Forget sales, would you like Wii U as much without the Gamepad?

[Curmudgeon]

No

It's great for map in games like Zelda, darksiders or  XBX

It is used  well  in games like Nintendo land, W101, zombi u, ssb  (stage builder), pikmin 3 (remote + pad is great), kirby,  and mario party (bowser mode ), mario maker, splatoon also seem  to be using  it well. I think it adds to all these games. 

Not every game needs it but even then it's still usefull for off screen play/youtube etc..., miiverse and web browsing . I also use it as a tv remote