Handedness is quite obviously not as significant as gender, race, or sexuality. But it is at least similar in kind, in the sense that we live in a world that is built to benefit right handers. From things as minor as needing to rearrange cutlery at every restaurant or a lack of understanding about how to teach handwriting to lefties when the script is designed for righties, to more significant things like lefties dying on average 9 years younger than righties.
It was being left-handed that first helped me really internalise (as opposed to merely having an intellectual understanding of) the importance of representation in media. I’ve never played a Zelda game. I’ve never really even owned a Nintendo console, except for a Wii which only got used for Wii Sports. But I heard that Link was originally a lefty, and that they switched him to right-handed in the Wii version. And it hurt, man. A game I’ve never given a shit about, but learning they got rid of one of the only prominent lefties in games hurt, and I realised on a deep level “oh, this is why representation matters”.
And it looks like they kept Link right-handed even in later post-Wii games.
They added handiness in No Man’s Sky which I really loved, especially with VR. More games need to add handiness. Just mirror my avatar, I literally do not care if all of my stuff is backwards. Just let me swing my sword in my left hand.
Yeah, there are potential issues with it in multiplayer games so I can see why they wouldn’t have it in, say, Mount & Blade, but for single player games they definitely should allow it.
Handedness is quite obviously not as significant as gender, race, or sexuality. But it is at least similar in kind, in the sense that we live in a world that is built to benefit right handers. From things as minor as needing to rearrange cutlery at every restaurant or a lack of understanding about how to teach handwriting to lefties when the script is designed for righties, to more significant things like lefties dying on average 9 years younger than righties.
It was being left-handed that first helped me really internalise (as opposed to merely having an intellectual understanding of) the importance of representation in media. I’ve never played a Zelda game. I’ve never really even owned a Nintendo console, except for a Wii which only got used for Wii Sports. But I heard that Link was originally a lefty, and that they switched him to right-handed in the Wii version. And it hurt, man. A game I’ve never given a shit about, but learning they got rid of one of the only prominent lefties in games hurt, and I realised on a deep level “oh, this is why representation matters”.
And it looks like they kept Link right-handed even in later post-Wii games.
They added handiness in No Man’s Sky which I really loved, especially with VR. More games need to add handiness. Just mirror my avatar, I literally do not care if all of my stuff is backwards. Just let me swing my sword in my left hand.
Yeah, there are potential issues with it in multiplayer games so I can see why they wouldn’t have it in, say, Mount & Blade, but for single player games they definitely should allow it.
As a lefty and a lifelong Zelda fanboy, I will never forgive Nintendo for taking away our best representative.