Masahiro Sakurai has revealed that during the development of the Nintendo GameCube, he had suggested that a scroll wheel be implemented into the design of the controller.
In his latest YouTube video, Sakurai explains the reasoning behind the suggestion, stating that a scroll wheel might have several useful functions for players. The obvious is that it would allow users to move between menu options quickly and efficiently, but he also noted that it would allow for easy manipulation of an in-game camera, or for choosing between items and abilities.
He also noted that the scroll wheel should provide "clicky" tactile feedback to the player, thus immersing them into the gameplay experience even more. Sakurai unfortunately didn't get his wish, likely due to the space a scroll wheel might take up within the controller. As such, he's stated that he prefers to use the d-pad for menu selections rather than an analogue stick (us too, Sakurai).
We're not sure how we feel about a scroll wheel inside the GameCube controller, but we can certainly understand the reasoning behind such a suggestion.