There are ways you can solve the Wii U situation without ditching the gamepad or cutting the price in a non-natural way.
Assuming the steady release schedule is coming, there are several things Nintendo can do to gain mass appeal.
1 - Redesign your console and change the logo/name.
2 - Launch special edition with: 2 Nintendo games; 1 Nintendo game + 1 3rd party game; 1 Nintendo game plus a few Indie or VC games for free.
3 - To attract core gamers you pack free Nintendo games with the 3rd party ports. Be it Wii U games or VC games that you won`t play for months, unless you buy the Wii U version of said game.
4 - Release special editions containing Indie + VC games to raise awareness of what you can find on Wii U.
5 - Release special Wii U editions with a redesign to resemble NES, SNES, N64, GC and even Dreamcast. Pack in all the launch games (VC awareness) and if possible, an original (wireless) controller to attract the crowd that was raised on those consoles.
About the new console.
There`s a very simple and effective way to end droughts and add diversity to your console: streamline SW production. That way each Nintendo 1st and 2nd party game would be playable on both hanmdheld and home console.
This could happen - and most likely will - by sharing the same architecture in both consoles.
Imagine if this happened. Even 3rd party devs could support this strategy as it would really give them a big install base than a single console could not provide them.
Essay Pro