Only once before can I think of a handheld that included anything like a joystick, and that would be the
HP 4700. But I hear less about how wonderful that touchpad was, and more about how HP made a huge design mistake.
Well, Palm has a patent (
US Patent Nbr 6806865) which has a nifty way of integrating a joystick on a handheld into the d-pad, using the tip of a stylus attached as the controller. There's no reason to expect it to show up any time soon on devices, but it's always fun to consider the possibilities. (Make the jump to the full article for a full-sized diagram.)