The gamepad is nothing more than a wireless controller to a home console with a screen.  The distance is no different from a PS4 or X1 controller.  It is by definition a controller that allows for off screen play.  You cannot play it without the home console being within the same range as any other home console.  Did the concept help with the conception of the Switch?  Probably.  But that does not make it anything more than a console with off screen play?  Not at all.  The Vita/PS4 remote play is more of a portable hybrid than the WiiU will ever be.

What makes the Switch a hybrid is that you have one device that either boosts performance when docked to the TV or downscales as needed for handheld mode.  The device itself functions differently depending on how you are using it.  You use the same games, save file, etc be it at home or on the go (the WiiU cannot even be played on the go as the range is no different than any other controller). It takes the same resources and alters how they are used based on if it is being used as a console, or a portable device.  This makes it a console/portable hybrid.

But you are free to believe what you want.  If you think playing a game with the same limitations as any other console with off screen play makes it portable, so be it.  Either way it will not change what it is, a home console.

The range of the wifi connection with the console doesn’t make it not portable.

I can leave the Wii U in the living room, go into another room, with the TV out of sight, yet keep playing remotely via the gamepad’s screen.

I can turn it on even if the main console isn’t in the same room, and start playing right away.

That’s portable enough in my book. 

So yeah, what you are saying will not change what it is, a hybrid.

I'm sorry but this Wii U is a hybrid argument is flawed the Wii U is a home console with a tablet controller otherwise you may as well say the PS3 and PS4 are hybrids because of the connectivity to Vita, portable platform means full on portable not being limited to a range of a stationary console unit. Wii U is not a hybrid.

You know what the difference between a home console and a portable is?  A portable can effectively be used ANYWHERE.  A home console must be used at home or tied to a specific vicinity around it.  They usually require a AC power outlet to supply it power in that home during operation.

The WiiU is played at home, no matter what room you are in and is dependent on the home console aspect of it, as the gamepad (controller with a screen) cannot function without it.  This makes it a home console as it cannot be taken with you and played independently.

The Switch is a Hybrid, as it can function either way and actually be taken and used effectively anywhere making it both a console and a portable as it has specific functions unique to both methods.

The WiiU is definitely not a hybrid console. It is the stop gap between home consoles and hybrid consoles, but in no way shape or form a true hybrid. The range of the WiiU's gamepad was so terrible I was forced to play in the same room as the console at all times. I'm sure if you lived in a small house or apartment the portability would be genuine in that respect, but the moment you left your house or apartment you would be essentially carrying a useless brick that wouldn't even offer basic operations like a calculator or notepad, much less a portable gaming device.

The logic is technological advancement. Technically as a Console Xbox One X is a bigger leap over the Xbox One than the Switch is over the Wii U. I just don't see any of these Consoles as Generation 9. I see the systems coming in 2020 as Generation 9.

Of course it is also a controller. It also has the buttons literally on the side of the display... Just like. The Switch.

The distance is irrelevant. The fact it requires a base station is also irrelevant.

The Switch requires a dock for it to be regarded as a "Hybrid device" does it not?

The Vita is a separate console, not an accessory that is included with every single Playstation 4 sold, meaning we cannot regard the Playstation 4 as a hybrid device as not every Playstation 4 came with everything out of the box. (Although, Sony would probably appreciate the extra Vita sales.)

I mean shit. There are people out there who thought the WiiU was a gamepad tablet thing for the Wii. That just says it all, right?

The WiiU is a hybrid console, it blends handheld and fixed console gaming into one form factor.

Hybrid's definition: A thing made by combining two different elements.
Aka. Hand Held and Fixed Console.
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hybrid

The range doesn't stop it from also having "handheld" functionality.
The fact you recognize it is as essentially a "stop gap" console that bridges home consoles and hybrid is essentially agreeing that the WiiU is a hybrid device in of itself.

Switch doesn't require a dock to be a hybrid any adapter or a usb to hdmi cable can allow it to connect to a TV just fine so it's not even close to the comparison of the Wii U as the is no possible way for your Wii U to be played on the go also distance is relevant in fact in the case of portability it's very relevant as you're using a flawed and loose definition of portable. To highlight this lets take two vehicles a hovercraft and a plane one barely hovers like a inch or so off the ground while the other flies in the sky, your argument here would be like saying because the hovercraft is an inch off the ground it's flying and therefore a plane.

Generation 9 in terms of chronological sequence. Generation 8 in terms of power. Just like Wii and Wii U.The same strategy Nintendo keeps following the last 12 years. So obvious, it makes me really wonder why this conversation has come that far....

So what you are saying is that... All the tablets and phones that have released over the past 8~ or so years with HDMI output are Hybrid devices? Good to know.

You don't need to play a device "on the go" for it to be classed as a hybrid device.
A hybrid device is any device that BLENDS two concepts together... In the Wii U's case, that is a handheld tablet and a fixed console.

I literally provided the dictionary definition prior.

No. Distance isn't relevant. - As long as you do not have any cables that tie you down so you can move about freely.

I am also using the definition of a "hand held". - Because. You know. It's a screen you hold in your hands. Just like a Gameboy/DS.

Again. I suggest you go take a look at the dictionary definitions I provided earlier and then take a better look at your example.