A 16-step path is to go from $(-4,-4)$ to $(4,4)$ with each step increasing either the $x$-coordinate or the $y$-coordinate by 1. How many such paths stay outside or on the boundary of the square $-2 \le x \le 2$, $-2 \le y \le 2$ at each step?
$\textbf{(A)}\ 92 \qquad \textbf{(B)}\ 144 \qquad \textbf{(C)}\ 1568 \qquad \textbf{(D)}\ 1698 \qquad \textbf{(E)}\ 12,800$
Each path must go through either the second or the fourth quadrant.
Each path that goes through the second quadrant must pass through exactly one of the points $(-4,4)$, $(-3,3)$, and $(-2,2)$.
There is $1$ path of the first kind, ${8\choose 1}^2=64$ paths of the second kind, and ${8\choose 2}^2=28^2=784$ paths of the third type. 
Each path that goes through the fourth quadrant must pass through exactly one of the points $(4,-4)$, $(3,-3)$, and $(2,-2)$.
Again, there is $1$ path of the first kind, ${8\choose 1}^2=64$ paths of the second kind, and ${8\choose 2}^2=28^2=784$ paths of the third type. 
Hence the total number of paths is $2(1+64+784) = \boxed{1698}$.