Survey: With which hand do you hold the Joystick?

[edge-records]

THanks for all replies so far! Really interesting!

I hear the point with being able to fire quicker with your dominant hand, but I guess I'll switch on rapid fire when it comes to that .... When it's more about precision firing than about speed, I've never had a problem doing that with my left.

So there are some ( @neynaf @PortugesePilot and others? ) who are right handed, and hold the stick with the left. What was the first ever computer game device you used? Was is an arcade machine? A d-pad NES-like controller? Or was it a joystick, and you just happened to grab it that way first time?

[meynaf]

Originally Posted by edge-records

So there are some ( @neynaf @PortugesePilot and others? ) who are right handed, and hold the stick with the left. What was the first ever computer game device you used? Was is an arcade machine? A d-pad NES-like controller? Or was it a joystick, and you just happened to grab it that way first time?

This has nothing to do with the kind of device that has been first used (in my case, old 8-bit keyboard, not even a joystick).
For me it's simply that there is no strict rule about what hand to use and that i do more things with my left hand than the ordinary righter.

[Jope]

I'm a right handed person.

Computers: stick in the right hand, fire with the left.
Arcade: stick in the left hand, fire with the right.

I have no preference really, why limit yourself artificially? :-D

[PortuguesePilot]

Originally Posted by edge-records

(...)
So there are some ( @neynaf @PortugesePilot and others? ) who are right handed, and hold the stick with the left. What was the first ever computer game device you used? Was is an arcade machine? A d-pad NES-like controller? Or was it a joystick, and you just happened to grab it that way first time?

Good question. It was so long ago that I'm not sure. My first gaming experience was at about 6 years old on a Namco Pac-Man arcade machine, as far as I can remember. Some time later I remember playing a Pong-like game on an orange and white console that had odd joypads with a round dial on it and no fire buttons at all. After that I played a lot of ZX Spectrum games, initially at friends homes, then on my own. Firstly only on keyboard but later I got a hold of a cheap joystick which I cannot remember the brand and model but was similar to the QuickShot BlackHawk. That was my first joystick. My first attempt at using a joystick was at a friend's house some time before that. I don't remember what joystick it was, but I do remember that I felt rather awkward at it (like uncoordinated) and clearly remembered preferring the keyboard. This is odd, because I still played on arcades during all the mentioned time. But my full conversion to joystick (and later joypad) use only came with the Amiga. At the time I preferred the jetfighter-yoke type of joysticks like the QuickShot Python or the Logic3 Delta-Ray. I only got seduced by the Competition Pro and the Zip Stick as an adult.

[ross]

I'm right handed.

Anyway for me is natural to move a stick with left and use buttons with right hand (arcade or computer is the same).
But I kick a ball with left foot.

I can 'reverse the control'.
The reason why I do not do that is that I would then be really inaccurate.
(I could miss a penalty kicking with my right foot )

[Master484]

I'm also right handed but for all joysticks I have always used the left hand to hold the stick and the thumb of the right hand for the fire button.

If I switch the stick to right hand, then I feel that I can't control the game so fast and precisely than with the left. And also pressing fire is very clumsy with the left.

This is quite funny, because for all other tasks that require accuracy or speed I always use the right hand.

Although for those sports games where you had to waggle the joystick like crazy to make the guy run, for these games I switched the joystick so that I held it in place with the left, and waggled the stcik with the right. But for all other games the stick was always in left hand.

Maybe the fire button was the reason for this...it was used for the attack moves and shooting, so maybe as a young kid I instinctively thought that it's best to use the stronger right arm for that, and so I turned "left handed", when playing games.

And my first computer was the C64, and the first joystick was probably TAC-2, or at least that was my favourite joystick.

[Solo Kazuki]

This is case that never make happy everyone. Some people prefer left hand steering, some right hand. Remember that almost every arcade sticks are for left hand steering, so for me it's obvious - stick on left side, buttons on right.

If You want it for everyone, make both versions. Or do it with switch. But You also can do plug-type joystick with plug on wire and ports on both sides - one for left stick/right buttons, other for right stick/left buttons. And if you prefer some type of steering, just put the plug to appropriate side.

