Left handed player button layout

[DaOld Man]

If Im building a cab for a left handed person, who wants the joystick and buttons reversed so he can use his left hand for the buttons, what would be the layout?
Would it be a complete flip of the right handed layout?
I attached a rough drawing below.
The #1 button, located lower left in the button layout for the right handed person, be swapped to lower right for the left handed person?

[Thenasty]

button 1 would be always by the thumb section.

[DaOld Man]

button 1 would be always by the thumb section.

I never thought of thumb section. So button one would be in lower right corner of the left handed layout?
Would the rest of the buttons follow this layout:

6 5 4
3 2 1

??
Thanks!

[Thenasty]

yea thats the order

[bkenobi]

A lot of normal people (read right handed  ) have button 1 at the top left of the layout.

1 2 3
4 5 6

I personally have a 7 button layout and have button 1 at the lower left.

  5 6 7
  2 3 4
1

Hmmm, does that mean that a left handed 7 button would be

7 6 5
4 3 2
         1

or

3 2 1
7 6 5
         4

[Ginsu Victim]

I'm a lefty, but I just play normal. Has this person never played on a real arcade machine?

[javeryh]

I'm a lefty, but I just play normal. Has this person never played on a real arcade machine?

Same here - I couldn't imagine playing like that.  Also, people might not want to play on this person's cab if the controls are reversed.  That would be a shame...

[shfifty]

Yeah i think it is silly to reverse the panel. There is no such thing as a 'real' left handed layout. They should just force themselves to learn the normal layout, it will feel natural after a few hours of play. 

[TOK]

Left handed here, too. I actually consider the standard layout an advantage for lefties since you get to use your dominant hand for control. 

[DaOld Man]

Hmm, good points.
My step son is left handed and I constantly catch him crossing his hands on the control, so I was thinking maybe if it were set differently it might be better for him.
Anyone else have any comments?

[Hoopz]

Its a matter of comfort and perspective versus what's "correct" or not.  Early games were mixed, if not the opposite, of later games in regards to what side the joystick was on relative to the buttons.  Yes, some had buttons on either side to accommodate both right and left handed players but a lot of the earlier games had the joystick on the right.  Not all, of course.  But enough to make the discussion about what's proper or backwards one of perspective.

I grew up playing Wizard of Wor where the joys are in the right hand and the button is used with the left hand.  Dig Dug was another favorite but it had buttons for either hand.  Tron had the joy on the right with the spinner on the left.  My CP has P1 joy on the right with the buttons to the left of it which most (younger) people consider left handed.  P2 is opposite so that most people's dominant hand control the buttons.

A few years ago here, when Paige was active (and was the most active poster) he discussed in detail how games changed and evolved.  As a part of that process, the buttons were moved so that the dominant hand was used for buttons as the games became more complex.  From what I recall growing up and what he said, it sounds logical.

The bottom line is make it so that you are comfortable and try to accommodate those who will be playing if possible.

Or stick solely with trackball games.   

[DaveMMR]

Its a matter of comfort and perspective versus what's "correct" or not

While I do agree somewhat, there are times when that line of thinking has led to some "interesting" layouts that would have to be explained to visitors with a two-hour slideshow presentation.   Yes, do what's comfortable.  But also remember that arcade standards aren't an accident.      

Here's the thing with putting the buttons on the left:  No other commercial product does this (except the Sega Master System stick, which everyone loved hating on, and the 2600 controller, but that was the stone age of gaming).  If your step-son has ever picked up a controller since the NES or spent more than 5 minutes playing an arcade fighter,  the layout you propose stands a good chance of being awkward for him and any guests who may want to play.  

The best thing to do is test out the layout and see if it works.  If it does, go for it.   If you have the space, you can do what old machines used to do and have buttons on both sides (but that would make for a terribly clutters and scary panel if doing the standard 6-7 button).  

As for the thumb-button...  I would say not to go nuts with that.  Thumb-pressing really only works for control pads, not arcade sticks, due to the way it is gripped.   I feel like it would be extra work for little action.   But again, test it out first and see if I'm wrong.   (nevermind, I fail at reading)

[jimmy2x2x]

As for the thumb-button...  I would say not to go nuts with that.  Thumb-pressing really only works for control pads, not arcade sticks, due to the way it is gripped.   I feel like it would be extra work for little action.   But again, test it out first and see if I'm wrong.

Is there a standard way of gripping a joystick?


On the Japanese astro city layout, thumb pressing is very easy due to the distance between buttons and stick.  You can play discs of tron no problem using two buttons.

