Topic: Changes to Dpad Designs for New Systems

I have alwalys been curious as to why Nintendo has used several different looking and feeling dpads when new hardware releases. Specifically the game boy and DS, but other systems too. The game boy color dpad varies slightly over the orignal, but it's mostly similar. The original GBA uses the same dpad as the GBC. But when Nintendo released the gb sp, the dpad was changed drastically. The same dpad was used for the orignal ds, but then the ds light went back to a similar design of the original game boys but sleeker looking and smoother feeling (the gb micro had this one too). That type of dpad has pretty much been the standard since. On a side note though, I feel like the 3DS dpads had some slight changes with newer models too, but they all still looked the same (to me, the feel is slightly different on some models, especially the 2DS). In terms of home consoles, they seemed to have used the same one up through the Gamecube, then started using one like the DS light for Wii and Wii U. Just curious why the constant tweaking, I've always personally liked the GBC dpad (which seems to be based of the NES). And one of the reasons I prefered the original gba over the sp was the dpad. The switch lite seems like a return to that similar style.

It's probably just what they have in stock at the time. If they order Wii U dpads for example it makes sense to use the same type on their current handheld.

Hmmm... good question. But if I know one thing about Nintendo, it's that they like to change things. Sometimes just for the sake of change.