When you fire up a new game, meticulously fine-tuning the settings is often a ritual. From adjusting audio and subtitles to optimizing brightness and performance, gamers customize every detail for their ideal experience. For many, this personalization extends to controller settings, choosing between ‘normal’ and ‘inverted’ controls. If you’ve ever pondered the psychology behind your preference, recent scientific research offers some compelling answers.
A new scientific paper, highlighted by The Guardian (via Eurogamer), features Dr. Jennifer Corbett and Dr. Jaap Munneke from Brunel University London, who delved into the neuroscience of player control choices. Their study, titled ‘Why axis inversion? Optimising interactions between users, interfaces, and visual displays in 3D environments,’ uncovers a variety of factors influencing your decision, primarily revolving around how your brain interprets objects within three-dimensional environments.
Conducted during the lockdown period and published recently, the study concluded that a multitude of influences contribute to your control preference. These include personal gaming history, favorite genres, age, console experience, and even your natural mouse scrolling direction. Dr. Corbett observed, ‘Many people told us that playing a flight simulator, using a certain type of console, or the first game they played were the reasons they preferred to invert or not. Many also said they switched preferences over time. We added a whole new section to the study based on all this feedback.’
To explore this phenomenon, participants completed a comprehensive questionnaire about their gaming backgrounds and engaged in experiments testing their spatial awareness. These tasks involved mentally rotating various shapes, adopting an ‘avatar’s’ viewpoint in images, identifying tilted objects against diverse backgrounds, and navigating the ‘Simon effect’ – where reaction times are slower if a target appears on the opposite side of the screen from its corresponding response button. Dr. Corbett explained their analytical approach: ‘Then we used some machine-learning algorithms to help us sort through all this survey and experiment data and pick out what combination of all of these things best explained whether someone inverted.’
Surprisingly, Dr. Corbett’s findings challenged conventional wisdom regarding inverted control preferences. The most significant determinant was how quickly gamers could mentally rotate objects and efficiently overcome the Simon effect. ‘The faster they were, the less likely they were to invert,’ Dr. Corbett stated. Interestingly, individuals who reported sometimes using inverted controls were the slowest on these tasks. While non-inverters generally exhibited quicker reactions, inverters often achieved slightly higher accuracy.
This research suggests that an early experience with a flight simulator doesn’t inherently make you an ‘inverter,’ nor does consistently using standard settings definitively brand you a ‘non-inverter.’ In fact, according to the study and Dr. Corbett’s insights, consciously altering your control preferences might actually enhance your overall gaming skill.
Dr. Corbett encourages players to experiment: ‘Non-inverters should give inversion a try—and inverters should give non-inversion another shot. You might even want to force yourself to stick with it for a few hours. People have learned one way. That doesn’t mean they won’t learn another way even better.’ She draws a compelling parallel to left-handed individuals who, until the mid-20th century, were often forced to write with their right hand, sometimes leading to lifelong difficulties. This analogy suggests that breaking ingrained habits can sometimes unlock a more natural or even superior ability.
So, the next time you’re navigating a game’s settings menu, consider stepping outside your comfort zone. Trying the opposite control scheme, even temporarily, could sharpen your reflexes and potentially improve your performance in demanding titles like Battlefield 6 or Call of Duty: Black Ops 7.