Poll: Why are game characters never given the ability to be left handed?

[CrazyCapnMorgan]

Well, the gun aiming, I can understand. But the swords? In medieval times you either learned to be right-handed or got murderized. So there's that.

Actually lefties have a natural advantage in sword/shield combat mainly due to the fact they can exploit the exposed right side of the swordsman. That and we confuse the fuck out of swordsman who have to adapt their fighting style in order to fight us. Lefties were also saught after in medieval times because of their ungodly advantage when fighting in stairwells too.

Even Rocky switched to southpaw to get an advantage. I think you'll find it will be us doing the murderizing thank you.

Here's a fun fact you might have heard:

In Scotland, there's a family of lefties called the Kerr family. For centuries, the Kerrs have been famous for the large number of left-handers they prouce. They even gave their castles left-handed staircases so they'd be easier to defend. (Info taken from the book "The Natural Superiority of the Left-Hander" by James T. deKay)

To quote neurosurgeon Joseph Bogan "Right-handers are a bunch of chocolate soldiers. If you've seen one, you've seen 'em all. But left-handers are something else again." (also taken from the same book)

 

[GeneWard]

I'm sure I have played a shooter where you can change your characters hand, can't for the life of me remember what it was though.

You can do it in Counter strike: Source, is that what you where thinking of?

 

[Sun Flash]

As a purebred lefty, I have never noticed and never really cared, but anything to further the left army.

POLITICAL SUB TEXT!
MWA!

 

[evilstonermonkey]

Seriously? This is an issue? This is something somebody actually gives a damn about? Main characters in games are almost universally white, strong females are tragically underrepresented and even considering alternate sexualities is unthinkable outside of japan, and people are complaining about the domineering right-handed fascists holding them back from enjoying a good game? Who even notices the handedness of a character?
/rage

Honestly, would you buy a game if it said on the back "Choose your character's handedness! The possibilities are endless! And by endless we mean left or right." Similarly, would you be put off by a game if it did not? If your answer to either of those questions was no, then the gaming companies aren't interested. Besides, quite a few FPS games, according to a lot of previous posts, do in fact have the option of choosing handedness. And there are a few rpg's that let you, though most don't consider it important. And if completeness is your goal, they should also include ambidexterity as an option as well - in which everyone would always choose that instead, since it is an advantage.

 

[ParanoidAndroid]

You can change hands in most some third-person games, like GRAW, Mass Effect and Red Dead Redemption. Does it really make that much of a difference, though?

 

[PhiMed]

Whenever I play first person games, from shooters to RPG's, every game character seems to be right handed. While I understand why that is the default setting for game characters, what I dont understand is why there can not be an option for characters to be left handed. I am sure it would not be all that hard to program (just flip it around), and it is really odd for me to see a character holding a sword in his right hand, so why not just have the option? I am fine with a couple of games not having it, but I just find it odd that you can not do that. Thoughts?

What I want to know is why this is still ignored on the Wii.

You can't begin to realise how awkward it was trying to play red steel in the natural inclination for me, which is to hold the remote in my left hand.
It proved way too awkward, so I had to give up and swap hands.
Lots of other games have given me similar problems to greater or lesser degrees, but almost none give it any consideration.

And what's with Legend of Zelda?

I mean, I found in practice, that having Link be right-handed didn't really matter much in Twilight Princess, but I'm thinking it's going to be a big headache in skyward sword.

But, when asked about it, representatives of Nintendo said they had no intention to give the option to swap the controls around.
This suggests they don't think it matters...

But, if that were true, why is Link Right-handed now?

He's been left-handed in every single game where you could work out which hand he held his sword in...
And Twilight Princess on the Gamecube still has him left-handed.
Yet, to make the Wii version, he became right-handed, and to do this, they felt they had to mirror the entire game world.
(And as a result, the sun rises in the west, and sets in the east.)


But the same thing goes for different games.

We have some games with hugely detailed character creators, where you can change the fiddliest little detail of a character's appearance.
Yet, we can't make a left-handed character?

Ugh.

Well, the gun aiming, I can understand. But the swords? In medieval times you either learned to be right-handed or got murderized. So there's that.

Lol. Depends on the culture, and what period in history you're talking about.
There's some suggestion that some of the most dangerous swordsmen around were left-handed.

(And hints that a lot of famous artists, such as Leonardo Davinci were as well. But that's difficult to substantiate beyond some anecdotal evidence.)

DaVinci was pretty famously ambidextrous, not left-handed, and he lived during the Renaissance, which usually isn't considered "medieval".

