It's as much about space as cost-effectiveness, too. Remember how much the PS2 slimmed down when they got rid of its HDD compatibility? Or the VCR-sized monster of an Xbox?

I mean, they could of added detatchable attenaes onto the back on the motherboard like some laptops and desktop PC motherboards offer.

5GHz could be better or worse, depending on what's causing the problem. It's less congested than 2.4GHz, but more susceptible to being blocked by building materials, as I understand it. Ideally, the connection would be able to switch to whichever band is most reliable.

And I wouldn't ever expect to game at a Starbucks with the Wii U. There are some low-latency video applications that claim to be good enough to game (Splashtop, OnLive), but they do require a very fast, reliable internet connection, and I wouldn't expect one from public wifi to be good enough. Even on a good one, the latency would start becoming noticeable. Using media/social/web features would be fine, though.

nah... I'm ok with its range. I was using all throughout my first floor, but it doesn't work on my 2nd floor (bedrooms). More than likely the front room or computer room (downstairs) is more than enough for me and my family. Fact is no other console can even do that.

My only gripe right now is that Nintendo didn't make every game that uses the gamepad and doesn't require a touch screen work with the pro-controller. Seems lazy and stupid to not have that automatic.

Take NSMBU for instance. I can use the gamepad, but it has a short battery life and no value from the screen unless I'm not using TV at all. I can use a wiimote but have wasted money due to batteries. However, I can't use the pro controller that has massive rechargeable batteries. Its just dumb. I also should be able to use pro-controller in place of wiimote/classic controller for VC titles. but no... stuck with the damn batteries in wiimotes.

EDIT: Just thought of something.... does NSMBU require motion for something? That maybe what I'm missing. However, the other half of that issue is I can't use the gamepad in 2-4 player mode without it being 'helper' only. I'd rather use it and a wiimote that 2-4 wiimotes for same battery concerns.

Agreed.  Each frequencies have their pros and cons.   I'd also have to look up which feature sets that broadcom chip offers to see which freqeuncy might be best suited for which circumstances.

I said Starbucks just to give a readily visible example of how "portable" it could become.   Maybe taking it to a friend's house would have a less laggy experience.

haha, that could be really funny.  If you have too much interference in your own home that taking it a friend's home with a good 802.11N router and little interference could actually give you a better play expeirnce.

That's a shame to hear the streaming on he gamepad doesn't work well through walls or upstairs. I actually thought it would be cool to lounge in bed playing nsmb or AC3 on the gamepad. I suppose I could always just hook the wii u up to my bedroom TV but that kind of ruins the point

Sounds like they are using the 5GHz... shit... from my experience with my own dual band router I get a low range when using that band.

Hey guys, can anyone quickly answer a question I have?

Is there a way to turn off the game pad while playing the system? For instance, when I'm only playing with a wii remote, and I have zero need for the gamepad, is there a way to save the battery by turning it off?