Touchpads in VG consoles are a sign of how the whole gaming industry is adapting itself towards casual gamers, since they're it's main target.
Before you know it, controllers will be ancient history, my friend
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Are you kidding me? Some games have made brilliant uses of the touch screen such as Metroid Prime Hunters and Pokemon HeartGold/SoulSilver's Menu.
Fact is, the touch screen adds options for stuff that would otherwise just be another button you have to worry about. Less Clutter. You can have buttons that do what it needs to do.
But hey, if you're going to complain about touchscreens being an alternate form of input, complain about guitar hero/rockband instruments as well same idea, different forms of input. This has nothing to do with casuals.
IS as in "right now". "Adapting itself" as in "changes we're seeing in the development of modern consoles". "casual gamers" as in "people who play games just for the heck of it". So, they're a sign of how the gaming industry is slowly phasing it's development towards a more casual game style.
Plus, those games you've just mentioned were made by NINTENDO, a +25-year-old game company. I had in mind the misc. companies that throw weird games like "Babyz Princess Rockstarz 4evar" or "Laern 2 tyep: (insert language here) Editionz", which are just games that use the DS's touchpad...FOR THE WHOLE GAME.