Most people equate "medieval" with "Western European culture from the 5th to the 15th century", also known as the "Dark Ages". It was characterized by a feudal system with significant degrees of church involvement. The church in question was the Catholic Church, with two capital C's, and they were pretty fond of executing people for bizarre reasons, including for being left-handed (because, you know, left-handedness = demonic).

 

[Weofparadigm]

In Condemned you have a Southpaw option. Considering that this is a first person melee game, that's not surprising

 

[CrystalShadow]

Whenever I play first person games, from shooters to RPG's, every game character seems to be right handed. While I understand why that is the default setting for game characters, what I dont understand is why there can not be an option for characters to be left handed. I am sure it would not be all that hard to program (just flip it around), and it is really odd for me to see a character holding a sword in his right hand, so why not just have the option? I am fine with a couple of games not having it, but I just find it odd that you can not do that. Thoughts?

What I want to know is why this is still ignored on the Wii.

You can't begin to realise how awkward it was trying to play red steel in the natural inclination for me, which is to hold the remote in my left hand.
It proved way too awkward, so I had to give up and swap hands.
Lots of other games have given me similar problems to greater or lesser degrees, but almost none give it any consideration.

And what's with Legend of Zelda?

I mean, I found in practice, that having Link be right-handed didn't really matter much in Twilight Princess, but I'm thinking it's going to be a big headache in skyward sword.

But, when asked about it, representatives of Nintendo said they had no intention to give the option to swap the controls around.
This suggests they don't think it matters...

But, if that were true, why is Link Right-handed now?

He's been left-handed in every single game where you could work out which hand he held his sword in...
And Twilight Princess on the Gamecube still has him left-handed.
Yet, to make the Wii version, he became right-handed, and to do this, they felt they had to mirror the entire game world.
(And as a result, the sun rises in the west, and sets in the east.)


But the same thing goes for different games.

We have some games with hugely detailed character creators, where you can change the fiddliest little detail of a character's appearance.
Yet, we can't make a left-handed character?

Ugh.

Well, the gun aiming, I can understand. But the swords? In medieval times you either learned to be right-handed or got murderized. So there's that.

Lol. Depends on the culture, and what period in history you're talking about.
There's some suggestion that some of the most dangerous swordsmen around were left-handed.

(And hints that a lot of famous artists, such as Leonardo Davinci were as well. But that's difficult to substantiate beyond some anecdotal evidence.)

DaVinci was pretty famously ambidextrous, not left-handed, and he lived during the Renaissance, which usually isn't considered "medieval".

Most people equate "medieval" with "Western European culture from the 5th to the 15th century", also known as the "Dark Ages". It was characterized by a feudal system with significant degrees of church involvement. The church in question was the Catholic Church, with two capital C's, and they were pretty fond of executing people for bizarre reasons, including for being left-handed (because, you know, left-handedness = demonic).

To be honest, anyone growing up in a place where right-handedness is enforced learns to be ambidextrous if they're left-handed.

I can write right-handed, because I went to several schools where it was forced upon me.
I can't do it very well, because I didn't need to do it for long. But it's still more likely that anyone naturally left-handed, will either have huge problems, or will learn to be ambidextrous to a greater or lesser extent.

As for the catholic church. Eh. The fact that 'sinister' means left-handed says enough.
Left-handed has quite a few subtle associations with being evil, clumsy, or otherwise wrong.

That has only really started to go away within the last 20-30 years or so.

 

[PhiMed]

Whenever I play first person games, from shooters to RPG's, every game character seems to be right handed. While I understand why that is the default setting for game characters, what I dont understand is why there can not be an option for characters to be left handed. I am sure it would not be all that hard to program (just flip it around), and it is really odd for me to see a character holding a sword in his right hand, so why not just have the option? I am fine with a couple of games not having it, but I just find it odd that you can not do that. Thoughts?

What I want to know is why this is still ignored on the Wii.

You can't begin to realise how awkward it was trying to play red steel in the natural inclination for me, which is to hold the remote in my left hand.
It proved way too awkward, so I had to give up and swap hands.
Lots of other games have given me similar problems to greater or lesser degrees, but almost none give it any consideration.

And what's with Legend of Zelda?

I mean, I found in practice, that having Link be right-handed didn't really matter much in Twilight Princess, but I'm thinking it's going to be a big headache in skyward sword.

But, when asked about it, representatives of Nintendo said they had no intention to give the option to swap the controls around.
This suggests they don't think it matters...

