Super Mario Runs Left to Right Because Our Brains Say So

[Thomas the Tank Engine]

 
Does this gif hurt your brain? You're not alone.
 
Ever wonder why side-scrolling video games from the 80's and 90's almost always scroll in a single direction

[+E.Worm Jimmy Subscriber¹]

for a second there, i though that this will be like that white/gold VS black/blue thing,    where some peoples brains see mario running left.....

 

 

pffeeew...  

[Lant]

If anyone wants to read the paper its available here. Needed to do a brief bit of digging as the link on gizmodo is just to the journal not the paper.

 

Glad they looked at right-to-left language users, my first thought was that the study was going to be biased towards left-to-right languages.

[Thomas the Tank Engine]

If anyone wants to read the paper its available here. Needed to do a brief bit of digging as the link on gizmodo is just to the journal not the paper.

Did you not see the link in the article posted, I fixed Gizmodo's link because it originally pointed to the web site and not to the article?:

That conclusion, based on Walker's analysis of thousands of images of people and objects in motion, is published in the journal Perception.

[neo1911]

Does that mean reading Arabic from right to left is fairly annoying?

[Knife Party]

[spacer]

Is this still true of people who grow up in a culture that reads right to left?

 

I always assumed it was left-to-right because that's the way most of us read. So it's a natural evolution of the concept.

 

Do we really prefer left-to-right or does it seem that way because most (maybe all) the people they tested have already learned to read; and, therefore, have already trained their brains for left-to-right movement?

[theyarecomingforyou]

I imagine it's entirely cultural rather than physiological.

[Louisifer]

I've always assumed it was down to learning to read and write from Left to Right, that and the fact that x/y axis is positive in the up/right direction.

 

I have no issues watching that loop, maybe Luigi's camera man likes to record from the background, Luigi is still running in the same direction.   

[vcfan]

Does this gif hurt your brain?

 

yes, from all the digging up of old memories.

[astropheed Veteran]

It doesn't bother me at all.

 

I was playing Ori last night and there seemed to be an equal amount of time going in either direction and I had zero preference.

 

Perhaps, at some level, I felt progress was being made while moving right, but that's more than likely due to me associating that with earlier games where progression was based on moving in that direction. I doubt my brain really gives a damn.

[neufuse Veteran]

Is our brain hardwired to drive forward instead of reverse in games? next meaningless study coming in 1.2....3........ </s>

[+E.Worm Jimmy Subscriber¹]

It doesn't bother me at all.

 

I was playing Ori last night and there seemed to be an equal amount of time going in either direction and I had zero preference.

 

Perhaps, at some level, I felt progress was being made while moving right, but that's more than likely due to me associating that with earlier games where progression was based on moving in that direction. I doubt my brain really gives a damn.

 

 

i actually was thinking about ori, or apotheon, cave story,  guacamelee, super metroid,  or a LOT of other games which i cannot remember now.

yeah, in general, much progress is done going right,  but, when i am playing them,  i am equally comfortable playing right to left.

 

 

 

it feels wrong in mario, because you only move in ONE direction all the time.    and we all played mario (or seen it)   so the other direction feels wrong.

 

 

you know, make a game where the big mountain is on the left and each level gets you closer to the boss, and i think it will be natural to play it right to left.  there have to be a reason to justify it.

[Andre S. Veteran]

I imagine it's entirely cultural rather than physiological.

One would expect to find cultures where the convention is different if that was the case. I'm not sure how comprehensive the study was in that regard though.

[Mockingbird]

This is probably because the majority of people read and write from left to right.

[theyarecomingforyou]

One would expect to find cultures where the convention is different if that was the case. I'm not sure how comprehensive the study was in that regard though.

True, but modern societies are incredibly interconnected. With language we see that some flow in the opposite direction, so I'd be surprised if somehow video gaming is predisposed to just the one direction. Further, as you point out, it remains to be seen how comprehensive the study is - there are simply too many variables.

 

It seems reasonable to assume it relates to cultural factors, as I'm unaware of any physiological factor that would explain it. I'm open-minded about it.

[+virtorio MVC]

I don't get it. Moving from right to left in platformers makes no difference to me at all. 

[redfish]

Glad they looked at right-to-left language users, my first thought was that the study was going to be biased towards left-to-right languages.

 

There's still a lot of unanswered questions. Italics is a modern invention and was brought into Hebrew by example from other languages, and also even in countries that use right-to-left language systems, they still play video games designed by people with left-to-right. So there are a lot of cultural factors at play.

 

I still believe there's something natural about left-to-right, otherwise there would be more right-to-left language systems, and more left-handed people. I just don't know how much the study proves it.

[+E.Worm Jimmy Subscriber¹]

I'm still believe there's something natural about left-to-right, otherwise there would be more right-to-left language systems, and more left-handed people. I just don't know how much the study proves it.

 

 

you know,  the photographers also recommend for the subject of the photo to be in the left part of the picture preferably.  left of the picture,  the subject is not a focus...

 

no idea if this is related to culture or overall human condition to focus on the right side....

maybe the right to left languages are just used to it from childhood,  but in things other then writing, the brain still prefer left to right?

 

no idea.

interesting theory though..

[123456789A]

I never had a problem with either direction. Shortly after the first Super Mario game, other games went both directions anyway, so it's not like people can't process right to left.

[remixedcat]

dolce and gabana has a 175 dollar mario t shirt and it's clear he runs to the freakin right.

[Lant]

Did you not see the link in the article posted, I fixed Gizmodo's link because it originally pointed to the web site and not to the article?:

That conclusion, based on Walker's analysis of thousands of images of people and objects in motion, is published in the journal Perception.

 

No I didn't see the link in your post. I don't usually read these sorts of posts fully as the full article isn't usually posted. So for the ones I'm interested in, I just go to the website, which as we both noticed only links to the journal and not the paper. So we both tried to be helpful. Obviously only one person is supposed to be.