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Currently, there’s no such thing as a left-handed Xbox controller. This could be because right-handed people have dominated for a very long time. Most left-handed gamers are known to always develop cross-dominance and adapt to most activities, which are often not accommodating to left-handedness.
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How do left-handed gamers play controllers?
Today, many left-handed gamers across the world play controllers like most right-handed players do. This is possible because these players were able to adapt to doing things that right-handed people do from childhood.
No doubt, it’s usually hard at the beginning for left-handed gamers to play games, using their hands. However, with time, they get used to using their hands for almost anything, including playing games.
If you pick different left-handed players and ask them how they play controllers, you’ll most likely hear them say that they have no issues playing the game.
For instance, according to Satune, a member of the Giant Bomb Forum, the user mentioned that he doesn’t feel any difference when playing controllers. Here’s a brief of what Satune said below:
“I feel no difference on a controller, but I’ve been playing games for a long time now. And playing on the Wii is easy cause you can switch what hand you’re using in most games.”
Subject2change is another user on the Giant Bomb Forum. When responding to the same question regarding “what it feels like being a left-handed gamer,” the user said he feels ”
no difference, whatsoever. The user’s only problem, however, often arises when he tries to slam O when playing the God of War game.
“No difference; however with my left hand being my dominant hand when pressing a button quickly like in God of War to perform an execution I had to slam O, I would turn the controller and use my pointer finger on my left hand instead.”
Here’s the thing; most left-handed gamers only have little or no issues with using the regular Xbox controllers out there.
As earlier mentioned, they are known to always develop cross-dominance when it comes to certain activities, such as playing controllers. Yes, they tend to make use of both hands almost equally when playing games. Since playing controllers most requires using both hands, most left-handed gamers often adapt to using the controllers pretty quickly.
According to Sidharth Sreekumar, a system engineer and a user on Quora, there’s not much of a big deal in playing controllers as a left-handed gamer. Here’s a little bit of what the user said regarding playing video games as a left-handed person.
“I’m left-handed and very much accustomed to the right-handed controls in video games from a very young age (3 years). So I don’t feel any difficulty whatsoever now.”
On the Escapist, Hazy992 mentioned that he doesn’t play any differently being a left-handed gamer. He added that he always plays video games with his left hand just like a right-handed player.
“I’ve always used a keyboard and mouse like a right-handed person, I’ve never even thought about doing it the other way. In fact, using the mouse with my left hand and direction with my right just feels unnatural. WASD just makes more sense to me. I imagine it would be the same with a controller.”
Are there any left-handed controllers out there?
Left-handed people are rare across the world. According to the BBC, research has it that there are about 10% to 12% of lefties across the world. What you need to understand is that left-handed controllers are as rare as the people who need them. Here’s the thing; because left-handed people are rare, left-handed controllers are also rare.
Today, Microsoft Xbox doesn’t have any left-handed controllers. The giant tech company doesn’t see the need to release one and that’s so because most controllers are meant to be utilized with both hands. Having a left-handed controller will still require them to use the right hand for other keys.
As you already know, left-handed people have been around right from the stone age. Most of them are cross dominant – they can use both left and right hands; the only difference is they use their left hands better.
Since game controllers require using both hands, most manufacturers don’t always see the need to produce controllers, specifically for the lefties.
Yes, left-handed controllers are very rare because most manufacturers don’t usually see the need to produce them. What most designers do, instead, is that they redesign ready-made gaming controllers for left-handed gamers. In this case, the joystick is usually redesigned and positioned in a more convenient place for left-handed players.
That said, the Playstation 2 Left Handed Controller by XCM is a good example of a redesigned gaming controller for left-handed gamers. The game controller is recreated to reverse the controls. It does that by having the control pad on the right side while the other function buttons are positioned on the left.
Other features of the XCM Playstation 2 Left Handed Controller are built-in turbo fire and slow-motion functions. That’s not all; the controller also comes with analog buttons. You can check here to learn more about this product, including its price and availability.
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Is it hard for left-handed gamers to play with regular controllers?
There are tons of reasons left-handed gamers should be provided with left-handed controllers. One of them is that it’ll allow lefties to use their natural hand position better and more comfortable.
Apart from that, in certain types of video games, the positioning of the direction buttons makes it easy for left-handed gamers to navigate easily and quickly.
Today, most left-handed gamers don’t see any difference in playing games with regular controllers. They play almost the same way as every right-handed gamer out there.
Some left-handed players, however, complain that they often struggle with third-person games, using the regular controller.
For instance, according to Tyler Muschara, a lifelong gamer on Quora and a lefty, the main reason he struggles with third-person video games is that they require aiming to the camera with the left stick and moving with the right buttons.
Here’s a bit of what Muschara said regarding it below:
“Yes. I have a very hard time with 3rd person games using a controller. This is because you have to aim the camera with the left stick, move with the right, and use the buttons to interact with the side of your fingers like a bird claw or something. 3rd person games usually involve more all-over movement than 1st person games.”
The bottom line is that most left-handed gamers feel there’s no difference whatsoever with playing video games with the regular controllers. However, a few of them often complain about struggling with navigating quickly and playing third-person games comfortably.