Anyone ever made a left-handed TurboPad?

[FiftyQuid]

As a kid gamepads always hindered me.  I can tap the shit out of buttons with my left hand.  Unfortunately standard gamepads were always made with the buttons on the right.  As a kid I often played games with my hands crossed over each other.  My right on the directional pad and my left on the buttons.  The controller would have to sit on the floor for me to do this.  For games like Gun.Smoke playing this way I was more accurate and could kill the bad guys more quickly.  Unfortunately it wasn't very comfortable sitting like that and my control of the d-pad was less accurate with more precision moves.  As a kid I just adapted and dealt with it.  As an adult, I call "bullshit" on this.  I don't want to put up with it any longer.  I've decided to take one of my TurboPads apart to see what makes it tick.  I'm going to reverse the layout so that the buttons are on the left.  The order of the buttons will be identical except they'll be on the left side. 

I've been thinking of materials.  The only thing I've really been able to think of is using clear acrylic, or plexiglass.  I thought it would be neat to be able to see the internals. 

Has anyone ever modded a gamepad from a right-hand config to a left?  Oh, and yes I know of some controllers out there with buttons on both sides, but I really don't want to purchase another controller.  I like the whole project aspect of this.

[HercTNT]

i imagine a clever modder could just use a stock gamepad and flip the inputs. take the cord from the top to the bottom. with alittle extra tlc could be made to look pretty swanky as well.

[FiftyQuid]

i imagine a clever modder could just use a stock gamepad and flip the inputs. take the cord from the top to the bottom. with alittle extra tlc could be made to look pretty swanky as well.

That's not a bad idea.  The only thing I don't like about it is all the silkscreening and print would be upside down.  That and you'd have to figure out the d-pad and make sure up is up instead of down.  I don't know if it's just a matter of rotating it or if I'd have to move around the leads.

[HercTNT]

yea, i went back and looked at my controller and realize it would not be so cut and dry. its very doable though. you could chop out the raised section in the center and flip it and the peice you chopped to reverse the cord. some plastic filler and sanding would clean it right up. the silk screening on the other hand would be a whole new issue.

[kazekirifx]

I always thought regular game pads WERE left-handed. (Dominant hand controls the d-pad/stick.)

If you wanted a right hand controller, one of the few options was the Master System Stick.

[SignOfZeta]

I have a friend that is left handed and has on occasion over the years built custom flipped sticks.

What I don't get is why either version is left or right handed. Maybe with six button fighting games, but I'm pretty sure I can pick out two buttons just fine with either layout.

I type with both hands. I drive with both hands in a left hand drive car. People in Japan drive with the same two hands in a right hand drive car. I've never heard anyone complain that either region was more or less friendly to south paws.

If it were me, I'd just keep using standard controllers. If you get really aquanted to a backwards one you're just going to suck when you use someone else's controllers.

[FiftyQuid]

I always thought regular game pads WERE left-handed. (Dominant hand controls the d-pad/stick.)

If you wanted a right hand controller, one of the few options was the Master System Stick.

I guess I don't know for a fact, but what I can tell you is that the majority of the population on Earth is right handed and that things are engineered for right handed people.  If I had to guess I would say that gamepads are right handed.

My basis for this is that your dominant hand hits the buttons.  Your dominant hand is able to handle multiple tasks like multiple buttons, turbo switches, etc.  Your slave hand controls your movement.  It doesn't have to do as much.  I guess we could compare it to playing a guitar.  If you play right handed, your left hand is on the frets, and your right hand does the strumming and picking.

[EDIT] Maybe left/right handed is not correct.  I prefer having the buttons on the left.  It's my preference and I'm able to hit the buttons more rapidly.  Any time I ever visited an arcade I always used the buttons on the left (if available).  If there weren't any, I crossed over my hands and played that way.  I couldn't do this for fighter games, but I never was really any good at them any way.

[turboswimbz]

I remember some games on snes had left handed controls where you just turned the controller upside down. So just swapping the pad around should be simple enough, if you wanted to go that route and still use the stock cover. I like the idea of keeping it right way up and just mirroring it.  I'm sure there will be a few logistics to it, but I don't see why it isn't possible.  Sounds like a really cool project.

Added In edit.
I'm Ambidextrous and I have issues with some right handed stuff so I feel your pain. I open everything and I mean almost everything with my left hand.  It's just strange when something doesn't feel right. No pun intended.

[Xray]

I'm right handed, but play guitar lefty.
Really sucks, very few left handed guitars available. Yes, you can flip the strings on any guitar, but there is more to it than that.

My nephew used to play the Turbo with the pad upside down, not sure why, as he is right handed.

[esteban]

My nephew used to play the Turbo with the pad upside down, not sure why, as he is right handed.

All the kids are doing this these days.

[FiftyQuid]

I knew a girl with Cerebral Palsy.  She would play Tetris on the NES with the controller upside down too.  At first we laughed at her, until she kicked all our asses and the pieces start moving too fast for me to even see.  She was the best Tetris player I've ever seen.  It was incredible.'
_

 

[Duo_R]

I am lefty but could never play on a controller that had the buttons flipped. Otherwise I would make one wouldn't be too difficult to just rewire the button mappings and flip the cable. I would repaint the controller and add new button markings.