I like the 360 controller, except for the trigger buttons. They just felt uncomfortable, all they really needed was a little curve though, and they'd have been fine.

Personally, I found the gamecube controllers to be incredibly comfortable. They might have needed to scale up the size of the cstick if you had games like the 360 does, but other than that, it fit really comfortably into the hand.

I have no doubt in my mind that the Wii will run away with this generation.

That said, I am extremely interested in seeing the race between the PS3 and 360. I do think that eventually they will start to gain some momentum, and when they do, it's gonna really heat up.

The only problems I've ever had with the gamecube controller is the shoulder triggers. If I play a game where you have to hold them down for a while, my finger starts to get really sore. but I have fybromyalgia, so that could be part of the problem.

relias, HDtvs will not be a requirement for a long time, what is soon to be phased out is analogue signals, having something to recieve digital signals is the requirement [so people need cable/sky tv, or here in uk freeview as well...not sure if us has an equivalent]

and yeah gc controllers are really comfy... and my fingers dont get sore, but it can make them ache ovet time.... i believe its because the space where your fingers go past the shoulder buttons isn't quite long enough for my long fingers... not a problem with many games though.

honestly i think the race between the ps3 and 360 is overrated.. we should focus on the battle thats about to happen in the coming weeks 360 vs. wii.. will 360 maintain sales over wii with bioshock and halo 3 coming or will the wii continue to outsell it>>???

Actually, I don't see how the Wii CAN'T top the 360, so I'm beginning to focus a little more on the PS3 vs 360 myself.
I think that the PS3 is beginning to shake off the bad rep, and come out with some unique features, but it may be too late unless it really starts banking for the exclusive titles. It can't depend on reputation alone to get them anymore.

Yeah meant the Xbox.  Even the newer slimmer controls were considered too uncomfortable.  Eh, even the older Xbox controllers wern't nearly as awkward as the 64 controllers in my opinion.

If they win, they really dont need to make some really diferent (Like the Wii-mote) just have to improve the actual hardware, SDK kits (Just to make easier the adoption of the new CPU and GPU), Wii mote accuracy, etc...

The winning status will give them the change to Improve little and still be loved by the devs (Try to think in the PS, PS2 transition...)

But hey, i will love to see new tecnology...

Nintendo's next console will definately have an improved system of motion/aimer controls. More exact motion, a way to give the pointer spot on aim, it'll be a refinement of what they've got.

I say that Nintendo's current controls actually don't need changed, but merely updated. Esentially all they need to do is release an HDWii (when it becomes financially feasible to do in 5 years) and don't actually change the layout of the wiimote or nunchuck. Instead, package the console with a single updated Wiimote nunchuck combo.
basically the updates to the Wiimote would be a FULL camera, which would still be able to sense the IR points, but could also be used like the PS2 eyetoy just by placing it up on top of the TV, and then also a total overhaul of the speaker system so that it could actually be made full use of.
The nunchuck would gain built in rumble of its own, and then also have a mic built into it, so that you could do voip style chat without needing any extra equipment.

If you notice, none of those features will prohibit anyone from using the old Wiimote, which means that they can still recycle their old controllers for use with the new system, instead of having to buy all new controllers for all those wonderful multiplayer games. BUT the features themselves (and the fact that Nintendo would be packaging a single HDWiimote and HDNunchuck with the HDWii so that people would still be able to see the obvious difference in features) would get people interested in getting at least another upgraded controller.

I think that may actually have been why PS2 was so successful. They built on their own back catalog of games from the PS1. Gamecube couldn't do this, neither could the Xbox, so as a result, PS2 got the most early consumer appeal, which meant that PS2 was more heavily supported by developers. It's the same type of snowball effect that the Wii is creating right now.

Nintendo definitely needs to take advantage of that backwards compatibility issue.
Since they're the innovators of motion control right now, they'll have the stage set to provide an HDWii in 5 years that can play all the current Wii games. By that time they could have a HUGE library of motion control supported games. If people would also be able to use their current controllers with the next console, I'm sure they'd have no problems jumping into it.