If I'm right in assuming that the glossy face of the controller is a touch screen, it's possible they're not forsaking face buttons so much as physical face buttons. I think that's an interesting concept; when the controller is in use, the screen displays the buttons. It could allow them to do neat things like have modified button layouts for certain games (though that would complicate adjusting to a new game for the player). The biggest concern I'd have though is having to look down to make sure you're hitting the right button rather than doing it all by feel.
I mean, it's worked out, hasn't it? The Wii was a huge success because of the motion control, people had reservations about the 3DS and (especially after the improvements the new 3DS made to the 3D technology) now like it quite a bit. The Wii U of course was a big flop but I like that Nintendo takes some risks in their controllers, while also providing a more traditional option for those who prefer (the Wii U has standard controllers doesn't it?). Nintendo needs to do something new right now and I have faith that they can execute this well. It's not like PlayStation or Xbox right now either, where we kind of know what to expect from their controllers -- the DS4 did have some big changes and improvements from the DS3 but at its core its still very much the same controller. Nintendo doesn't really have a set design or layout to stick with, unless you count the control schema of the DSes. I don't know, I'm not a Nintendo person but I'm really interested to see what they'll do with the NX. If you look at the reddit thread Nick linked, there's a lot of people corroborating it -- leaks and rumors that line up with this design, as well as it matching a patent Nintendo filed for previously.
I mean, yeah, a shit ton of people bought wii's so in terms of sales that is a plus in the "gimmicky" category, however everyone that I knew (in person at least) that had a wii, either never used it or just used it as a Smash machine. As for the 3D function of the 3DS, I as well as many people I know never turn on the 3D. So gimmicky stuff has "worked" for them in the past, but I fail to see why this is at all a priority. I understand that new tech is a great addition to the world of video games, however I feel like a line should be drawn somewhere. Trying to be different for the sake of being different can get old extremely fast. Reinventing the controller is something that flat out doesn't need to happen. If they wanted to make a controller and improve it (without raising the price) then go for it (think the elite xbox controller, among other more "expensive" controllers that are outright fantastic). I feel like these are the kinds of "risks" that aren't needed. Give us a gaming machine that can play things at a respectable resolution and framerate, then work on your games. I feel like that is something a lot of people want from Nintendo. If that game plan is too "PC like" for people, then just make a decent console with good hardware (console and controller) that feels good with the games that are on the system. However due to Nintendo's track record with recent consoles (just either being a gimmick fest, or just not interesting to me) they are going to have to make some LOGICAL changes if they want to move units/games, for home consoles at least.
God damn this annoys me. The Gamepad is just as much a standard controller as the DS4. The DS4 has the same amount of unnecessary gimmicks as the Gamepad. They both have the standard two stick, four face, four shoulder, one d-pad set up. It amazes me that I still see people bitching about how Nintendo should use a standard controller when they already do.
What blows my mind is that this "leak" was a 3D render and not a photograph of an actual assembled model, augmented with Photoshop.
