Rachtmann, I like the design, and I think Ian's concerns can be addressed fairly simply, actually.
1) Move the "seam" (breakaway point) next to the "remote" side. The controllers don't need to be symmetrical. Then you have one remote-shaped piece and one connector/add-on piece.
2) Change the button configuration so it's more like the Gamecube: one main button with some bean-buttons around.
Yeah… could work.
Hah, I actually thought about moving the "breakaway" point closer to the face button side, but I fought my inner graphic designer thinking and kept it symmetrical.
But yeah, that could work. And also, for those that are complaining about not having a directional pad on the "remote" side after separating the two... um, do you NOT see the Slide pad on the right? It's actually designed to be more easily reached by the thumb unlike the D-pad on the Wii remote.
As far as GameCube style button layout? That's a touchy (literally, hah) subject... I do love the 'Cube button layout, but I long so much for Nintendo to return to their SNES style of buttons. That controller's buttons were
perfect. There's a reason why Sony has kept it's controller the same all of these years. But unlike Sony's controller, the SNES pad had a distinct "feel" to its buttons -- the convex/concave shape of them. And that made it super easy to feel your way around the controller so that you, as a gamer, always knew what button to push for whichever action.
I'm gonna try to redraw this again this weekend with a few updates -- such as a "Home" button, differently-shaped L and R buttons, and maybe move that breakaway seam over to the right.
I may even try to design a 3D polygon model of it, too. Who knows?