. I crossed my own hands for playing because i'm left-handed.
Perhaps, creator of the 1st cabinet was left-handed.
Do you think that left-handed have the best of it with this?

[DRN]

Dunno about that. From what I remember the machines I used to play had the buttons on both sides.

[sikraiken]

I'm left handed also. It's good and bad for us, I guess. We have better control over the stick in most cases, BUT, if you are playing a shooter that requires fast fingers, your right hand is most likely not faster than your left. I wish I was "two" handed. My mom was switched when she was younger (teenager? I don't remember what she said). She was originally left handed, but today, she is right handed.

BTW, if you go to many Arcades today, look at the controls, especially on fighters, DRN - the buttons are all on the RIGHT side. Some games did have buttons on both sides, like Bosconian. hehe.

[mahlemiut]

BTW, if you go to many Arcades today, look at the controls, especially on fighters, DRN - the buttons are all on the RIGHT side. Some games did have buttons on both sides, like Bosconian. hehe.

Suits me fine, and I'm left-handed too. For some reason I do various things right-handed, and some (like writing) left-handed.

[sikraiken]

Well, yea, the controls don't bother me at all. It just turned into a standard (in most cases) for Arcade set ups. I just wish I could press faster with my right hand. Should start doing more things w/ my right hand to get more coordination with it. I have good coordination, but it COULD be better. My goal is to have both hands equal.

[Chad]

even if the controls did bother you, it's not all that hard to cross your hands and use an opposite hand for fire and movement. Lots of lefties used to do that I saw.

[sikraiken]

Yea, I tried that before, but never took the time to get used to it. It kinda bugged me too, but I might try it up again. I wanna try using my right hand more too, so this might help also. I can change....my mom gave me a righty golf stick, when I was a lefty golfing, playing hockey, batting in baseball, catching in baseball, kicking in soccer, throwing in football, etc. Overtime, that righty golf stick grew on me (I was like 7 or . Today, I golf, play hockey, and bat, all using a right handed stance. :/ Everything else stayed the same, though.

Tron seems to be one of those games that use the right hand for stick, and left hand for, well, whatever else. I've never played the game, nor have I seen a cabinet in person, so I don't know the exact controls.

[The TJT]

I'm righthanded. Usually I use left hand for joystick and right for buttons, maybe because layout of buttons, and fast firing and timing for jumping etc seems to be better to do with righthand. I believe usual button/joy layout is very well thought in the early age of videogames, it's best for righthanded player. I remember when some game had buttons on the left hand side, it was easier for me to cross my hands when playing.

But! if there is a game, which doesn't have any buttons, like mspacman, it's better to use righthand in the long run...When namco classics 20yearsanniversary arrived at local arcade, I started playing with my left hand, but soon realised that right was better.
Same with Phoenix using keyboard: First I started with(arrows)control using right and fire with left...soon I noticed it's much better to use righthand for firing(and when I got Hotrod, it was clear that joystick is better for even left-right movement compared to keyboard buttons, which is another subject though)

Maybe it's just like Joey says: Fast firing and multiple button control is best to do with your dominant hand...Or maybe you should use dominant hand for most complicated part of controls...Or maybe it has something to do with how our brains work, which side of the brain controls coordination etc.

Tron layout is like trigger stick for your right, and spinner for the left...So I use right for moving and firing, left for the spinner. I imagine it might be easier for a lefty to play it crosshandedly.

Then again it's very much about what you are used to.
I can use easily keyboard arrows with my right hand, would not like to do it with my left though....not to mention crosshanded!

[AL]

Ahh , the pleasures of being ambidextrous


AL

[The TJT]

Had to check that from dictionary... It means you have two left hands, horrible!

One more advice, don't play Robotron crosshandedly, eh eh eh.

[LordGaz]

Probably one reason I was never any good at Missile Command was because the trackball was on the right of the buttons. Me being left handed.

Gaz

[sikraiken]

I'm surprised there are so many of us Lefties! (and the occasional "both" [Alex].) I must wonder.....why are there so many more righties than lefties in the world? Is there an exact reason for this?

[gameboy9]

Isn't it because right handed is the dominant gene or something?

Of course, let's also consider the possible fib Not saying anyone here would do that, but it's possible.

I think the ratio is 9:1 right handed to left handed, but I could be wrong.

[AL]

Actually , ' Ambidextrous ' means the ability to use both hands equally

Although in fairness , over here most machines favoured the left-handers ,
which rhymes with Flanders ?

Damned lefties...there's just no escape from them

AL

[xanadu71]

To be left-handed was considered like a physical defect until early twentieth century. My grandmother was born in Germany in 1914 (but she was born in France but germans have occupied french people in "ALSACE"), she was left-handed but teacher has forced her to write with his right-hand.