I have yet to play a game that made me think "wow, the gamepad has truly enhanced my experience." The system without it would be the same to me as the system is with it.

I would buy Wii U if it was tablet less. People say it differentiaes Wii U from the competition. But apart from "from factor" no games use it, not even Nintendo.

Wii U is a very decent console. i am having some good times with it, I think the big fix here would be a price cut. Even it it were $279.99 i think it would sell like hot cakes.

It would be like if you broke a Pro controller in 2 and allowed motion controls. In my eyes it would be like how the SNES controller was the evolution of the NES controller. This would be the natural evolution of the Wiimote, which is what should have happened, vs the gamepad. At least that is my opinion.

But then you can play all of these games off the tv and on the gamepad, so really it does matter for those games too. 

I like playing without the TV but my number one reason is the inventory in Wind Waker HD. It is so convenient.

People seem to forget that the gamepad doesn't just bring a new dimension to certain games, it allows you to play all or most games on the gamepad while the TV is in use. Or if you just want to play on a handheld. 

While it's not a big thing at all, it's one of the few features the system actually has going for it, so I would technically like the system less without it.

Given that in my household, the living room is the primary area where everyone gathers, it make it convenient when the kids want to watch their shows as I can just switch to the gamepad for most games.

The games like ZombiU, Rayman, etc that do efficiently utilize it, well I could not imagine playing those games without it.

I would buy one with the pro controller and no gamepad, it would bring it closer to the 200 mark which is the sweet spot.