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Sticks left vs. sticks right.
NoOne=NBA=:
I actually modified my Atari sticks so that I had some left-handed ones around when my hands got tired of using them "normally".
It's just a matter of rotating the disconnects so that what WAS Left is now up, etc...
That puts the fire button on the top-right of the base.
I actually did alot of "experimenting" with the Atari sticks to make them more comfortable for long play sessions.
I took a bit off the stick height-wise, did various screw/glue experiments to make a Battlezone controller out of them, etc...
My first ever CP was actually an Atari stick hack to make an Asteroids CP back in 1981.
It was ugly, but it worked.
I also made alot of other game-specific controllers for it and my Colecovision.
I had a two stick system that used AND/OR circuits to control games like Robot Tank.
I had a really nice pinball controller that had flippers and nudges for Video Pinball.
My most ambitious CP to date though, was an absolute mangling of an entire 2600 to build a "Space Shuttle" controller.
Alot of the controls used in-game on Space Shuttle were the game function controls on the 2600 itself (things like the difficulty switches and B/W switch).
A lot of patience, and a few rolls of solder-braid later, and I'd remoted all those controls to the new CP.
That one was beyond ugly, and left the 2600 torn to pieces; but it made the game alot more engrossing because I didn't have to leave the visual of the "flight board" to go hunt down a switch somewhere on the 2600.
Before anybody comes and hunts me down, I did that controller in 1986 while they were still SELLING 2600's; and used one I bought at a pawn shop to boot.
In answer to the sticks right/left question.
I'm left-handed, and PREFER the stick left.
If a game requires alot of button pushing, I NEED the stick left to keep from wearing myself out. (Too many games like Asteroids, I guess).
For games where an additional control (T-ball, Spinner) is used, I prefer the stick right.
mushmouth:
I was originally going to do the stick right, buttons left thing with my swappable panels but kind of got sucked into a more traditionalist line of thinking. Which, in hindsight, is relative anyway.
The fact is most of us grew up playing a combination of arcade and console games, always having to adapt to a new control surface. Console systems were the worst in this respect... Every new system required a completely new getting-to-know-you period with a never ending changing of button/thumbpad/thumbstick/arrows positioning.
What I've learned since finishing my first machine is that no matter how you set it up, that's what you'll adapt to. And QUICKLY, just like every new set of controls you've been confronted with.
Do what feels right for YOU. Most of all, do what feels COMFORTABLE. That's my 2 cents.
MinerAl:
When I play joystick-only games, I play with my right hand. Never even considered playing pac-man with the left hand... even though the button array is on the left of the stick.
PacManFan:
I trade off between left and right handed play. What's cool is my wife is left handed, so I built a symetrical control panel, with the left stick having buttons o nthe right, and the right stick w/ buttons on the left.
-PMF
paigeoliver:
My Gorf cocktail Mame has the stick on right and buttons on left, and at least one of my friends actually crosses his hands over backwards to play the thing.
I don't cross my hands over to play that one, but I certainly score higher in some games on my cabinets with more traditional control configurations.
I actually DO cross my hands over in the arcade when playing those Marvel Vs. Capcom Vs. Streetfighter Vs. SNK type games in the arcade. It is simply because those are button mash games, and I have more endurance/speed in my left hand (due to years of "left hand mouse, right hand keyboard).