This thread is hilarious. First of all, using any wireless products from Nintendo for the Wii(U) has input lag. Regardless if you consider the SSB series a fighter or not (those that don't are just ignorant), anyone that wants to take any game seriously will not put up with input lag. Just ask any fighting-game community.
For those of you that don't know, Brawl has a
random 0 - 4 frames of input lag depending on the controller that you use (whether it is the wiimote+nunchuck, ccpro, etc). So any debate between GC controller vs. any other controller is already a win for GC controllers. There's also the fact that
GC's shoulder buttons are analog. Some games require a pressure-sensitive input in order to play. NO other Nintendo controller offers analog inputs (besides the control stick).
I would disagree with the layout of the GC controller though. The button designs always looked awkward to me (and it makes a difference since I play Melee competitively). The spatial relation between each button should be even; so should the button designs. The yellow cstick needs some sort of nub for extra grip because if the GC controller were to be used for any other game, it will not provide the same comfort. Lastly, there shouldn't be hexagons around the control stick and cstick; this hinders the maximum threshold that the controllers are capable of.
The GC adapter isn't for everyone (it was obviously directed to those that cannot part from the GC controller for various reasons); just like how the classic controller or classic controller pro isn't either. You do not need to purchase it. If anything, the adapter actually caused many people that play smash competitively to take the next iteration more seriously. I think this is a good thing for Nintendo since many players actually considered not purchasing Smash4. I know that I didn't wanna purchase Smash4 at all; but now, I have a bit of interest due to their direction.
In regards to the video, I like the selection of players that Nintendo chose. I've met many of them and they're great people. The rules are great too. It gives the viewers a diversity of characters to watch and attends the needs of both casual and competitive players. I'm actually quite excited for this (I'm surprised that I even said that).
Dunno about the US, but any EBgames i've ever gone into still sells gamecube controllers. Not official, but yeah. Not bad either.
Those are absolutely horrible controllers. They're fine if you use them casually but I've had the experience of using them and they're extremely stiff. They also break very easily.