Well look at that... an objective look at the Wii U

The touchpad is more or less an extra DPad and it works well for certain things (KZ:SF is the only game I can think of that has used it well so far)

I have not held a Wii U Pro Controller so I can not comment, I honestly think the DS4 is not that much of an improvement over the DS3. They feel pretty much identical to me other than the concave sticks and the select/start (share/options) placement

Very good description of your time with the system. I agree with a lot of what you said.

Note that I have a couple Pro Controllers, and I use those for many games, especially Mario and COD, since I don't like the feel of the Gamepad for those. The Gamepad is much better for slower titles such as Zelda or Batman: AC.

Contrary to what some may think, I do love the way the Gamepad can enhance gameplay and Wind Waker HD is probably my single favorite example of that. Being able access your inventory in real time on the fly and assign items to buttons with the slide of a finger is just awesome. Ditto with having the map always viewable.

After that, playing the "regular" way of having to pause the game every time I wanted to do something felt like a big step backwards by comparison.

That is my feeling as well, I will probably grab a pro controller in a week or so

I am not huge on the inventory system of Wind Waker HD (but it could be I am still getting used to it) but the map always being there and actually being able to watch myself move on it is absolutely epic

Nice, you were fair in your critcism and your praise. That's rare, I usually only read posts that have overly the one or the other. Thank you very much.

Donno if anyone mentioned this, but unless you're playing a game with Wiimotes, the sensor bar doesn't need to be hooked up. It will make moving it around a lot easier.

A surprisingly good read after seeing the title! xD

Gives me much confidence in my inevitable purchase!

Glad to see you mentioned the Internet browser. By far the best on any console. It's just so easy to load up Youtube videos or just go on random sites and screw around. As for the Gamepad, it really depends on the game. In Wonderful 101, I think it becomes annoying after a while and I just end up using the right stick, which works just fine. In Rayman Legends the gamepad adds a ton to the game overall. Darksiders 2 was the one game I played that I felt the tablet really made the game better compared to the Xbox version. Easy item equiping, a map, the whole deal. It's nice in Zelda too.