Attn: Zune Game Developers

[zunebro]

When developing games in landscape mode it's pretty much mandatory that there should be an option to flip the screen.

The left thumb position should be default not the other way around.

if you look at all video game system controllers all of them you control movement with your left thumb and actions with your right.

on the zune this would be the ideal positioning because if you want to use the play/pause as an action button it would be easier to move your thumb down and press it than move it up.

i hope that makes sense. Thanks again for the efforts and keep up the great work...

GAME ON!

[ZeroCool2021]

Personally I think the controls on the right "Right Handed" is better.
But I see what your saying about people use there left thumb
for controls.

[saab900]

Id be more natural going up for pause instead of down, but that may be because im right handed.

[zunebro]

Originally Posted by ZeroCool2021

Personally I think the controls on the right "Right Handed" is better.
But I see what your saying about people use there left thumb
for controls.

that's what i'm still trying to figure out the "right handed" idea. i mean ever since NES we have been accustomed to using the left hand to control player movement why should the zune be any different but that's why I said that the developers should always add the flip.

Originally Posted by saab900

Id be more natural going up for pause instead of down, but that may be because im right handed.

ok... i guess it depends on how your holding the zoom. if your in the left control position O[ ] when you move your thumb down it's at the proper and to push the button. to go up you would have to twist your hand up to push the button and not touch the pad.

[Spike!]

'Mandatory'? I think your confused, nothing is mandatory as it's whatever the developer wants it to be.

[zunebro]

wow i think you have an issue with me for some reason geesh bro... if dino, sim, undead, or others that actually made games didn't even comment on it so...

Originally Posted by Spike!

'Mandatory'? I think your confused, nothing is mandatory as it's whatever the developer wants it to be.

[Netrix]

Originally Posted by zunebro

wow i think you have an issue with me for some reason geesh bro... if dino, sim, undead, or others that actually made games didn't even comment on it so...

Kids, let's play nice.

I don't think it's necessarily mandatory to have an option to flip the screen. Only about 10% of the population is left-handed.

[zunebro]

ok mandatory might be a little strong anywho....

i think the perception is wrong when looking at gameplay there may be only 10% of left handed people however 100% of gamers play games with their left thumb.

controls have been in the left/actions in the right for decades. i am steadily trying to grasp how the concept is that hard to understand.

[Netrix]

Originally Posted by zunebro

ok mandatory might be a little strong anywho....

i think the perception is wrong when looking at gameplay there may be only 10% of left handed people however 100% of gamers play games with their left thumb.

controls have been in the left/actions in the right for decades. i am steadily trying to grasp how the concept is that hard to understand.

First of all, just a technicality... Gamers that only play the Wii using only the Wii remote don't use their left thumb, therefore your statement is false. (If I'm being too technical, just ignore that comment.)

The point of saying that 10% of the population is left-handed was to point out that few people "need" the Zune flipped around in order to play landscape properly.

I am right-handed. I have played many video games before. Yet I have no problem using my right thumb for directions. It is harder to use my left thumb because my left hand isn't as strong as my right hand and it seems awkward when I hold the Zune in my left hand.

The concept of the left thumb being used for directions isn't hard to understand. I'm sure just about all of us get it. It's just that your application of that concept is flawed. When using a Zune in landscape mode, only one thumb can be used, and it has to be used for directions and actions. So the question is which thumb will take on that responsibility. The logical answer is the one that most people are more proficient in, which happens to be the right thumb.

You seem to be forgetting that the thumb has to be responsible for the actions as well as the directions. Both have to be taken into account. The left thumb easily been able to control the directions, but has it been used to also control the actions as well? If there were only directions to control, it would be different, but it takes more coordination of the thumb to quickly switch between the directions and actions, and I believe that the right thumb is suited the best for it (for right-handed people).

I think a part of the reason that it seems awkward using only the left thumb is because there is nothing for the right thumb to do. Most games employ the right thumb to do most of the actions, which often means moving quickly to different buttons, while the left thumb simply shifts its position a little. The balance that a game controller has can not be felt in landscape as easily for the Zune if flipped as is being discussed, since the left thumb would be doing all the work, and the right thumb would be doing nothing. It is closer to the balance if the right thumb is doing all of the work and the left thumb is doing nothing.

That's just my opinion. Maybe I'm looking into it too much or something, but it's just my point of view and shouldn't in any way feel insulting to you, since it has nothing to do with you personally. (Some people think 'long post' = rant = flaming.)

[zunebro]

fair enough...

and i stand corrected the wii was far from my mind since it's a totally different concept. i hold the zune like a controller when playing landscaped games and just twiddling around it without a game on just feels right. i am left handed however i only write with my left everything else including throwing, working(carpenter), playing guitars, bass and others are done with the right

[Netrix]

Originally Posted by zunebro

fair enough...

and i stand corrected the wii was far from my mind since it's a totally different concept. i hold the zune like a controller when playing landscaped games and just twiddling around it without a game on just feels right. i am left handed however i only write with my left everything else including throwing, working(carpenter), playing guitars, bass and others are done with the right

I don't mean that left-handed versions of landscape games shouldn't be made or they aren't worth doing. I was mainly explaining why (as a right-handed person), even though left thumbs have been used for directions for practically all game systems, right thumbs are still better for right-handed people.

I'll be making such versions of Zune Solitaire and the Book Reader in the future. It's really easy to do, so it might as well be done. It's just that time escapes me sometimes and it often takes me a while to get around to doing little things like that.

[itsnotabigtruck]

I'm left handed and I find "left-handed" mode hard to use on the games that have it. However, it isn't that hard to implement it for those who want it, either. (all you have to do is specify -pi/2 instead of pi/2 in your SpriteBatch.Draw calls).