Southpaws and controller design

[Luke]

(plus I like seeing gross stuff like that).

That is a rather poor choice of words. There is nothing gross about it.

[fastbilly1]

Yet another reason I support full mapping of game controls.

And to go off on a somewhat random tangent:
One of my most common searches about videogames is for game controls. Be it control schemes or how many buttons a game uses. See I have a metal arcade cabinet that is four player with two buttons per player and I use legacy controls with left trigger for fire in console FPS games. I also often search for splitscreen multiplayer and a combination of the above but that’s another topic.

When looking for two button games about a year ago, I discovered a world of gamers that I was unaware of. I found this site called one switch gaming, which naively I thought would have the information that I was looking for, nono it had so much more. Turns out it is a site for disabled gamers. Guys and gals who may not even be able to move a finger, but still want to play games like the rest of us. I talked about this alittle bit in the past but it really is depressing to see how many of them cannot play games because developers keep taking out their options. Now it is true that most of them use a pc for gaming since for the vast majority of titles if you cannot change them via options you can hack the ini or cfg files and remap your buttons that way. And we cannot forget scripting. But console developers, Nintendo included, seem to just shove this demographic aside and that really gets me. Why should someone who can only move one arm not be able to enjoy Windwaker or Castle Crashers?

Once I discovered this group, my bitching that my demographic is being ignored changed significantly.

[crux]

About three years and a half years ago, when my children were born, like most new parents I barely got sleep and would spend countless hours feeding, exacerbated by the fact that we had twins. I was (and am) a stay-at-home dad (SAHD for short), so I spent half of every day with a bottle in my hand. After a while I began to research ways to play console games with one hand, so I could feed them and have a little time to myself at the same time. It became an exacerbating search. Very few one-handed controllers existed for consoles at the time and they were nearly all relegated to basic use like RPGs.

Long story short, I've found in recent years, since the popularization of home modding has boomed dramatically, that one-handed controller ideas have been blossoming greatly. It's nice to see modders picking up the slack for the demographics that major developers deem too small to pay attention to.

[Luke]

When looking for two button games about a year ago, I discovered a world of gamers that I was unaware of. I found this site called one switch gaming, which naively I thought would have the information that I was looking for, nono it had so much more. Turns out it is a site for disabled gamers. Guys and gals who may not even be able to move a finger, but still want to play games like the rest of us. I talked about this alittle bit in the past but it really is depressing to see how many of them cannot play games because developers keep taking out their options. Now it is true that most of them use a pc for gaming since for the vast majority of titles if you cannot change them via options you can hack the ini or cfg files and remap your buttons that way. And we cannot forget scripting. But console developers, Nintendo included, seem to just shove this demographic aside and that really gets me. Why should someone who can only move one arm not be able to enjoy Windwaker or Castle Crashers?

Once I discovered this group, my bitching that my demographic is being ignored changed significantly.

That is pretty cool. I live fairly close to a Life House, which is a home for the disabled. No shit, I once found a guy's lost seeing eye dog. The home has a Wii in the media, which doesn't get much use. I offered to donate some nunchuck attachments I designed, but the staff refused. It's a sad situation, the staff consists of a bunch of fat, lazy smokers, who don't enforce any rules, and could care less about their clients.

[fastbilly1]

I am very interested in your designs Luke. Any way I can see pictures of them? I promise, I wont run off and try to get the mass produced.

[Limewater]

I think people are giving a tad too much credence to the idea of hand dominance. It exists, of course, and can make a difference, but using the directional pad or analogue stick is not something that requires such precision as to make the hand used a major factor. I think people are more ambidextrous than they give themselves credit for.

I can buy this. Perhaps the choice of controller layout is arbitrary, and everyone standardized on using the left hand for direction because the NES essentially took over gaming for several years, and it followed that convention.

Then, perhaps the cry from people for left-handed controllers simply comes from people thinking that, since they are left-handed, they will benefit from a left-handed controller.

