Anlogue sticks are here to stay.

Not everything is gonna be motion controlled.

Many people prefer analogue sticks to mouse and keyboard any day.

Outside of RTS and maybe some FPS, I'll take a controller over a keyboard for games always.

The first part is where we have to agree to disagree - I don't think there would be any greater problem than with buttons. I've known myself to slip off the up button during games - it's not a problem unique or even common to touchpads, in my experience. 

The bolded part is where there's a misunderstanding - I don't mean to have any physical features on the pad itself. I'm looking at the one on my laptop, which has no features whatsoever. I nonetheless know exactly where the edges are, roughly where I'm pressing even when I can't fell the edges (which is a defect caused by the rather large size of the pad on my computer, far larger than I imagine for gaming), and that the scroll area is along the right edge- without looking.

And my current situation is far less ergonomic than a gamepad. If my right hand is holding a controller in the standard position, my thumb can only go so far, and the pad would be within that range. The pad would be  circular, so you can easily tell when you press the edge that you're along the top, the bottom-right, the left, etc., and small enough so that if you're not pressing along an edge, you're pressing a single central area and can easily shift your position unthinkingly.  

Anlogue sticks are here to stay.

For the forseeable future, yes, I agree.

Not everything is gonna be motion controlled.

Definitely not; besides what's the need of having motion sensing in Tetris?

Many people prefer analogue sticks to mouse and keyboard any day.

True, but the reverse also applies (read: Bodhesatva).

Outside of RTS and maybe some FPS, I'll take a controller over a keyboard for games always.

That's where I go to extremes: No flight yoke, no flight sim. No steering wheel, no racing sim. I just love them peripherals! Keyboard just sucks for everything else.

1) That's ok - that's what discussions are for! I'm actually so happy that for once there is a good-natured thread where there is actual debate yet devoid of fanboyism, trolling, insults and flaming. Fantastic.

2) However, it's still a physical feature! I understand what you are saying, but I also think that you can speculate as to the whereabouts of the edge by having felt that physical edge more than a couple of times, instilling familiarity into you. Nothing wrong with that either, but I feel there still is a physical element that plays a role here, even though that edge doesn't help you control anything but by virtue of it being there you know where your input mechanism's bounds are.

3) That is where I think issues may arise - different hand sizes and all.

I have no objection to seeing a pure touchscreen input for a console - or any other kind of control, as long as it works. Here's hoping a pure touchscreen input materializes in the near future - along with whatever smorgasbord of peripherals the console manufacturers and game developers have in store for us.

Analogue sticks give a much greater control and precision over motion sensing devices .

I don't think anyone is saying that traditional game pads are literally going to disappear completely, I'm saying they'll become a peripheral, like the steering wheel. Something has to give -- there are too many standard control devices right now -- and I don't see it being anything other than the game pad. 

Try playing RE4 for GC/PS2 and Wii consecutively, and then say that with a straight face.

 You mean like the mouse? Nice try. 

your mother, I'm not gonna quote, cuz we're seriously stretching out the thread here, but at this point I don't see any real disagreements, just degrees of difference. I think we agree that we're going to see increased use of touch technology, and it's probably going to be in ways that we haven't even imagined. I'm still trying to wrap my head around Phantom Hourglass and Ninja Gaiden DS.