Button position

[Master Phruby]

When playing an arcade game, do you prefer the button on the left or right of the joystick?

[Hyperboy]

Usually right side for me but I prefer left side for some games like Tempest and Centipede/Millipede.

 

Sent from my phrenologists waiting room.

[mr_me]

I prefer 4-way joysticks on the right and buttons on the left. Two-way joysticks like Galaga or Defender worked okay on the left. Donkey Kong was always backwards to me since I would naturally play Pac-man or Qbert with my right hand. Trackballs and spinners have to be on the right, buttons left (righthanded people).

[Cynicaster]

For me the answer is: it depends.

 

Just about any game with an 8-way joystick, I prefer to play with the stick on the left and buttons on the right. A kinda-sorta exception to this rule is Bubbles, which I prefer to play with my right hand (there are no buttons).

 

Any 4-way maze game, the joystick needs to be on the right.

 

All other 4-way games, I usually prefer the joystick to be on the right, but having played so much Donkey Kong, I'm now kind of used to playing old-school single-screen platform games with the joystick on the left.

 

I've always assumed these preferences are vestiges of habits formed during my childhood years when consoles made up 95% of my gaming -- mostly Atari 2600, NES, and Genesis. The 2600 controller required the right hand on the joystick, so maybe that's why the old maze games and simplistic 4-way games from that same time period in the arcade feel more natural to me with the stick on the right. Conversely, the NES and Genesis had d-pad on the left, and those generations saw the move away from single-screen arcade games to platformers, beat-em-ups, and shooters, all of which used 8-way controllers and all of which I prefer to play in the arcade with the joystick on the left, to match the home console counterparts.

[The Mr. Video]

I never really pay attention to button position.

[Master Phruby]

I wonder if it is worth getting a joystick that covers from 4 way to 8 way on the fly like the Mag-Stik Plus?

[mr_me]

I never really pay attention to button position.

Many arcade games gave you a choice with buttons duplicated on both sides. Which would you use?

[The Mr. Video]

Many arcade games gave you a choice with buttons duplicated on both sides. Which would you use?

Probably the right button set. I havn't encountered any arcade machines with a twin button set up.

[mr_me]

Here's some arcade games that have the joystick in the center and buttons duplicated on either side. Mostly pre-1985 arcade games.

 

scramble, berzerk, frenzy, pooyan, locomotion, dragons lair, jungle hunt, zoo keeper, pengo, zaxxon, rally-x, super pacman, xevious, mappy, pac-land, solar fox, bosconian, satan's hollow, bumpnjump, burgertime, tapper, venture, time pilot, sinistar, moon patrol

 

How do you use the Intellivision controller. Right thumb or left thumb on the disc? Are you generally right handed or left handed?

Edited June 28, 2017 by mr_me

[The Mr. Video]

Here's some arcade games that have the joystick in the center and buttons duplicated on either side. Mostly pre-1985 arcade games.

 

scramble, berzerk, frenzy, pooyan, locomotion, dragons lair, jungle hunt, zoo keeper, pengo, zaxxon, rally-x, super pacman, xevious, mappy, pac-land, solar fox, bosconian, satan's hollow, bumpnjump, burgertime, tapper, venture, time pilot, sinistar, moon patrol

 

How do you use the Intellivision controller. Right thumb or left thumb on the disc? Are you generally right handed or left handed?

I use my left thumb on the disc, also I'm generally left handed.

[Austin]

All depends on the setup. If there's a standard joystick involved, then I prefer the buttons to the right because I use the left hand on the stick. Other setups I coud have it either way, like with a trackball or spinner game. Still, some of these games have buttons on both sides so people can choose to play one way or the other, and I think that flexibility is ideal.

[Jumpman1981]

I don't actually mind what end it's on

[Alpharius]

I greatly prefer buttons on the left, stick on the right, being a right-handed (very!) person.

 

I seem to remember that this was not a common setup though, and most cabinets had the stick on the left, buttons on the right?

 

Am I...misremembering?