3 handles on a Nintendo 64 controller?

I've always wondered why the N64 controller had 3 handles instead of 2 like all other controllers. When I saw an N64 controller for the first time, I didn't know how to hold it. I then found out that it was best to take the middle handle in the left hand and the right handle in the right hand because it allowed you to reach the control stick and the A and B buttons.

Maybe someone knows why the controller was designed like this? I wonder why someone z. B. Place your left hand on the left handle and right hand on the right handle to play an N64 game with the directional pad instead of the control stick. In fact, I've never seen an N64 game where the D-pad was mandatory.

Back then, nobody knew how to design a controller that was comfortable to hold. Is heavier than you think, you have to consider different hand sizes, etc. The Gamecube controller was a milestone in controller history at the time.

Because the 3D games learned to walk at that time. The design draws attention to the 3D stick, but also offers the old school feeling with the directional pad. This not only looks like a futuristic spaceship, but also makes it easier for gamers accustomed to the control pad to switch. Blahla Leberkäs, that was how it was thought. Before there was only the SNES without a stick.