Pre orders are always low for Nintendo games but that doesn't reflect the sales potential.

Halo will move systems for sure but I think Wii U can hold its ground this Holiday. 

I forgot about that. That's a very real possibility that could change things.

I doubt Nintendo would ever drop the Gamepad. Yet, I never thought they'd actually drop 3D from the 3DS either.

I really wonder wat and how SMTxFire Emblem will play? Quite excited :)

I also doubt Nintendo would drop the Gamepad. The 3D could be dropped without affecting the gameplay much, but a good amount of Wii U games rely on the gamepad to function. Even if they did take that setup, I doubt it would have much impact.

Since Smash Bros. will be launching holiday and halo 5 might be launching holiday this will be very intresting

they didnt droped the 3d. the 2ds is for kids, 3d wasnt working in the childrenmarket because  it could harm children eyes.

they made the 2ds to capture the kidsmarkted with pokemon.  the 3ds XL is still the main handheld.

Deep analysis from Noble!

/Thread

Same could be said about Kinect. Both systems were designed with the peripherals in mind. 

With that said, both could be dropped if need be. Microsoft is much more likely to do this though.

Without the Gamepad, the Wii U could probably be $200 with a bundled game. While that wouldn't give Nintendo the gen, it would certainly be selling much better than it is now. Nintendo needs to do 1 of 2 things:

A) Prove that the Gamepad is fun and useful in games

B) Drop it

I like the Gamepad for what it's worth (like Kinect too) but they need to make better use of it besides for just off-Tv play.

Releasing the 2DS did drop the 3D though. As in it is now optional.

If the Gamepad was dropped for a new Wii U SKU, the Gamepad version would still exist and be the "main" console.

You make some good points, and I think for the next year or so the Wii U and XB1 will go toe-to-toe especially in the US once MK8 and SSB get released and the Wii U receives another price drop or bundle.

After that though, I think this gen could start to look like the 5th gen (PS1>N64>Saturn), where you have one console that's the clear leader worldwide, another that holds its own in 2nd place, and the last that falls to a distant third whose only real support is among the longtime diehard fans.