Gamers go all over in 3D worlds, steering their characters front, back, side-to-side, up, and down. They can also stop and look around. This is often done with the right-hand stick on a controller. Move it to the left to look left; switch it right to look right. But things get a little more complicated for up and down. Players prefer different controller settings for this move, and researchers in London, England, used science to find out why!
The “normal” mode for this control sounds sensible. Push the stick up to look up at the sky, and push it down to look down at the ground. However, many gamers go into the game settings and choose to use “inverted” controls, which are the opposite, with players pushing the stick up to look down and down to look up! This is similar to how pilots fly airplanes, pushing forward on the wheel to nose down and pulling back on the wheel to fly higher.
Before the recent study, people had some ideas about why they chose one option over the other. Some players thought they got used to inverted controls after playing a flight , while others thought the cause must be which they play on or what their first video game was.
Jennifer Corbett and Jaap Munneke — both then from Brunel University London — decided to put these ideas to the test with a science study, and it turns out none of the ideas were right!
The experts did their research during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. It was an experiment they could do by video to avoid spreading germs. First, video game fans answered questions about their gaming experience and preferences. Then, they did four different kinds of challenges to test how their brain and vision work together.
One test involved imagining how random shapes would . Another challenged participants to decide how an object was tilted when viewed against a background that was also tilted. This can be difficult because the brain often sees any horizonal line as a straight horizon. If that line is actually tilted, it can be hard to tell if other objects are straight.
Another test involved the “Simon effect,” which is when it is harder to respond to something happening on an opposite side. Imagine there is a screen, and you have a button in your right hand. You have to press the button every time a word appears onscreen. Because of the Simon effect, this will be harder to do when words show up on the left side of the screen.
These tests helped the experts find connections between the brain and controller style. The researchers still don’t know exactly what makes a gamer choose “normal” or “inverted” playing, but the answer may come down to how a person’s brain sees objects in a 3D space.
The study showed that people who were faster at the tests preferred a normal controller mode. Still, that doesn’t mean normal-mode players are smarter or better at games. In fact, the inverted-mode fans — though slower — were slightly more accurate in the tests.
This study has impacts outside of gaming too. It could be useful for people in other fields who use controllers, such as surgeons or machine operators.
What other science studies could turn the world upside-down?
By Ashley Morgan
Updated September 29, 2025, 5:00 P.M. (ET)
