I was just browsing through the excellent archives at Retro Mags, and found EGM Issue 6. I remember it from when it was new, it was the first time the Super Famicom was shown in a US magazine. Nintendo was also adamant at that time that it was not coming to USA. I remember my resentment at this turned me to the Sega camp, pumping my fist at "Genesis Does!," and scheming how to acquire a Genesis. Of course, Nintendo did bring the Super NES to USA, and I was there day one. But I digress.
Here is the first image of the Super Famicom:
You can see that the original design had all the final elements, but included the B and A button in the thumb position that Y and B would occupy in the final product, and become the primary action buttons. Does anyone know why this change was made? I always thought the change of the angle of the buttons was bad, and I had forgotten the original images, so Nintendo did it deliberately. Why?