[malko]

Depended on the joystick.
Competition pro and similar joystick :
- usual games : joystick was placed on my left hand, thumb on the button, stick was handled by the right hand.
- for shoot'em up games : joystick on the table, stick was handled by the left hand, button with right hand (was pressing the button faster with the right hand).
Quickshot joystick :
- stick handled by the righ hand, buttons with right hand also
- left hand was firmly holding the joystick on the table as the suction cups were never doing their job
Arcade joystick :
- stick handled by the left hand, buttons with right hand

[vulture]

all sticks with my right hand, a good reason I can't fight well with a joypad at street fighter, can't really pull the moves well with the left thumb.

[Predseda]

This brings out one interesting question - were there joypads with D-pad on RIGHT side???

I play mostly with joypad, but if joystick, then:

Competition crap type: right hand stick, left hand button
Quickshot ergonomics: always right hand, pressing front or upper button (depends on which one works )
Arcade cabinets: depends on where buttons are placed

[Devo]

When I had a joystick, I always held it in my left hand and using my right to madly push the buttons buttons like the mad chimp that I am. I have a thrustmaster T1600 flightstick but I never use it and haven't owned a joystick since the early 90s when I used an old Atari 2600 joystick on my C64, which worked perfectly btw. These days I just use a Sony DualShock 4 bluetooth controller and wow is my thumb bruised! (there's a Henny Youngman joke in their somewhere, I think) Never had that problem back in the day. I think my chrome Xbox 360 controller with the updated D-pads are the way to go if you insist on using stinking gamepads since the rounded D-pad is gentler on your thumb, but sometimes I yearn for a good ol' rubbery stick from days of yore.

[jPV]

Funny how many right-handed people seem to control the stick with the left hand and button with the right hand according this thread... I personally haven't ever seen anyone doing that live All the people I've met have controlled the stick with the right hand and pushed the button with the left hand... it has never crossed my mind that someone would do it other way

[DamienD]

Originally Posted by jPV

Funny how many right-handed people seem to control the stick with the left hand and button with the right hand according this thread...

I do this as that's how the majority of arcade machines were set and you get used to it

No way could I play / pull off moves in Street Fighter / Mortal Kombat type games using my right hand to control the joystick.

[Devo]

Actually it all comes back to me now after reading the above post(s). I did use my left hand to push the button (there was only one button on the Atari 2600 joystick... it made life so simple and folksy) and the right to control the stick. The joystick base would rest or be clutched on my left palm with the thumb of that hand sort of curled up over the button. I've never heard of a north-paw (would that be the opposite of a southpaw?) that used right hand fingers to button press either.

[vulture]

That's also a good point, I suppose my total right handedness is somewhat rooted in the fact that arcade cabinets in my country (Greece) had the stick placed at the right.

Originally Posted by DamienD

I do this as that's how the majority of arcade machines were set and you get used to it

No way could I play / pull off moves in Street Fighter / Mortal Kombat type games using my right hand to control the joystick.

[PortuguesePilot]

Originally Posted by vulture

That's also a good point, I suppose my total right handedness is somewhat rooted in the fact that arcade cabinets in my country (Greece) had the stick placed at the right.

WTF!? Can I see a pic?

EDIT: Never-mind. I Googled it. Mindblown. LOL

[005AGIMA]

Left handed person.

If fire button on base, then left hand = stick, right hand = fire.
If fire is on stick, then right handed like flight controller.

With mouse, Im right handed. And I really dont get why there's an option to swap buttons for left handed people. Even if I were to hold it in the left hand, that doesn't change functional assignments to buttons, and nor should it imho. I think that feature was dreamed up by someone in a meeting being asked for ideas for accessibility.

Not that anyone asked, but I can switch hands in a game of pool to get out of tight spots.

I'm awesome! :P

[Solo Kazuki]

Originally Posted by vulture

That's also a good point, I suppose my total right handedness is somewhat rooted in the fact that arcade cabinets in my country (Greece) had the stick placed at the right.

It's first time when i saw this. Mind that in (almost all) other countries stick is on left side, buttons on right.


Is that some kind of Greek custom, or what?

[KONEY]

LEFT, as in all arcade machines <> green beret (where I have to cross my arms

[vulture]

no idea whatsoever

Originally Posted by Solo Kazuki

It's first time when i saw this. Mind that in (almost all) other countries stick is on left side, buttons on right.


Is that some kind of Greek custom, or what?