Sometimes I just use my controller stick thumb to reach down there since those buttons usually pause the game.

Nice hand I must say. :)

I remember when I was playing Endless Ocean, I used to play it extremly lazy. I was laying on the sofa covered with a blanket and only my right hand (wiimote hand) outside the blanket. You can play the whole game with one hand - very relaxing!
To get to the map you have to push the "1" button and to change view the "2" button. I did not have any problem at all doing this. Not the way curl-6 does it though. I just bend my thumb and press the buttons with the part of the thumb that is closes to the nail. (As many concentrates on curl-6 beautiful fingers and nails, I will not post a picture as I am ashamed of my nails - I am a nail-biter)



( As I did not have the game available right now I found this nice site with Nintendo-manuals. http://www.nintendo.com/consumer/manuals/en_la/wii.jsp )

Eh? I haven't really seen anyone complain about those two buttons!

I feel that people that say its uncomfortable either never tried it or have extremely small hands (or the other reason wink wink)

i'd say in general it was never a complaint because almost no game uses those buttons for anything too meaningful.   they aren't horrible to bring up a menu every once and a while but if you were playing a shooter and grenade and melee were mapped to 1 and 2 you'd flip your lid.

i think developers by and large avoided those buttons for the same reason the original complaint came up,.. they are awkwardly placed.

That's like having to control the dpad with your right thumb, but with no grip.

Sony disagrees, better placed buttons is like this. Gotta love them dildos.

Shouldn't this have been a problem... 7 years ago?

Far more comfortable than the XBOX controller. That thing was like a magic 8 ball with buttons.