For the most part, this is true. Before the NES, controllers were either big joysticks or numerical pads with knobs. While we had the Game & Watch and a few somewhat approximations like the Vectrex controller with it's mini joystick, the NES controller was essentially the first console controller to be designed with only thumbs in mind.
The SNES controller was.....pretty damn close to normal. The triggers were an innovation, but they also didn't effect game play near as much as the changers made to other controllers.
The N64 was a weird abomination that had the first self centering analog joystick (beating the Saturn 3D pad by a month) which was placed in the middle of the controller on it's own "handle". The GameCube introduced all these strangely placed buttons designed for specific genres Nintendo specialized in, making it a poor controller for certain other genres like fighters. And.....I don't even think I need to mention the others.
So yeah, when you think about it....Nintendo has never really rested on it's laurels when it comes to controller design. As a SEGA fanboy who became a fan of Nintendo during the Wii, I personally think this philosophy has, overall, been for the better as far as game design is concerned.
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