I like the gamepad and hope Sony turns Vita into a full-blown gamepad (apart from giving it exclusives games obviously). I don't want just remote play (which is awesome for me), but also extra experience while using it instead of the Dual Shock. To me Wii U would be significantly less appealing without the gamepad. Though obviously, the price is way too high to justify the purchase just now. Nintendo has to suck it up, take a bigger hit per console and cut the price by 100$ this year. The cost of parts has probably gone down a bit, so they should be able to do this, especially since now they compete with a $399 PS4. Nothing can justify a $349 price at this point, not even the gamepad.
Wii U is a GCN 2 - I called it months before the release!
My Vita to-buy list: The Walking Dead, Persona 4 Golden, Need for Speed: Most Wanted, TearAway, Ys: Memories of Celceta, Muramasa: The Demon Blade, History: Legends of War, FIFA 13, Final Fantasy HD X, X-2, Worms Revolution Extreme, The Amazing Spiderman, Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate - too many no-gaemz :/
My consoles: PS2 Slim, PS3 Slim 320 GB, PSV 32 GB, Wii, DSi.
