This image is interesting for some talking points. Below is the other image for comparison. This controller has 4 joysticks, but also has 4-button “hat” switches on the bottom as well. These 4-button pads can function in the capacity of a joystick with some disadvantages but also with some advantages.
Most thumbsticks do not have haptic feedback for the direction which they are deflected. Some do have strong center detents on each axis, but these detents tend to make fine input precision in the center of the stick difficult, as the pressure required to overcome the detent results in too strong of an input for sensitive control, meaning most thumbsticks lack this detent in favor of precision input capability.
A 4 button pad offers the ability for the user to feel which direction they will interact with before they apply pressure to the input. It may be desired by some users to not have ANY joysticks, and merely have a 4button pad on each position (so instead of a 4-joy ,, it becomes a 4-hat)
In the above controller concept art, there are no buttons at all on the bottom of the controller below the joysticks. In this image, there are buttons for the pinky and ring finger. In my experience, using controllers I have constructed, these pinky-buttons are highly desirable, and in fact I use them as my fire buttons in games that have weapons.
However, the most common feedback I have been given to these images is that it would not be possible to hold the controller and use the buttons while these fingers are expected to be available to provide input. Players have commonly responded describing a grip where in order to even use the sticks and buttons, they must wrap 2 or 3 of their fingers all the way around the handles of the controller with a firm grasp. I have found that an open-hand cradle has offered me personally the ability to hold the controller and actuate with my pinky and ring finger, but others have found that these buttons would cause them to lose capability with the rest of the controls.
Ultimately, these variations on the basic concept of 4 thumbsticks arranged one per each thumb and one per each side of the bottom are all details that would be various preferences of various users depending on their own experiences with controllers as well as the games they prefer to play, and how this affects their interaction. In the primary capacity that I have used the 4 joysticks, which is to gain 6axis control of a space vehicle, as well as 2 axis control of a camera or alternatively a 4-button switch for camera toggling, I hold the 4 sticks as the primary interface for all actions and use the buttons more rarely. Other players may play games that requires fewer axis, and more interactions with buttons, and very rapid interactions with buttons, and so may feel that the most important thing is a single thumb moving quickly between several controls. These different use-cases might be best performed on different controllers, even if the basic input capabilities of the controller are desired to be fully compatible with each-other.