But, if that were true, why is Link Right-handed now?

He's been left-handed in every single game where you could work out which hand he held his sword in...
And Twilight Princess on the Gamecube still has him left-handed.
Yet, to make the Wii version, he became right-handed, and to do this, they felt they had to mirror the entire game world.
(And as a result, the sun rises in the west, and sets in the east.)


But the same thing goes for different games.

We have some games with hugely detailed character creators, where you can change the fiddliest little detail of a character's appearance.
Yet, we can't make a left-handed character?

Ugh.

Well, the gun aiming, I can understand. But the swords? In medieval times you either learned to be right-handed or got murderized. So there's that.

Lol. Depends on the culture, and what period in history you're talking about.
There's some suggestion that some of the most dangerous swordsmen around were left-handed.

(And hints that a lot of famous artists, such as Leonardo Davinci were as well. But that's difficult to substantiate beyond some anecdotal evidence.)

DaVinci was pretty famously ambidextrous, not left-handed, and he lived during the Renaissance, which usually isn't considered "medieval".

Most people equate "medieval" with "Western European culture from the 5th to the 15th century", also known as the "Dark Ages". It was characterized by a feudal system with significant degrees of church involvement. The church in question was the Catholic Church, with two capital C's, and they were pretty fond of executing people for bizarre reasons, including for being left-handed (because, you know, left-handedness = demonic).

To be honest, anyone growing up in a place where right-handedness is enforced learns to be ambidextrous if they're left-handed.

I can write right-handed, because I went to several schools where it was forced upon me.
I can't do it very well, because I didn't need to do it for long. But it's still more likely that anyone naturally left-handed, will either have huge problems, or will learn to be ambidextrous to a greater or lesser extent.

As for the catholic church. Eh. The fact that 'sinister' means left-handed says enough.
Left-handed has quite a few subtle associations with being evil, clumsy, or otherwise wrong.

That has only really started to go away within the last 20-30 years or so.

Well, DaVinci was able to write mirror images of text simultaneously. He was able to paint with either hand. He was able to sculpt with either hand. He's arguably one of the most creative, versatile, artistically talented people ever to live.

No offense intended, but I don't think your "ambidextrous" is the same as DaVinci's "ambidextrous". I don't think every left-handed schmo who grew up in a place where right-handedness was encouraged or enforced fits the bill, either.

 

[FalloutJack]

I'm not sure whether it would affect gameplay, however I have nothing against it either. It would be a feature and that's it.

 

[CrystalShadow]

Whenever I play first person games, from shooters to RPG's, every game character seems to be right handed. While I understand why that is the default setting for game characters, what I dont understand is why there can not be an option for characters to be left handed. I am sure it would not be all that hard to program (just flip it around), and it is really odd for me to see a character holding a sword in his right hand, so why not just have the option? I am fine with a couple of games not having it, but I just find it odd that you can not do that. Thoughts?

What I want to know is why this is still ignored on the Wii.

You can't begin to realise how awkward it was trying to play red steel in the natural inclination for me, which is to hold the remote in my left hand.
It proved way too awkward, so I had to give up and swap hands.
Lots of other games have given me similar problems to greater or lesser degrees, but almost none give it any consideration.

And what's with Legend of Zelda?

I mean, I found in practice, that having Link be right-handed didn't really matter much in Twilight Princess, but I'm thinking it's going to be a big headache in skyward sword.

But, when asked about it, representatives of Nintendo said they had no intention to give the option to swap the controls around.
This suggests they don't think it matters...

But, if that were true, why is Link Right-handed now?

He's been left-handed in every single game where you could work out which hand he held his sword in...
And Twilight Princess on the Gamecube still has him left-handed.
Yet, to make the Wii version, he became right-handed, and to do this, they felt they had to mirror the entire game world.
(And as a result, the sun rises in the west, and sets in the east.)


But the same thing goes for different games.

We have some games with hugely detailed character creators, where you can change the fiddliest little detail of a character's appearance.
Yet, we can't make a left-handed character?

Ugh.

Well, the gun aiming, I can understand. But the swords? In medieval times you either learned to be right-handed or got murderized. So there's that.

Lol. Depends on the culture, and what period in history you're talking about.
There's some suggestion that some of the most dangerous swordsmen around were left-handed.

(And hints that a lot of famous artists, such as Leonardo Davinci were as well. But that's difficult to substantiate beyond some anecdotal evidence.)

DaVinci was pretty famously ambidextrous, not left-handed, and he lived during the Renaissance, which usually isn't considered "medieval".

