Lefthanded Video Games

[JD]

Pokemon Sword/Shield has a one-controller accessibility option.

[Thad]

Hm. Never did get into Pokemon but seems like my nephew's the right age to check it out. He hasn't shown any interest in Pokemon either, but if it was something we could play together I think that might get him interested.

[Niku]

This is a second hand thought so someone else might be able to chime in on the specifics, but I believe Pokemon Let's Go (Pikachu/Eevee) can be played both one-handed and with simultaneous co-op. It's a remake of the original titles that replaces the random RPG battle encounters with a Pokemon Go styled "flick the remote at the right time" Pokeball throwing mini-game while retaining the actual battles for gyms and such.

[Grath]

Let's Go can ONLY be played one-handed, and has simultaneous co-op.

[Thad]

And when we say multiplayer, we mean online multiplayer, right? It might be awhile before I get to see my nephew face-to-face again.

[Grath]

Let's Go is couch co-op, not online. Nintendo doesn't believe in the internet.

[Thad]

I'd love to play some Mario Kart or Smash with him but it ain't gonna happen right now. (I guess I could probably manage Mario Kart if I bought a damn wheel.)

I bought a damn wheel.

My Switch is still getting repaired, but I was able to test the wheel on my PC, because apparently some twenty years after the first console shipped with USB ports they've finally gotten the hang of making controllers that work cross-platform without any headaches. (From what I've seen on the YouTubes, the wheel works fine on PS4, too; I don't have a copy of CTR but I've been thinking about getting one. I had a roommate in college who owned the original, multitap and all, and we used to play a good bit of it back in those days; I wonder if any of the old crew has the new version for some online play.)

I played a little bit of Sonic and Sega All-Stars Unwieldy Title and everything worked out of the box. I'm going to need to make some adjustments (the fire button is mapped to one of the face buttons and would be awkward to hit even without my thumb pain) and just get used to how it works (it defaults to 270 degrees of motion which makes it way too hard to turn; I switched it to 180-degree mode but that's too sensitive). And correct for other stuff like the pedals not wanting to stay flat on the floor.

But it's a neat bit of kit and it's particularly nice that it works on multiple platforms. It's got built-in support for remapping buttons, too, for games or systems that don't support that in software.

[Friday]

I've always wondered if having a wheel would actually improve control for racing games

[Brantly B.]

Very much so, but I'm not so sure for fantasy kart racers which are built a bit more around the drawbacks of a control pad. The particular kind of wheel I have is incredibly unwieldy though so... I still end up mostly using control pads anyway.

[Thad]

Very much so, but I'm not so sure for fantasy kart racers which are built a bit more around the drawbacks of a control pad.

And highly variable in their controls, too; the YT video I linked gives some examples of games where the wheel works pretty well and others where it doesn't. I didn't have much luck in Sonic Sega Etc.; I kept turning too hard and driving right off the edge and eventually came in last place. I'll be interested to see if Mario Kart 8 works any better. It could also be that I'm just not very good with this controller (yet?).

But yeah, might be worth checking out DiRT or GRID or one of those other four-letter racing games I've gotten in bundles over the years.

[Thad]

The wheel works really well for Mario Kart 8, which isn't entirely surprising given that it's branded specifically as a Mario Kart wheel.

Never did have much luck on Sonic/All-Stars (if I'm going to try it again I need to rejigger the controls to make the flight segments work). Say, does the "Transformed" in the title imply that the cars don't transform in the previous game? Because I think I got that one in the same bundle and it might work better with the wheel. (I also got the newest one for Switch; haven't tried it yet.)

GRIP and Double Dash both worked fine with it but now that I've used it for MK8 I'd probably go back and remap the controls because its default scheme on MK8 winds up working really well (right paddle to slide, left paddle to shoot, D-pad is a D-pad you can use on menus and for those times you need to push up or down).

DiRT Rally didn't recognize the wheel and I didn't feel like fucking with it so I haven't tried it with that one yet.

[Thad]

I'm really pleased with the Switch's global button reconfiguration option, and frankly this should have been standard on every console since firmware menus became a thing. But better late than never.

Some minor gripes:

Can you really only have five presets (in addition to the default)? There's no damn technical reason why that needs to be the case.

You should be able to name them instead of just having them numbered.

You should be able to set a default control scheme for each game.

And this one's impossible because the feature was added through an update and not part of the console's original design, but maybe something to think about for the next generation: there should be an API call that lets the button icons in-game match whatever system-level button mapping the player is currently using.

Octopath Traveler plays great one-handed, except that I've got the directional buttons remapped as face buttons and so I'm navigating menus with the stick, which occasionally results in a little bit of bounce and selecting the wrong menu option.

And boy, I knew this thing was a '90s throwback but I wish it hadn't gone full-on '90s throwback with random encounters and save points. Yeesh. At least there's a save point every couple of screens, but still, why is that still a thing?

I'm not sure how long I'll still be doing the one-handed gaming thing at all; I'm happy to report I haven't had any pain in my right thumb in at least a week. (Now I've got pain in my right index finger. And also my left shoulder. But my thumb's getting better!) I don't want to jump the gun, start using my right thumb again too soon, and make it worse again, so I'm probably going to be cautious and stick with what I've been doing (lefthanded controllers, arcade stick, and wheel/pedals) for awhile longer, but I think I'm on the road to recovery.

