When will people learn there will never be a gamepad-less Wii U?

This thread would feel right at home 2 years ago.

OP does not understand the integration that motion control requires. its far too late for them to do that- what throw in the motion control when all of the systems already sold don't have it set up internally and the library has nothing to  do with it? I'm not sure if there is any way to do a large scale download update to address that, but it is just an absurd concept

the only smart move at this point would be to release a more economical version of the Wii U for BOTH the consumer and Nintendo; i.e. a Wii U bundle that comes with a standard "Gamecube-esque" remote controller rather than the Wii U gamepad. that's pretty much the only viable thing I see that could happen. as it stands like some have mentioned I don't believe Nintendo is losing any money any more (probably primarily from their handheld sales) so its unlikely to see them change anything dramatically

NIntendo is a rather old electronics company and generally acts in a mature sense regarding that- they don't panic or completely change their product just because it doesn't respond well. The Virtual Boy is the only thing they've abandoned, and besides handhelds they rarely dramatically update or change it with another version

Nintendo at this point has probably accepted that the Wii U is not going to be a blockbuster selling console, is milking it for what its worth and cutting ends short where they can, and are already planning their next handheld and console or even the mobile possibilities. Remember, new generations are planned incredibly in advance (although while I say that its sort of funny considering how the Wii U didn't seem well thought out, but generally speaking)

I agree with everything. Actually it's harder to plan your future when you see a rapid and dramatic growth beacuse, as you said, you have to take decisions in advance when you haven't fully understood yet which are key reasons of your success. The WiiU was made to attract the same Wii crowd in their intents, but they completely failed to understand what an average Wii user could have wanted from a new console.

Considering the masses have long forgotten about the Wii, I don't think that would do much good.

They just need to come up with new branding. This Wii/DS branding shouldn't have lasted for a second gen - it's hurt both their systems.

I'm not suggesting something to WiiU, as Wii was to Gamecube, but not necessarily with the gaming revolution in mind. I'm just saying that selling it for the hardware advantage, and then reducing the price by exclusing the Gamepad(again this will need the games to be reworked) will make it more successful. Maybe introfuce a button or two, to the Wii remote. Include a neat little feature, maybe(not necessarily).

No. The WiiU won't work without Gamepad, because its games NEED gamepad. If they made a smaller model, that would be one thing, but a WiiU without gamepad would be unacceptable..

No just no. No sane marketing team would ever go this route. If they want to re-brand it, they should just call it the U and distance itself from the Wii branding. It was a success but it's time as come.

How about just going to with a non-gimmicky controller, focusing on getting 3rd party support and releasing a steady stream of 1st party games.

I suspect Nintendo was dumb enough to make some kind of agreement for like 15-20 million Wii U tablets no matter what, figuring they would sell that much no problem ... it's possible they can't even release a tablet-free Wii U even if they wanted to.

They be stuck with the sunk cost of $100/pop controller otherwise and Nintendo sure as hell is not going to eat that loss.

I think really that's the actual issue. They were willing to make a 3D-less 3DS which is even more hilarious really. 

Wii U is just a nightmare product for Nintendo ... virtually everything that could have gone wrong ... did go wrong. They just have to ride it out a little longer and then they can wash their hands of it.