They were probably flatter back then. I can't remember. But the buttons on the Joy-Con will indeed serve this purpose for some games, but they're really not a good replacement for a proper D-Pad. 

Probably not a good replacement, but I feel like we can still say it functionally still has one.  So we don't actually HAVE to get a pro controller for the VC.

Nah, you don't HAVE to get a Pro controller. But let's just say that games like Ultra Mega Super Uber Street Fighter II HD Turbo Remix Power Nine Thousand Mark II Definitive Edition Version 2.02: The Final Chalengers will be difficult to play without one.

Ehh, but it's not like there are many other games that demand it.  Of course, it would be better if you didn't but it's understandable (to me) why the joycon is designed that way.  I don't think a proper d-pad makes for good face-buttons. 

Using buttons for directions have their own advantages too. Wich is why the Hitbox was so controversial in a certain popular fighting game (you could move forward and block at the same time in MvC3 XD).

Price is a contentious point. Regardless of power you need to hit a certain expected price bracket to appease consumers.

Sony failed in that aspect with the Playstation 3, having more power and more features but a higher corrosponding price resulted in less hardware units being moved and they were ridiculed for that.

And the Xbox One, having a higher than expected price and weaker hardware also drew it's fair share of criticism.

So why should Nintendo be immune to such pricing criticism? The real answer is: They shouldn't.
 - Criticism is a good thing and hopefully Nintendo takes notice and drops the price, then the consumer wins. Do you want the consumer to win? Of course you do. You are a consumer, you want all consumers to win. So stop being apologetic, these are companies remember, not your best friend.

Apple is different. They sell themselves on brand image alone. - And thus they can get away with stupidly high profit margins on all of their devices.
Nintendo doesn't have that same brand image.
You would be kidding yourself if you thought Apple controled a majority of any market though. They don't.

There is your problem.
You think it's just a shrunken "WiiU+". It's not. And Nintendo actually did nothing to achieve such a feat.

I would jump on a "Switch" without the Joycons, Screen, Battery, Dock for a low price.
No reason why Nintendo can't do it, I have no interest in portability.

Keep in mind nVidia still made a profit from that.

For some reason I have never enjoyed *any* D-Pad since the SNES. I don't even like the SNES clone controller D-Pads for PC.
Playstation, Xbox, Successive Nintendo controllers, various PC controllers. Never liked any of them, which in turn has impacted my ability to enjoy fighting games. :(
The Original Xbox and Xbox 360 had probably the worst D-Pads though. They were disgusting, Microsoft fixed allot of what was wrong with the Xbox One's D-Pad though, but I still don't enjoy it.
I would like an Xbox One controller that swaps the left Joy Stick with the D-Pad around, that might help.

The constant chatter of Switch is tiring enough.

Either you like it or not. I never understood the appeal to debating about consoles. Who actually cares? If someone wants to buy ten switches and play Pokemon by themselves, they can go ahead. If someone wants to avoid giving a certain company any sort of money, they're free to do so as well. 

The nonstop debates really shows why casuals avoid going to hardcore gamers. It isn't fun seeing people come up and do their best to please their overlords. They're defending gaming companies that run differently- there's no need for all the ruckus and time wasted. Just play the damn games you want and move on. 

Personally, I'm not sure what is worse- the NX rumour threads, of the Pro/anti-switch threads which repeat everything people already know (which just stretches the argument)

No people were excpting the 299 pricetag when it was rumored to be released in 2016. Alot of things changed during this time including price drops for the PS4..

Why? What's wrong with D-Pads?

Of course, the real way to play a fighting game is with a proper arcade fighting stick. But the good ones are almost as expensive as a console. :(

The PS4 and XB1 are both 299 (in fact, the XB1 is actually on sale for 279 right now). You can't possibly tell me the HW inside the Switch is worth as much as either of the former two consoles.