Imho with the limited application of the gamepad it wasn't worth the extreme BOM cost, which raised the MSRP beyond the point of mass appeal.
For this reason I think it would have been far wiser to launch without the gamepad @ $199, and to substitute 3DS support for multiscreen tech (both using Wifi to do similar things with the gameplay). It wouldn't have been as powerful for those purposes, but given the limited usage the gamepad has honestly seen it would have been more than fine for most of it.
Obviously without the price taken into account, sure the WiiU with the tablet pad is better than one without. But in my mind we can't underestimate how much damage was undertaken by having the U launch at such a high price. $200 is a mass-market product. $300 is pushing it. Beyond $300 starts to wean out everyone but the die-hards, or class-leading products in terms of tech/performance.
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