It took 20+ years, but Nintendo was recognized as the inventor of the four-direction digital pad, or D-pad, that we all know and love. They even got an Emmy for it at CES, high praise indeed. The press release makes it sound like the D-pad was introduced with the NES/Famicom, but the history goes back a little farther.
Game designer legend Gunpei Yokoi created the little marvel while he was working on Nintendo`s first handheld, the Game and Watch. The old G&W had a clamshell design eerily reminiscent of the DS, and Yokoi needed a directional control that wouldn`t stick out so the handheld could close. He took the bare essence of the then-ubiquitous digital joystick and compressed it down into a flat, easily portable solution. Thus, the D-pad was born, and it`s been slapped onto just about every other game console since, including Yokoi`s other invention, the Game Boy.
It`s great that Nintendo was finally recognized for its substantial contribution (too bad Yokoi wasn`t there to see it--he died in a car accident in 1997), I just wonder how long until the Wii Remote gets some awards.