GameCube;
I hope you weren't being sarcastic. The Gamecube controller was bar none the best controller I've ever used. Its the most comfortable and user friendly. The grips are adequately large, unlike the dualshock's barely existent nubs. The dualshock's nubs are too tiny for my hands so my bottom two fingers have nothing to grip onto... its like the dualshock was designed for children's hands, and so dare I say it is a kiddie controller? Meanwhile, the Gamecube controller despite being as colorful as it is, is more friendly for adult hands.
The Gamecube controller design failed only because the Gamecube itself failed. It doesn't mean it is inferior to the Dualshock. Consumers generally buy consoles based on the games available for it. They don't base their console purchase on controller preference, so you can't say that the Gamecube controller design was unpopular. The gamecube failed, sure, but the controller had nothing to do with that.
And you say "if its not broke why fix it?". Well, I have to say the Dualshock design IS broke. Its been broke ever since it was introduced in 1997. I didn't like it then, and I don't like it now. Just because they kept using it all this time doesn't mean its the best way to go, it just means they are too lazy or don't care about improving it. At least the Boomerang controller they almost introduced for the PS3 would have got the grip problem right. Too bad they backed down and took the "safe" road by going with the same crappy design since 1997.
I'm glad Nintendo isn't like that. I'm glad they change things and shake things up. For better or worse, we wouldn't have things like the D-Pad or analog stick if it weren't for Nintendo. You would be saying the Atari Joystick is "tradition" and its "not broke so why fix it?" so by that logic that's what we would still be using today because technically that is "good enough". The D-Pad and Analog stick are far superior, but 30 years ago only the joystick existed. So innovation is a good thing, and both of those were brought to us by Nintendo.
I strongly disagree with your statement that Nintendo should stop innovating with hardware. If you really believe that then you should stop using your dualshock controller, because most of it was a direct rip off of Nintendo's innovation.
If Nintendo's innovations suck so badly why does Sony keep stealing them, and why do they end up becoming industry standards?