Main > Main Forum
you use Track Ball with left or right hand?
monkeybomb:
I equate the trackball to the mouse, so for me It is important to have the trackball on the right and the buttons on the left.
daveg2000:
Right.
Cant even think of a game where I used it w/the left hand.
oldschool:
I bought a SlikStik panel and had them reverse the trackball and buttons (trackball on right side). I love this setup, wouldn't want it any other way.
Timstuff:
My trackball will have 3 buttons in the "missile command" a few inches above the trackball. They'll be perfectly usable for gameplay, but they'll be more for when I need to navigate Windows rather than getting in a good game of Missile Command. For that I'll probably prefer to use the player 1 buttons. I suppose a leftie would feel more at home using the player 2 buttons though. The mouse buttons will be there more for administrative purposes than gameplay (even though they can be used).
So in short, as long as you've got a set of 3 buttons on both sides of the trackball, the ball can be used with either hand. Being right handed, my default preference is to use my right hand. If you're left handed, you may feel more comfortable using your left hand. It probably won't make much difference in games like centipede and missile command, but if you're playing Golden Tee Golf or World Class Bowling, you're gonna really want your pitcher's arm! :)
paigeoliver:
In general you want the more difficult control to in your right hand (for righties, less important for lefties because they tend to have a lot more dexterity in their off hand than righties do, comes from a lifetime of living in a right handed world).
So that means Analog sticks, trackballs and spinners go on the right. They require fine control.
8-Way sticks don't require fine control, the buttons are usually more of the fine control item with them, so they go on the left.
Many 4-way games only use one button (and often require more exact movement than 8-way games), thus sticking the 4-way stick into the realm of the "fine control" area, which is why many people (myself included) do 4-way on right, or are ambidextrous with 4-way games.
A lot of right handed people simply cannot handle a trackball in their left hand properly, especially righties who use a trackball on their computer (like me). You also get into problems with right handed people trying to play custom lefty Streetfighter layouts. I can play a 2 button game on a lefty layout with no problems, but I would be useless trying to play a 6 button game on a reverse layout.