Mario runs from left to right, that's just
the natural order of things. However, Mario's direction isn't just a stylistic choice;
apparently, our brains prefer left to right movement.
Lancaster
University psychologist Peter Walker is the man behind the theory, and he has
analysed thousands of images of people and objects in motion in order to
compile the journal Perception.Here's what he
said: "What artistic
conventions are used to convey the motion of animate and inanimate items in
still images, such as drawings and photographs? One graphic convention involves
depicting items leaning forward into their movement, with greater leaning
conveying greater speed. Another convention, revealed in the present study,
involves depicting items moving from left to right".
Interestingly,
this only seems to apply to moving objects, and not static images - like
photographs. Walker's research would indicate that there's a "fundamental
left-to-right bias for visual motion", and that means that Mario will
always be better than his sibling.
