Even those who opt for inverted controls cannot provide any clear explanation as to why they do it.
Reddit user Alvin asked an innocent question on this matter: “Can someone explain why people who play non-flying plane-themed games with inverted Y axes do so?”
Flying games were chosen because their inverted controls make sense when choosing inverted. Answers flowed back from people defending why their play styles weren’t correct (I didn’t care which you used, just poke the bear!).
“Growing up with retro games such as Goldeneye, Super Mario 64 and GTA III back then”, which all used the inverted mode as their default setting was easier for many than adapting their screens now; today however, standards have since switched; one Redditor noted this is “I owned an N64.”
One comment attempted to simplify it further, by asking “You could also consider asking this: to look down, would it be best for your head or stick to be tilted forward or back?” A further response provided this answer by saying that tilting head back while looking upward made much sense and made much more sense than its alternative; tilt stick back when looking upward.
Muscle memory seems to be at play here; many inverted players appear to hail from an earlier era when stick-based controllers were still relatively novel and companies regularly altered them.
“Started that way… never bothered to learn anything else” seemed to be a popular response; one person even stated, “I’m 45 and this classic setup just won’t unlearn itself!” If your knees hurt while sleeping, chances are high it may have once been an everyday phenomenon! If this sounds familiar then don’t despair–if your pain persists it could just be time for change!
One way of answering such a query might be, “Because it’s correct and the rest of you are weird sickos.” That would be direct and helpful in this ongoing argument that never has an endgame winner – much like how pineapple on pizza is an ongoing controversy or which direction toilet paper should hang from.