@Luke: I wouldn't ask normally, but since you brought it up, I would be curious to know more about how you handle things like typing and using a gamepad if you have no fingers on your left hand. I don't know about typing, but do you just use arcade sticks for most of your console gaming?

[Luke]

I am very interested in your designs Luke. Any way I can see pictures of them? I promise, I wont run off and try to get the mass produced.

Sure, I'll try to get around to it after work. Depending on my work load after work, it might be until tomorrow until I post the pics.

@Luke: I wouldn't ask normally, but since you brought it up, I would be curious to know more about how you handle things like typing and using a gamepad if you have no fingers on your left hand. I don't know about typing, but do you just use arcade sticks for most of your console gaming?

No problem man. I still have muscles in my left hand that work fine. Think of it this way, touch the tip of your thumb to the tip of your pinky finger, the muscles in your hand that flex are still there, just not the fingers. I use the tips of those muscles for regular day stuff, like typing and gaming. And I game just as anyone else does. The only thing that can get tricky is using left trigger/paddle buttons (PS2/XBOX), but it really isn't a problem. I just have to quickly shift my hand off the d-pad or analog stick, press the button, and resume. The only game with a traditional controller that frustrates me is Metroid Prime, it seems you have to constantly hold down the L trigger while using the analog stick.

As far as typing goes, I just type. Not really sure how to explain it. In school (not college) every teacher tried to get me to type one handed, but it's not like I am missing an entire arm, I manage quite well.

[RyaNtheSlayA]

(well, except for RyaN, I'm sure he already has something in his pipe to smoke).

Yup you got that right haha

[Limewater]

No problem man. I still have muscles in my left hand that work fine. Think of it this way, touch the tip of your thumb to the tip of your pinky finger, the muscles in your hand that flex are still there, just not the fingers. I use the tips of those muscles for regular day stuff, like typing and gaming. And I game just as anyone else does. The only thing that can get tricky is using left trigger/paddle buttons (PS2/XBOX), but it really isn't a problem. I just have to quickly shift my hand off the d-pad or analog stick, press the button, and resume. The only game with a traditional controller that frustrates me is Metroid Prime, it seems you have to constantly hold down the L trigger while using the analog stick.

As far as typing goes, I just type. Not really sure how to explain it. In school (not college) every teacher tried to get me to type one handed, but it's not like I am missing an entire arm, I manage quite well.

Thanks! That's interesting. If I may continue this line of questioning, did you ever have fingers on that hand, or did you lose them at some point after birth?

I ask because you sound like you have a fully-functional hand minus the fingers. The only two people I have know who were missing fingers congenitally also did not have a full palm.

[Luke]

Thanks! That's interesting. If I may continue this line of questioning, did you ever have fingers on that hand, or did you lose them at some point after birth?

I ask because you sound like you have a fully-functional hand minus the fingers. The only two people I have know who were missing fingers congenitally also did not have a full palm.

No worries man, it's never bothered me to talk about it. My situation is kind of comparable to Jim Abbott, a former MLB pitcher who has thrown a no hitter (although my hand looks more developed). I have never had fingers on my left hand, but not from a birth defect. While still inside my Mother, I punched the uterus wall, damaging my hand (I've never known my own strength) . Usually at this stage of birth, your motor skills are limited to left and right, not each limb. What usually happens is that both arm and leg reflex, and more time than not, a person loses both a foot and a hand, or a entire arm and leg. This happened to an NFL kicker, who lost his arm up to his elbow, and had half a foot. So, I'm pretty lucky I didn't lose a foot as well. Weird though, I almost had both of my legs amputated when I was around 6 years old due to HSP. I consider myself lucky. Sorry to get off track, but yes, it's a full functioning hand minus fingers.

Not to toot my own horn, but luckily for me, I'm smart, tall, built, and handsome. Rarely do people bother me about it, but I've probably heard it all before, so I always have some quick response to any insults. It is amazing how many people with awful teeth ask me "What's wrong with your hand?", it's almost to easy respond with, "My hand? My GOD! What is wrong with your teeth?". Asking me about it is fine, especially the way you have, but I don't appreciate the gawkers.