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

[Icehearted]

I think it was something mentioned or offered in Jagged Alliance 2. Also, check out ambidextrous sprites in tvtropes

 

[Zantos]

As a lefty from a family of lefty's...never given a flying fuck. Right handed people are just more common, the end.

Everything I wanted to say has been said here. Legend.

 

[TWjohnny]

I know it's not a big deal, But most sport games do, I think it's just generally to do with any real relevance, Games like Call of Duty, WoW etc...have so much other content / customization you'll be focused on, being lefty/righty doesn't matter.

Where as in..Fifa for an example it actually changes A LOT of gameplay, so it matters

 

[teh_Canape]

Spoiler: well

but really, I think it's basically because most players are right handed, or that the common setup is having the mouse to the right =P

 

[Xealeon]

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 may be thinking of Unreal Tournament, you can have your character be left handed in original and 2k4. I'm not sure about Unreal Tournament 3, never played it.

 

[Twilight_guy]

Actually TF2 allows you to flip view models which essentially lets you swap left and right handedness. Other than that you can't be left handed for the reason you can't usually be anything but a white middle aged dude, lack of diversity in gaming.

 

[CrystalShadow]

Spoiler: Wall of text

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.

I can. But I didn't know I could until I tried it a few hours ago, and it turned out to be easier than writing mirror image text by itself. (And Why is that not a surprise? Doing two physically identical motions with both hands simultaneously, even if they are mirrored isn't a big deal. Doing entirely unrelated independent actions is.)

But... That's really, stupidly, ridiculously beside the point.

And could you be any stupider. Calling me arrogant because I can match some of the most trivial of Davinci's abilities?

No. Arrogant would be claiming I can paint masterpieces better than he could. And sculpt. And Draw. And come up with insane contraptions that we only developed the technology to implement practically several hundred years later.
that would be arrogant.

But, since you seem to know so much about this famous person from history, enlighten me.
What proof do you have to back up your colossally flippant assertion about a person that's been dead for a really long time. Hmm?

Given the available evidence, there's not much that can be said conclusively.
And you presume to call me arrogant for pointing out possibilities? - Based on inference from personal experience, and my own (limited) abilities, I gave a hypothesis about the likelyhood of a left-handed person developing some degree of ambidexterity if they were forced to. (And primarily, how this is more likely than a right-handed person doing so, but not in any way more likely than a person being naturally ambidextrous.)
Which you seem fit to challenge by claiming I'm arrogant for using some minor, trivial abilities that I might share with someone extraordinary as a reference point?

Yeah. No you're right. I'm a hypersensitive arrogant person because I'm disagreeing with...
Oh, no wait. I wasn't even disagreeing with you.
Just extrapolating a hypothesis of something that is possible (based on inferred, personal evidence), which you somehow take exception to.

Is it such a big deal to you if a historical genius is (according to you - I have no idea what kind of evidence you have for this) ambidextrous, that the mere hint of a question whether your unsubstantiated claim is about an innate ability, or a learned one makes you feel the need to attack me personally?

Pff. I don't think I'm the one being arrogant here.

 

[Rocking Thunder]

Wow, this has been going on for a while without me, for clarification, I dont mean cut content to put it in, I was simply asking why they do not. This would impact game play too, as for example, shooters, you would not have to poke your head out to throw a flash bang around one corner, but you would for the other side

 

[Odbarc]

Wouldn't only 10% of the people use this? (lol)

 

[rossable]

classical Link was always left handed. they switched it on twilight princess.

 

[Rocking Thunder]

Wouldn't only 10% of the people use this? (lol)

Well you cause us to die younger because power tools are for right handed people, so this is the least you can do =P

 

[conflictofinterests]

I play old D&D based games, and often dual-wield, so it doesn't so much make a difference which hand is dominant.

 

[SIXVI06-M]

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.

Unreal Tournament.

 

[blankedboy]

Lots of games allow you to flip the viewmodels, which puts the gun in the left hand of the player. In fact I don't see many FPSes without that.

 

[Odbarc]

Wouldn't only 10% of the people use this? (lol)

Well you cause us to die younger because power tools are for right handed people, so this is the least you can do =P

Aren't most tools universal? You'll never need a left-handed hammer.

 

[HobbyJim]

Link. There, there's a pretty common lefty.

Good Point. Although in the gamecube version of Twilight princess, since the maps and animations did a big 180, so did Link's sword hand, so it's the only game where his sword is in the right hand. How do I know this? Cause I play Zelda so much that it's almost past the point of disconcerting. Almost.

 

[StormShaun]

If it was an RPG I would care but I would always care that if its a custom made character, since im left handed...only for writing!

 

[NickCaligo42]

Link in The Legend of Zelda, up until Twilight Princess (and only the Wii version at that), has been left-handed.

 

[MikailCaboose]

Link. There, there's a pretty common lefty.

Good Point. Although in the gamecube version of Twilight princess, since the maps and animations did a big 180, so did Link's sword hand, so it's the only game where his sword is in the right hand. How do I know this? Cause I play Zelda so much that it's almost past the point of disconcerting. Almost.

No, the Wii version is the righty-version, since most of the players were right-handed. GC was classic left-handed link.

 

[Knusper]

I seem to remember the original Unreal Tournament allowing the gun to be in either the left or right-hand side of the screen (or in the middle of you are middle-handed), but I don't see it as an issue.