[Thad]

My wife liked the Mario Kart 8 wheel so much she wanted one. I decided to cheap out on the second one; instead of dropping $80 for another wheel, I got a used Thrustmaster wheel and a GameCube-Switch adapter. (Figured if my wife doesn't like the cheapy wheel, I can use it; I don't need a nice wheel, I just need a controller that doesn't cramp my hand.)

Got the wheel today. First thing I noticed: the thing is a lot smaller than my other wheel. If I spread my fingers out, it's a little bigger than my hand.

Second thing: it's way too sensitive. Like, it felt like it was digital instead of analog; I couldn't do a slight turn, even a slight move off-center and I was going full-tilt in that direction. I read the manual and there's a setting to make it extra-sensitive, but I don't think I tripped that. More testing is required.

Except, third thing: the righthand flipper worked when I got it, I played through a full Grand Prix with it, but then when I went back to use it again it quit working. I think I've worked out why: when I squeeze the lefthand flipper, I hear a click; when I squeeze the righthand one, I don't, and if I turn the wheel hard enough to the right I hear something rattling around in there. Best guess: the lever connecting the part you squeeze to the switch it throws got shaken loose during shipping, but wasn't actually knocked entirely out of place until I played with it for awhile.

I'm hoping this is something I can fix trivially -- it seems like it should be. There are a bunch of YouTube videos on how to fix Thrustmaster wheels, but all of them appear to be about taking apart the base part, not the wheel itself. At a guess, without opening it up, it seems like it's probably just a bit of plastic that goes from the end of the paddle and, when it's pressed in, pushes a button inside. I can't know until I open it up whether it's a separate piece or if it's a piece of the paddle itself that broke off, but the former seems likelier under the "something shook loose in shipping" theory. Whether it's something I can reconnect or have to replace or what is another one of those things I'd have to open it up to find out.

Which I'll probably do, but I went ahead and e-mailed the guy who sold it to me first to ask if he'd ever had any trouble with it or had any suggestions. I'm kind of hoping he'll agree to let me try to fix it and to refund my money if I can't. If I have to choose between trying to fix it or taking a refund, I guess I'll probably take the refund and look for another one, maybe get one of the expensive ones after all. At least I'll probably get some use out of the GC controller adapter someday, when I get Smash Bros and can play with both hands.

[Thad]

Mentioned previously in the Musings 'n' News thread:

ETA: I've been using a 3D-printed gizmo to use both Switch joy-cons in my left hand. It's not the most comfortable thing in the world but it works great for Mario/Rabbids. Thanks to the Switch's built-in button remapping feature, I can swap the A and Y buttons so they feel like they're in the right spots when the controller is upside down; my only gripe is the Switch won't let you reverse the direction of a joystick axis, so moving the right stick left or right is reversed.

I bet that would work fine with Yakuza: Like a Dragon, and apparently Mayflash has an adapter now to use Switch controllers on the PS4.

I bought the Mayflash adapter and so far I've found it finicky for pairing both joy-cons as a single controller, but I can get it to work after some fiddling and Persona 5 is playable without much issue. (Fortunately I can swap Circle and Square in the PS4 settings menu, and reverse the horizontal axis of the right stick in the in-game settings.) So that's making other 3D turn-based RPGs like DQ11 and Yakuza: Like a Dragon sound mighty tempting.

Plus I've been doing the one-hand thing for ages now and maybe it's time I try going back to both hands again, see if the thumb's still a problem or if it's healed up enough to play with a regular controller.

[Thad]

I bought the Mayflash adapter and so far I've found it finicky for pairing both joy-cons as a single controller, but I can get it to work after some fiddling and Persona 5 is playable without much issue. (Fortunately I can swap Circle and Square in the PS4 settings menu, and reverse the horizontal axis of the right stick in the in-game settings.) So that's making other 3D turn-based RPGs like DQ11 and Yakuza: Like a Dragon sound mighty tempting.

I'm finding the right stick really hard to work in two dimensions upside-down (as opposed to in Mario/Rabbids, where it's just left-right, not up-down; I don't have any trouble with that, even backwards). Working both sticks simultaneously like I would with both hands seems like it's right out, and I really have to fiddle back and forth to get a decent angle. If this stealth business Persona 5 just hit me with is important, that could end up being an issue.

Plus I've been doing the one-hand thing for ages now and maybe it's time I try going back to both hands again, see if the thumb's still a problem or if it's healed up enough to play with a regular controller.

Probably going to hold off on that for a bit. Too many damn bow pulls in Ring Fit and nope, it turns out I've still got pain in my right thumb.

[Thad]

I've been managing turn-based RPGs okay with a standard controller for awhile now, so the other night I tried Smash with a Pro Controller and nope, still can't handle action games. Looks like I'll be sticking with my fight stick for Smash awhile longer.

[Thad]

Also I messed my wrist up navigating menus on the Wii. You know what I miss? When my joints used to not do that.

[Mongrel]

I hear ya. Path of Exile is on the verge of becoming permanently or semi-permanently unplayable for me due to the sheer amount of forced manual clicking to pick up loot items or manage inventory. On several occasions now I've played for a couple days and ended up with forearm pain which lasts days during which I can't use my right arm to play anything really.

It's actually deliberately designed that way to pad out playtime and at this point I'd argue it's not just uncomfortable but downright unethical.