Most people equate "medieval" with "Western European culture from the 5th to the 15th century", also known as the "Dark Ages". It was characterized by a feudal system with significant degrees of church involvement. The church in question was the Catholic Church, with two capital C's, and they were pretty fond of executing people for bizarre reasons, including for being left-handed (because, you know, left-handedness = demonic).

To be honest, anyone growing up in a place where right-handedness is enforced learns to be ambidextrous if they're left-handed.

I can write right-handed, because I went to several schools where it was forced upon me.
I can't do it very well, because I didn't need to do it for long. But it's still more likely that anyone naturally left-handed, will either have huge problems, or will learn to be ambidextrous to a greater or lesser extent.

As for the catholic church. Eh. The fact that 'sinister' means left-handed says enough.
Left-handed has quite a few subtle associations with being evil, clumsy, or otherwise wrong.

That has only really started to go away within the last 20-30 years or so.

Well, DaVinci was able to write mirror images of text simultaneously. He was able to paint with either hand. He was able to sculpt with either hand. He's arguably one of the most creative, versatile, artistically talented people ever to live.

No offense intended, but I don't think your "ambidextrous" is the same as DaVinci's "ambidextrous". I don't think every left-handed schmo who grew up in a place where right-handedness was encouraged or enforced fits the bill, either.

Look, whatever Leonardo Davinci is, the point I was getting at is that a left-handed person forced to be right-handed, is far more likely to end up ambi-dextrous just out of sheer need.

I can write in mirror image, and that didn't take much effort to learn. But that's still got nothing to do with it.

We simply don't know if someone like Davinci was naturally ambidextrous, or learnt how to be ambidextrous.

And I don't need to be as talented as one of the most talented artists/engineers ever to be able to know this, so there's really no need for you to be such an incredible smartass about it.

Being ambidextrous can be innate.
But you can learn it too.
Chances are though, if you learnt it, it's because it was forced upon you.
And since it's far more likely to be forced upon a left-handed person (You don't suddenly forget how to do things left-handed), it's simply more likely that if being ambidextrous didn't come naturally to a person, then they're much more likely to originally have been left handed.

(Also, mirror image writing is an interesting skill. Writing normal text left-handed forces some weird writing posture compared to doing it right-handed.
If writing had been invented by a left-handed person, we'd be writing right to left.)

 

[Agayek]

It looks like someone has never played a Zelda game.

 

[pejhmon]

In Deathmatch Classic you shoot from your CHEST

Also, captcha was riain *massive wave squiggle thing* ..... srsly wtf is going on with these?

 

[pejhmon]

Aren't the army trained to shoot their gun as if they're right handed?

I don't know that, it's just what I've always assumed.

Easier to train people to hold a gun 1 way than it is 2.

As for other games, you generally see the odd character who's a leftie. Link for instance.

Most guns have the safety switch etc on both sides so I think in RL they account for lefties

 

[Ghost]

Mirroring animations would be difficult and maybe most guns are intended to be right hand only, like mice. I'm left handed and never gave much notice, though I see the guy on the right of the 'Anthony saves the world' banner thing is holding a rifle in his left hand.

 

[DazBurger]

Well, the gun aiming, I can understand. But the swords? In medieval times you either learned to be right-handed or got murderized. So there's that.

Thats nooot entirely true. Left handed dualists has always had the upper hand.

And back in Rome, left handed gladiators were highly priced, due to all gladiators only being taught defense against right-handed opponents.


I'm a left-handed sword fighter my self, and I have won several sparrings because of just that^^




[Edit:] With guns of the other hand, I have a slight handicap, as most firearms are made for right-handed shooters...

You won because your opponents weren't used to fighting left-handed duelists.
I've never lost against a left-handed duelist because they rely far too much on the fact they're left-handed which makes them very easy to beat.

If it weren't for the fact that your name is TROLLdor I would have believed you

 

[PhiMed]

Whenever I play first person games, from shooters to RPG's, every game character seems to be right handed. While I understand why that is the default setting for game characters, what I dont understand is why there can not be an option for characters to be left handed. I am sure it would not be all that hard to program (just flip it around), and it is really odd for me to see a character holding a sword in his right hand, so why not just have the option? I am fine with a couple of games not having it, but I just find it odd that you can not do that. Thoughts?

What I want to know is why this is still ignored on the Wii.

