it was already established that the Playstation was intended to be an add-on for the SNES... but it was broken off and so Sony kept the idea and went with it.
Now whose to say the Gamecube isn't copying SONY's Dual Analog setup? Now the gamecube has a joystick on the left and the yellow analog on the right...and we all know SONY came out with the dual analog's first......... so...... did Nintendo copy SONY? I wouldn't say they did, but the way your saying SONY copied Nintendo... it might be fair to say Nintendo copied SONY too............it goes both ways.
So basically the two companies have borrowed from each other........ it doesn't really matter...... it's just button setups
[edit] now that I look at it...
Thats an exact replica of a PS2 Dual Analog controller, with the GameCube's Dpad and Joystick switched around so it don't look the same.... and the button setup just scrambled.
It almost LOOKS exactly like the PS2 controller...... LOL....whatever..............I'm just saying..... I hope I don't stir up mixed emotions...