It's probably already been mentioned as a point, but Nintendo aren't giving the impression they've thought this through... I mean, they're going on and on about wanting to make the game more accessible, and easier to play... but not including a left handed option seems to undermine all of this.
This. It's completely counter-intuitive, discriminatory, and against their philosophy. Not too mention they've been promoting dominant hand preferences since the Wii's launch with Wii Sports.
I know I wouldn't like it if it was me they were leaving out. Recently they've been giving a really good impression that they do understand the market and what gamers want from games, so I can't understand why they're in effect cheating some of their players out of the best possible experience, and perhaps cheating themseves out of some sales as well. Maybe Nintendo do have a ridiculously mind-blowing reason for not including one, but they owe it to the left handed players to at least explain why they should have to inconvenience themselves. And I for one would love to hear it.
You're hitting the nail on the head. You're trying to empathise with a minority, that's being discriminated against. I really respect that.
Others can say all they want, but you're right - they are cheating me and plenty others of the best possible experience of Skyward Sword. Now I'll play an awkward and counter-intuitive version.
Starting a petition sounds like a good idea though, and if Nintendo caught wind of it it might just make them reconsider. I mean, what's there to lose?
You'd sign one? I may look into it then.
Months of sweet, sweet gameplay.
Look - I know this is a Zelda forum, but that's just a super selfish reason to not support a group that are being discriminated against.
I'm sure you have a bundle load of other games you could easily play during that time and even if you don't - it's not like the wait would kill you. Be realistic.
I'm a lefty, and I find that it's pointless to make a left handed version. Why you may ask. Well it's because I tried it with left hand wii mote and right hand chuk, but it was too hard because our hands are used to using our left hand for analog or dpad so it's better to just have the right handed version.
All due respect, just because you find something "too hard" doesn't mean everyone else does. When I got my Wii I found it "too hard" to use the remote in my right hand, and used it in my left, which felt much more intuitive. Adjusting to use the analogue in my right hand took all of an hour of Twilight Princess.
You may personally see no value in a lefthanded version - but that's different from it being pointless.
If you insist on using left hand wii mote does it really make a difference? It will still work fine because if you swing left to right it will still swing left to right.
This doesn't change the fact that it is awkward and counter-intuitive. I've seen a video (see below) on IGN of a lefthander playing the SS demo - and whilst it was certainly playable for him, it looked awkward.
Because he holds the Wii Mote out to the left, Link is constantly holding the sword inwards, and naturally the reverse occurs when he held the sword inwards, Link held the sword out to the right.
There's nothing neccessarily gamebreaking there, but it totally ruins the idea of immersion, which is the entire concept behind the motion controls. There's no immersion if your on-screen character is doing the opposite to what you are.
Seems we've got the whole spectrum of opinions here XD But THIS is what I was trying to point out a while back, that gamers are used to using their left hand for a d-pad/analog-stick, and I think maybe this is part of Nintendo's reasoning? I don't know. EITHER WAY something would have to be sacrificed even if they put a left handed option in, because either you use your left hand for the sword, but have to re-learn how to move your character using your right hand, or you keep the precision of movement you had with your left hand but learn to wield the sword with your right.
North Apple - I don't think you're quite seeing it from my point of view. I'm not representing lefthanders that play the Wii righthanded, I'm representing those that play lefthanded.
To begin, a bit of reiteration. Since launch (with Wii Sports), Nintendo have advocated dominant hand preference (see Tennis, Golf, Baseball, Bowling) and by doing so, also advocated for lefthanders to use the nunchuck in their right hand. It would make little sense to switch the hand you were using the wii remote in, just to move a circular stick around 360 degrees.
So naturally lefthanders, unless they have an ample level of precision and accuray with their right hand, will re-learn to move their character with the right thumb. However, you seem to be under the impression that this is difficult. It's simple - it' simply rotating a stick 360 degrees - and as I said, for me personally took little more than an hour of Twilight Princess on day 1, to feel completely naturally. On the other hand (no pun intended), for lefthanders lacking that right hand precision (that some do possess), attempting to use the wii mote in their right hand is much more difficult. The analogue stick is not a problem for us - which I think you're getting confused about - therefore nothing needs "to be sacrificed" at all.
I do think it's callous of them not to include a handedness option. The extent to which this bothers me, though, is outweighed by the amount I want the game RIGHT NOW, and by the fact that it seems a number of lefties (myself included) are already used to left-thumbstick, and at least some of those that aren't can still adjust. Delaying the game significantly to accommodate the small number of outliers (even though I don't quite understand why it's so complex to include, Aonuma's explanation aside) just doesn't seem worth it.
Thanks for the admission of their decision being callous, but I still have a bone to pick here.
Firstly, and once again with all due respect, are you just assuming it's a small number of outliers? There's no evidence to suggest it's a "small number". You might want to reconsider this.
Secondly this idea of "adjusting". Ignoring for the fact that such a thing is both forced, unwanted, and unfair - what makes you think it's so easy? I know you are personally lefthanded, but this does NOT mean all lefthanders possess the same level of precision with their righthand that you do. You are simply priviledged, and taking that privilge for granted by stating that.
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I apologise if I've re-covered some ground in this post, but I feel it's being overlooked.