[DaveMMR]

As for the thumb-button...  I would say not to go nuts with that.  Thumb-pressing really only works for control pads, not arcade sticks, due to the way it is gripped.   I feel like it would be extra work for little action.   But again, test it out first and see if I'm wrong.

Is there a standard way of gripping a joystick?

On the Japanese astro city layout, thumb pressing is very easy due to the distance between buttons and stick.  You can play discs of tron no problem using two buttons.

You can play with your feet if you want.  If you want to play with your thumbs, go for it.    But I reread the post and must have imagined there was some discussion about adding a "thumb button" which clearly never existed, so I'm crossing it out.   

[Turnarcades]

In my opinion, thumb pressing sucks. The angle of your thumb compared to your other fingers against the buttons is just odd. Never felt a compulsion and many UK customers have questioned the common act of 7-button layout creation favoured by many American gamers. In my experience, it's just not something we ever did here and just feels wrong; it's not like holding a joypad.

With regards to the lefty/righty layout issue, as far as I'm concerned it is not an issue. Being a stroke survivor, I did a lot of study on the functions of the brain and the way it deals with body movement. Being a righty who lost control of his left-hand side, I came to this conclusion in one of my many restless nights in hospital:

I believe the original intention was that when two hands are used, the more favourable hand was available to be able to rapidly press the 'fire' buttons as the fingers on the right hand respond better for the majority (right-handed) individuals, both more rapidly and better for longevity (both essential for critical functions like jumping in DK, or long-lasting firing in vertical shooters), whilst the left hand responds better with less refined movements that do not need fine motor control (the fingers) but rather the whole hand.

Over the years I've very slowly recovered the use of my left side, thanks in part to perseverance and video games. My physios basically confirmed what I said above about the difference between large-group motor control and fine muscle motor control, so I tested the supposition whilst practicing during recovery. My left hand moves OK now and is adequate for general control of a joystick, but finger control is poor. Had I been a lefty, the fine finger control (which develops last in recovery) would have returned much better much sooner. I did witness a bit of 'hand swapping' by lefties back in the day, but only on fighting games where fine-finger control is more important (for executing rolling movements for special moves etc.

Thankfully I am a righty and am used to the 'correct' control layout of stick left/buttons right so fine motor control is not as important for my left hand. I will never be the combo-busting KI/Street Fighter master I used to be but I can play most things fine; if I'd been a lefty and had a 'reverse' layout, I'd be ---fouled up beyond all recognition--- cos my fingers wouldn't be fast enough.

[Scottk]

Left handed here, too. I actually consider the standard layout an advantage for lefties since you get to use your dominant hand for control. 

I am left handed here too.
I absolutely agree!

I always felt I had the advantage over my friends and my sis, back when I was a kid, because I was able to use my dominant hand on the joystick,
where quick and precise movements are a must!

With buttons, it doesn't take much to be able to control them, heck, I could do it with my nose if I needed to!

[Thenasty]

I'm right handed and learned to play with the LEFT layout describe here by OP (R-Hand for Joy, L-Hand for Buttons).

[DaveMMR]

Your hand can learn pretty quickly to adapt either way.   Pushing a button or a stick is nearly as complicated as writing or throwing a ball.    I'm a righty but my left-hand fingers are quite adept at working the W,A,S,D in shooters.   (Yeah, I'm contradicting my last post.  But I was just being a "purist".)

Never felt a compulsion and many UK customers have questioned the common act of 7-button layout creation favoured by many American gamers. In my experience, it's just not something we ever did here and just feels wrong; it's not like holding a joypad.

The whole 7-button thing is more about replicating the Neo-Geo layout and SF II layout in one swoop and less about using your thumb.   I think, for me, that 7th button is an uncomfortable position for it's secondary function as that single "stand-alone" action button.   YMMV.   I actually think it's better left off the panel and really should only be considered by the hardcore Neo-Geo fighter fans.  But if it works for someone else, then no harm either...

[quarterstringer]

I constantly catch him crossing his hands on the control

Since he's playing cross handed, then he's used to playing with the right-handed button layout. You could build the cab with the right-handed button layout and put one joystick on each side of the buttons. Now anyone could play the cab and you'll have a two joystick setup for games like Robotron.

[Ginsu Victim]

I'm a righty but my left-hand fingers are quite adept at working the W,A,S,D in shooters.

I'm a lefty, as I said, and there's no way I could do WASD. I use the left hand for mouse and right hand for num key pad.