Rumour: Wii-mote like controller for the PS2

[Bodhesatva]

MikeB said:
@ redspear

The layout of the buttons come from the SNES and not the genesis(diaond pattern) the game and watch had the first D-pad which was used for the NES.

History of the D-pad:

"A precursor to the standard D-pad was used by the Intellivision console, which was released by Mattel Electronics in 1980. The Intellivision's unique controller featured the first alternative to a joystick on a home console, a circular pad that allowed for 16 directions of movement by pressing it with the thumb. A precursor to the D-pad also appeared on Entex's short lived "Select A Game" cartridge based handheld system; it featured non-connected raised left, right, up and down buttons aligned to the left of a row of action buttons.

The first "connected" (pad) style D-pad appeared appropriately enough in 1981 on a handheld game system: "Cosmic Hunter" on Milton Bradley's Microvision. The pad was operated the same way today's D-pads do, using the thumb to manipulate the onscreen "hero" character in any of four directions."

Funny you should stop quoting right there. I wonder why you would do that? Oh yes, because the next paragraph is this:

In 1982, Nintendo's Gunpei Yokoi updated this idea, shrinking it and altering the points into the familiar modern "cross" design for their Donkey Kong handheld game. The design proved to be popular for subsequent Game & Watch titles, although the previously introduced non-connected D-pad style was still utilized on various later Game & Watch titles, including the Super Mario Brothers handheld game. This particular design was patented.

No, Nintendo did not invent the idea of a directional pad; they did significantly upgrade it, however. They produced the modern version, which they patented.