They should, but they won't. If Nintendo wanted to prioritize the Gamepad then they should have made a game that sold people on the idea. Like Wii Sports did for the Wiimote. I was hooked on the controller the second I played Bowling with it. Nintendo needs to bring that level of innovation back. Nintendoland ain't gonna cut it.

Last I checked Donkey Kong doesn't even use the Gamepad in any meaningful way. It's just a black screen on the controller. Mario Kart 8 uses it as a horn. If Nintendo's top brass can't think of something interesting for the controller then I don't know what they're going to do with it.

The is absolutely no reason to stick with the ugly, oversized, heavy, energy consuming and useless pad. It prevents people and even Nintendo fanboys from buying a Wii-U an cannot even be used without the main console. The pad is the weakest spot of the whole system.

They need to drop it, make it optional or at least make it smaller and the battery much longer lasting. The slow and badly designed user interface also should not require it to be connected if you just want to play a normal game. If you make a mistake you need to learn from it and adopt your strategy quickly. The Wii-U could sell so much better without that expensive piece of crap, it doesn't even come with a resistive touchscreen. Dropping the pad would allow to cut the price to 149$ without making any losses.

Nope, gamepad is what makes the WiiU. Now if they would drop the price of there console 50$ then I think it would sell pretty well.

I don't see how this solves the Wii U's problem... It has a slim game lineup... and quite frankly looks like a dead console to prospective buyers... Compare the release list to something like the PS4, and it's obvious why people aren't buying it.. The Wii U's failure is largely on it's lack of software. It's a joke.

I dont have an issue with the pad, but yes i agree with the OP. Simply for the sake of Ninty's sales

it already has that stigma

Before, I would have said no. But it is clear games have not integrated it in meaningful ways. DK, Mario, MK and possibly future titles will do well without it and not even internal developers seem to care much.

Why not?

This isn't a doom thread or about dropping the gamepad altogether; it's about providing an affordable option that could HELP Nintendo.

It seems people really don't read OPs...

Keep the Game Pad, but make the screen and controller small enough so a price cut to 250$ is worth it. Make that the new basic model and keep the original GamePad model for $300.

"oversized, heavy" this only says you never held one in your hands, that or you have a muscle disease & in that case I'm sorry for you.