You Like Your Controls Inverted Because Of Science--And Your Brain

"If you're like me, one of the first things you do when booting up a game is checking out the options in the Settings menu. From audio to subtitles, brightness to performance, you're fine-tuning the particulars to ensure the game is playing just right for you. Maybe during this, you're also changing your controller settings from "normal" to "inverted," and if you've ever wondered why you do that, well, science may have an answer for you."

"Titled "Why axis inversion? Optimising interactions between users, interfaces, and visual displays in 3D environments," the duo discovered that there are a variety of factors that go into your decision of opting for a particular controller setting in games, and it seems to primarily revolve around how your brain perceives objects in 3D spaces."

Choice between normal and inverted controls is influenced primarily by how the brain perceives objects and movement in three-dimensional space. Personal experiences, favourite games, game genres, age, console type, and even the direction of mouse scrolling all correlate with inversion preference. Playing flight simulators, using certain consoles, or the first game a player encountered are common reasons given for a preference, and many players report changing preference over time. Data collection combined questionnaires about players' backgrounds with spatial awareness tasks such as mental rotation and perspective-taking to link individual visuospatial processing to control orientation choices.

Read at GameSpot