It´s clear that the article´s author has not even played with the gamepad, rather than just observing other people playing with it. What a shame.
As an acessory it provides some interesting features. Those are very clear when using it for games designed specifically for it, like Rayman Legends, Nintendoland and ZombiU. Some games make a good benefit of it, like Re:Revelations and Monster Hunter 3, where is a blessing to have an expanded map all the time on the touchpad instead of a small limited map on the Tv. Lego Batman 2 is another good example, because you can get rid of those annoying screen divisions when playing co-op. The Puppet Master mode on Just Dance 4 is also a great feature.
For games that don´t need it, like Injustice and Tekken, it doesn´t make much of a difference, but it works well and provide off-tv play, and this is what really matters
On the other side, it´s not as intuitive to use as was the Wiimote, so people only can get a clear idea of what it can do if they actually PLAY with it. So, I think the Gamepad could be optional, still... selling the controller and the console apart would cause much more trouble for the consumer than selling them together.
Maybe bundles, like the ZombiU one, would be the ideal solution.
Ps.: talk about hypocrisy! many people condemned the Wiimote in the past are now saying that Nintendo should keep it improved instead of adding the gamepad... pffff... some people simply can´t have enough hate towards Nintendo
