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

[rokkolpo]

I remember Link from Zelda is left handed. Thats about it...

True, but the Wii version has it in his right hand to more accurately reflect the wiimote swings. Oddly enough, the Gamecube version (which looks identical in almost every other respect) has him rolling southpaw.
Edit: This post referring, of course, to Twilight Princess.

That's because TP on the Wii is the exact mirror of the one on the Gamecube.
Everything is mirrored.

 

[BoTTeNBReKeR]

I believe Die Hard Nakatomi Plaza was also a shooter where you held every gun in your left hand =).

 

[Jezzascmezza]

I guess it wouldn't affect gameplay much, it would just look a little off-putting.

 

[Findlebob]

On Avatar when you ran in a certian way should would swap gun hands.

 

[EternalFacepalm]

That will only work in a couple of games, like RPGs where you create your own character.
In FPS-games, like, say, Half-Life, doing this would make the character of Gordon Freeman a little bit more uncertain (not that he really HAS a character, other than having a Ph.D, but still).

 

[googleback]

Splinter Cell Chaos Theory let you, but that was just to look round corners. It doesn't matter to game play but it can only be another feature.

 

[Inner Pickle]

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.

 

[Grouchy Imp_v1legacy]

I can see it really screwing up the animations, to be honest. Take two right (or left) handed combatants - the shield arm of each fighter faces the sword arm of their opponent, and combat animations look natural. But if a left handed fighter and a right handed fighter are in combat, both opponents shield arms are opposite each other, as are the sword arms. To use existing animations would look totally unnatural, and obviously developers have decided the cost of motion-capturing and rendering the new animations that would be needed is not worth the expense.

But many fighting games recognise the advantage left-handers have in such situations, they're used to fighting right-handers while the reverse isn't the case. Hence, pretty much all boxing games include the 'Southpaw' option because of it's strategic importance. If anyone were to release a 'Fencing' title then the same would also be true (swashbuckling Raphael from Soul Calibur is left-handed).

I guess it boils down to how authentic the game is willing/trying to be, but it's not beyond fighting games to incorporate such preferences.

Oh I agree it's more than possible, and would add realism and tactical strategy to games, but the fact that so few games do this means that developers at least do not share this view - or at least find that the effort to cost ratio isn't viable.

Bizarre historical sidenote - spiral staircases in medieval castles and forts were built in a clockwise direction so that a defender at the top of the stair could make an unimpeded sword-swing at an attacker below, and so that the return stroke of the attacker would be hampered by the central column. Apparently designers throughout history just assume everyone in the world is right-handed.

 

[castlewise]

I can see it really screwing up the animations, to be honest. Take two right (or left) handed combatants - the shield arm of each fighter faces the sword arm of their opponent, and combat animations look natural. But if a left handed fighter and a right handed fighter are in combat, both opponents shield arms are opposite each other, as are the sword arms. To use existing animations would look totally unnatural, and obviously developers have decided the cost of motion-capturing and rendering the new animations that would be needed is not worth the expense.

You could just run a flip on all the graphics and animations. Then _everybody_ would be left handed and the animations would look natural again.

 

[annoyinglizardvoice]

There's an old-ish (Dreamcast era) platformer with some shooting elements called Urban Chaos (not ot be confused with the slightly more recent FPS) where nearly everyone was left handed.

Personally, I don't really see the importance of which hand a character uses.

 

[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...

 

[Irony's Acolyte]

Well there are several games out there where the character(s) are either ambidextrous or left-handed, so it's not like it never happens. As for why they don't give you the option, why should they? It's not that much extra work (in most cases), you just need to switch the hands around, but why do you really need to play as a left-handed character? It isn't gonna do anything different, so there practically no really reason to implement it.

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^^

I believe he was referencing the fact that people thought that being left-handed made you "evil" or "sinister". I don't think people got killed over it, but I'm sure it didn't help people's opinion of left-handers.

 

[Maclennan]

Turok dinosaur hunter on the N64 had it in the options menu to change dominant hands. It really didn't make much of a difference but it was there.

 

[MasterOfWorlds]

I'm pretty sure that in at least one of the Splinter Cell games, you can switch hands whenever you want. As a lefty, I've never really given it much thought, but it would be an interesting little tidbit to add to your character to give it a more personalized feel, even if most people would be right handed.

 

[Blights]

I'm left-handed, but use computers like a right-handed, thus it doesn't bother me at all. The only thing making me REALLY annoyed is the fact that they made Link right-handed for Twilight Princess. With no option to change it. Seriously, Link's *always* left-handed (I get that they've probably come up with some canon-ish reason for it being this way, but still) and then you don't even have the OPTION for it. At all. Because "a majority of the players are right-handed" they did it that way. I consider it discrimination against a minority to do such a thing with that game... But that's just the Zelda fanboy in me speaking.

Anyway, I don't mind in most games, but when it's first person/third person games on the Wii or stuff with similar controls, where it actually makes a significant difference, I think the option should ALWAYS be there.

They made Link right handed because it would be awkward to people to swing with your right hand and have Link move his left. In the gamecube version of Twilight Princess, he is still Left-Handed however.

OT: In Final Fantasy 3 (Japan) You can choose which weapons you have in your hands, so you can have a sword in your left hand and a shield in your right. I don't think it makes any difference at all.

 

[DazBurger]

Well there are several games out there where the character(s) are either ambidextrous or left-handed, so it's not like it never happens. As for why they don't give you the option, why should they? It's not that much extra work (in most cases), you just need to switch the hands around, but why do you really need to play as a left-handed character? It isn't gonna do anything different, so there practically no really reason to implement it.

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^^

I believe he was referencing the fact that people thought that being left-handed made you "evil" or "sinister". I don't think people got killed over it, but I'm sure it didn't help people's opinion of left-handers.

Im rather sure he didn't, as that has nothing to with swords


But I may be wrong...

 

[windlenot]

I remember you could switch the side of your paintball gun to the left side in Greg Hasting's Tournament Paintball for the original Xbox. That was kinda fun and important.

 

[Halceon]

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?

A) you have clearly not played Dwarf Fortress
B) As I remember, many older shooters, like quake 2, had the option to choose which part of the screen your gun is in, implying handedness.

 

[DEAD34345]

No-one seems to have mentioned roguelikes, so I'll mention them here.

A lot of roguelikes already have this feature, except instead of choosing which hand you use, there is a small chance upon creating a character they they will be left handed. I'm not sure what real differences it actually makes to the game, but it's there nonetheless.

Edit: Damn! Ninja'd by one post.