Don't worry people, I'm about to finish some fake evidence that shows that Nintendo had this pad planned since the 14th century. Everything will be alright!

Unless they screwed up and copie...uh, designed a controller that is more similar to the original Xbox controller. That would piss me off.

I dont like the right half of the control putting the analog above the face buttons looks awkward, A like Square and X will be used for reloading in most games and its the furthest away from the analog.

I lol'd

i really hope you dont have to buy this seperatly as with the wii, ie purchasing the classic controller

Ya, it doesn't seem Nintendo fans are ignoring the obvious inspiration from 360 controller  (Nice to see one fanbase able to do it! :P), but I love when Sony fans interject with comments, namely the guy who thinks ps3 is in the mix. 

Khuutra is the closest I agree with, it is combination of Gamecube + 360 with the Snes (Classic Controller) layout for dpad and abxy.

looks weird

need to see how it feels in order to judge if its comfortable or not. other then that im glad the wiiu has a standerd controler, although i dont think it will make a huge impact.

Its telling that you mention the context within which the PS1/2 controllers were created, but not this new Wii PRO controller. The PS2 took things Nintendo did first, and did them better. They saw rumble was good, so they added it as standard in the controller. They saw analogue stick were the future, so they made better ones (come on now, those original analogs on the N64 controller were pretty poor) and used two of them, as that was the future of navigation in polygonal games.

What you've just  seen from Nintendo is a capitulation; a company that is so famous for shunning traditional controls with the Wiimote, and for a year since its reveal it has been focusing on the tablet controller+Wiimote combo as the next 'future of gaming', accepting that there is an audience on the PS360 that they want, and so they'll create a straight up imitation of their controllers to get them (the games and the audience). There's no innovation or original ideas involved here. It's follow the leader; the leader in this market is the PS360, and so they imitate them. It's exactly what Sony did with the Move trying to get the Wii's audience (though they tried to spin it as being for the 'hardcore' as well - unsuccessufly) 

And the Boomerang hate is cute, but have you owned one? Can you tell me that the final product's shoulder triggers were like? Digital or not? Did they feel tight or too squishy? What was the dpad like? Was it precise enough for 8 way motions in fighters? Was the button action tight or too loose? Did you find the controller comfortable? Did it slip out of your hand or give you a firm grip? How did the rumble or motion controls feel? How heavy was the controller? Did it feel cheap or not? Were the face buttons pressure sensitive? Did it have rechargeable batteries or not? How long did the charge last? How much did it cost? How long did the controller last? Was it durable? Were the analog sticks tight or loose? Were they comfortable? 

Oh...you can't tell me those things, because it's an unreleased controller that you've never owned. Maybe you should take your own advice: "This isn't just about asthetics... "

Is it really just me, or is it totally dumb to put the face buttons below the sticks?

Can't comment until I've test driven the hardware, but offhand no. It's a preference more than anything. Nobody has more than two thumbs making the "do I move my thumb up or down when I need to press face buttons" a non-issue. 

I will say that it looks comfortable, probably won't have a AA battery pack block breaking up the design (360 controller) and that Nintendo seems to have taken a fair amount of effort in finding the optimal layout for their new controllers. The subtle changes between the prototype Wii U tablet and the production tablet demonstrate that the hardware designs were not done haphazardly. 

Same, but I'm thinking as a non-standard controller (plus marketing it as the "Pro" controller) it will be sold like the classic controller(s) for the Wii, ie. separately.

I've more or less accepted the likelihood of a $299 MSRP, so $50 "Pro" controllers would go a long way in stretching what will likely be very low profit margins over production cost per unit (if there any at all).

It won't be any different than buying extra sets of Wii remotes and nunchuks, and seeing as how most consumers who were completely gaga over the Wii bought a set of four, I don't think it's a big issue.