The combination of Nintendo's Wii remote and nunchuk offer a unique gaming experience, but some games are best served by a traditional controller. Nintendo introduced the Classic Controller to fill this need, but some people found the little light white wonder to be lacking. Whether it's the odd placement of the Z1 and Z2 buttons, the close proximity of the control sticks, or the in-the-way location of the connector cord, it seems there's something for everyone to fume over if given the soapbox and microphone. Nintendo has heard your cries and redesigned the controller, dubbing the new edition as Classic Controller Pro. Available exclusively in Japan (for now), 1UP snagged an early release unit and took it for a test play.
Nintendo reconfigured the shoulder buttons by moving the "ZL" and "ZR" buttons under the regular L and R buttons, much like the way a PlayStation controller is laid out. They've also spread out the analog sticks somewhat, making it much more comfortable to play games that require dual analog. It even feels quite a bit better than a PS3 controller in this respect. The cord has also moved to the top of the controller instead of being at the bottom. The D-pad and face buttons remain unchanged.
Maybe it's just me, but does anyone else think the Classic Controller Pro looks like a knock-off version of Sony's DualShock 3 / SixAxis controller? It sounds like it's more comfortable to use over the original Classic, but judging it based on appearance I'd say that it looks like it would be sold with one of those imported bootleg consoles that has a PlayStation-like case but actually plays a dozen built-in variations of the same primitive buggy tennis game. Nintendo traditionally produces solid hardware, but they don't always come up with the most attractive designs.
