I'm in favor of sticks. I think the control element is superior, and I also think it will be easier to hold that large controller with my thumbs applying pressure to sticks, rather than a pad.

YESSSSSS!!!!! The one thing holding me back from buying Wii U were the circle pads!

Did anyone else see how this "new" design was a little smaller as well as being concave in the back to fit your hands better? It is only natural for Nintendo to make changes as they try it out more and experiment and the new design looks great.

I don't like the idea of the two analog sticks. It seemed a little better with the circle pads, Either way, I can't wait to see the new design.

This. The whole point of the circle pads was to save space so you could close the system and carry it around in your pocket. I don't see any reason for this tablet to have them because it's going to spend it's whole (working) life on my coffee table.

When I looked at it first I thought it was another proprietary power thing. I think you are right though, it would make more sense for power to be smaller and on the top (and it looks like it's there in one of the pictures) so... you're probably right about the attachments.

I'm confused about what kind of attachments you could possibly need for this Swiss army knife of a controller but still....

God, I would be so happy if we got true analog sticks rather than circle pads.

Still doesn't change the fact that the design as a whole looks ridiculously uncomfortable, but we'll see.

Probably a good thing if this is true.
Personally, I'm happy with either sticks or pads, but it'll stop a lot of people from complaining, and with my 3DS I'm always worried about my Circle Pad breaking from overuse so that won't be a problem.
It's also nice how the + and - buttons have moved towards the face buttons and that the face buttons and dpad are a bit closer to the screen rather than being directly under the analogue sticks.
Can't wait to actually get a chance to hold the system.

I like that they replaced the slidepads with joysticks plus they're Wii nunchuck joysticks which I personally loved (fell in love with them because I felt like they made the tank control movements in RE Zero Wii edition a lot smoother than on the GC) also the joysticks are closer to the edge for easier use. I personally like this design, can't wait to see what E3 has in store.

Nice! I'm not a huge fan of the slider. Yet I'm still baffled that Nintendo has never offered the same precise and complex '3D World' movement with Mario in Mario 64....The amount of precision you could get with the N64 stick in that game was amazing... and Super Mario Galaxy completely abandoned it...
Then again, Mario 64 was about walking on thin ledges, needing the most subtle movements to get where you needed to go and yadah aydah, where as galaxy is just a slower planet hopping funk fest, where the emphasis on those special precise analog 3D controls found in Mario 64(with N64 stick) have been ditched.

Really? How big are your pockets? Besides I thought the controller was only going to be able to play games on the Wii-U via some kind of video streaming so wouldn't you still need to be in range for whatever wireless technology is used in order to do that?

Oh I forgot about this controller coming with some kind of docking power supply so it makes sense that the bottom port would be for that. I expect the cables coming out of the top provide some kind of additional diags for the developers? I can think of at least one peripheral we'll potentially see for Wii-U: Vitality Sensor!

I'm happy with this design.
I think the button placement is great and I love how the analogue sticks dip inwards.
Also, can anyone tell me what's the big appeal behind clickable analogue sticks.

Maybe I wasn't clear enough but what I meant was that the circle pads make a lot of sense for portable systems like the 3DS because compactness is the main advantage they have over traditional analogue sticks. My point was that given the Wii U controller is going to live on my coffee table and I'm not going to carry it around in my pockets I can't see any reason to use circle pads.

I'm glad to see that we might getting actual analog sticks on the Wii U controller, because having Circle Pads on a controller just doesn't feel right in my opinion.

No clue. The Playstation Dual Shock had them and I always found it a pain to get a click to register properly. The idea is to have an extra button, but honestly don't those joypads have enough? One thing I liked about the Remote+Nunchuk setup was that it forced developers to be a bit more creative with button chording, rather than assigning multiple rarely-used functions to their own buttons. The only game other than VC games I use my CC/Pro for is Samurai Warriors 3 which really does need 8+ buttons to play; otherwise I find Remote and Nunchuk to be a more comfortable option. For this reason I hope we'll continue to see support for it in Wii-U releases as I think moving back to a more conventional dual-stick setup will mark a big step backwards.

@skywake: that's what I get for the cursory read, sorry!

On most cases though, the actions that are linked to the stick buttons don't interrupt the fluidity of the gameplay. Most 3rd person games have L3 as sprint because you're already holding down the button so you just need to push down a little bit. The issue of responsiveness will come due to wear and tear, but I'm sure that (unless Super Meat Boy comes out on U) you won't be throwing this controller around like you do any other one.

Obviously no, and the need of more creativity with button chordling usually ends with exponential annoying gimmicking abuse.

Clickable analog sticks are good for the prone position move in FPS games, because sometimes you need to do that extremely quickly so not having to move a thumb to a button saves vital milliseconds. That's the only real use I think they have, but it's a worthy one if you're into shooters.

I think it depends upon how clever the chording is. Using buttons to toggle through superpowers in Marvel Ultimate Alliance works really well and given that's something you only do occasionally it frees up the buttons for other functions during play most of the time.

One of the problems I have with Samurai Warriors 3 is that I cannot just jump into it after months away and play because I can't remember what all the frakking buttons do. Hell, even if I'm playing it for a few days I need the manual within reach so I can remember how to do occasional tasks like summon my horse!

The point about using a click to add a function in a first person action game is taken, though that's not a game genre I plan to play with this controller. If there's no Remote+Nunchuk option I'll stick with keyboard+mouse as I do now.

I think the location of the Dpad, buttons and analogues/Circle pads are set way too high up. It works on 3DS-esque models because the screen levels out the weight. I think just by looking at it, that extended play sessions will make your wrists hurt. The position that you will hold it may be awkward depending on the location of the battery inside and how the weight is distributed.

Is there quite a need to bunch up those face buttons so close when the controller has so much surface area? It seems a bit silly and also can we have some colour please? Maybe in the style of the SNES? I'm bored with all white now.

Also, because the controller looks almost the same when viewed upside down, left handed players could benefit from it.
Select a left handed gameplay option and just hold it upside down....

....You'd need that ridge at the back more central and have reversed shoulder buttons though...