Yesterday, Matt Boosh, a QA tester at TT Games, Tweeted a picture of a redesigned Wii U controller with the caption, “Nintendo fanboys alert: look what we have at work!”. The picture reveals that the controller now appears to have actual analog sticks, instead of the slide pads we saw at E3 2011.
There are several other differences on this new Wii U controller that can be seen in the picture, which has since been removed along side Boosh’s Twitter account, most of which relate to button placement and the inclusion of the Wii U logo. One other interesting thing to note is that there are now two new mystery square-shaped buttons on the controller, one below the D-pad and the other between the power button and battery light. No text appears on either button that would suggest what their functions might be.
As of publication, Nintendo has not commented on the picture so officially this redesigned Wii U controller should be considered a rumor. Unofficially, it looks completely legit and is most likely what we will be seeing at E3 next month.
A picture of the Wii U controller shown at E3 2011 is included below for comparison.
Source: Joystiq