You can't begin to realise how awkward it was trying to play red steel in the natural inclination for me, which is to hold the remote in my left hand.
It proved way too awkward, so I had to give up and swap hands.
Lots of other games have given me similar problems to greater or lesser degrees, but almost none give it any consideration.

And what's with Legend of Zelda?

I mean, I found in practice, that having Link be right-handed didn't really matter much in Twilight Princess, but I'm thinking it's going to be a big headache in skyward sword.

But, when asked about it, representatives of Nintendo said they had no intention to give the option to swap the controls around.
This suggests they don't think it matters...

But, if that were true, why is Link Right-handed now?

He's been left-handed in every single game where you could work out which hand he held his sword in...
And Twilight Princess on the Gamecube still has him left-handed.
Yet, to make the Wii version, he became right-handed, and to do this, they felt they had to mirror the entire game world.
(And as a result, the sun rises in the west, and sets in the east.)


But the same thing goes for different games.

We have some games with hugely detailed character creators, where you can change the fiddliest little detail of a character's appearance.
Yet, we can't make a left-handed character?

Ugh.

Well, the gun aiming, I can understand. But the swords? In medieval times you either learned to be right-handed or got murderized. So there's that.

Lol. Depends on the culture, and what period in history you're talking about.
There's some suggestion that some of the most dangerous swordsmen around were left-handed.

(And hints that a lot of famous artists, such as Leonardo Davinci were as well. But that's difficult to substantiate beyond some anecdotal evidence.)

DaVinci was pretty famously ambidextrous, not left-handed, and he lived during the Renaissance, which usually isn't considered "medieval".

Most people equate "medieval" with "Western European culture from the 5th to the 15th century", also known as the "Dark Ages". It was characterized by a feudal system with significant degrees of church involvement. The church in question was the Catholic Church, with two capital C's, and they were pretty fond of executing people for bizarre reasons, including for being left-handed (because, you know, left-handedness = demonic).

To be honest, anyone growing up in a place where right-handedness is enforced learns to be ambidextrous if they're left-handed.

I can write right-handed, because I went to several schools where it was forced upon me.
I can't do it very well, because I didn't need to do it for long. But it's still more likely that anyone naturally left-handed, will either have huge problems, or will learn to be ambidextrous to a greater or lesser extent.

As for the catholic church. Eh. The fact that 'sinister' means left-handed says enough.
Left-handed has quite a few subtle associations with being evil, clumsy, or otherwise wrong.

That has only really started to go away within the last 20-30 years or so.

Well, DaVinci was able to write mirror images of text simultaneously. He was able to paint with either hand. He was able to sculpt with either hand. He's arguably one of the most creative, versatile, artistically talented people ever to live.

No offense intended, but I don't think your "ambidextrous" is the same as DaVinci's "ambidextrous". I don't think every left-handed schmo who grew up in a place where right-handedness was encouraged or enforced fits the bill, either.

Look, whatever Leonardo Davinci is, the point I was getting at is that a left-handed person forced to be right-handed, is far more likely to end up ambi-dextrous just out of sheer need.

I can write in mirror image, and that didn't take much effort to learn. But that's still got nothing to do with it.

We simply don't know if someone like Davinci was naturally ambidextrous, or learnt how to be ambidextrous.

And I don't need to be as talented as one of the most talented artists/engineers ever to be able to know this, so there's really no need for you to be such an incredible smartass about it.

Being ambidextrous can be innate.
But you can learn it too.
Chances are though, if you learnt it, it's because it was forced upon you.
And since it's far more likely to be forced upon a left-handed person (You don't suddenly forget how to do things left-handed), it's simply more likely that if being ambidextrous didn't come naturally to a person, then they're much more likely to originally have been left handed.

(Also, mirror image writing is an interesting skill. Writing normal text left-handed forces some weird writing posture compared to doing it right-handed.
If writing had been invented by a left-handed person, we'd be writing right to left.)

Why do I get the feeling that you can write in mirror image, just like Leonardo DaVinci, the same way I can play the piano, just like Vladamir Horowitz?

You thought I was being a smartass before? Well, I guess you could just hear my eyes rolling through the screen at your absurdly arrogant claims. I thought I was toning it down pretty substantially. I guess I'll know not to bother from now on when I'm dealing with someone as delicate as you.

 

[archvile93]

Well I can see for like swordfighting games, but what about shooters, I mean I dont think it would screw up animations if your cod character was lefthanded

I guess because it would require the extra work of modeling all the guns for both hands for one of the most minor benifits imaginable. Interesting fact about weapon models in CoD some of them don't have the non visible side modeled.