Recently, there have been reports by an anonymous source that Nintendo are trying to get at least 2 Wii U tablets to work on one Wii U system.  Some Nintendos fans breathed a sigh of relief, believing that this bodes well for the Wii U system.  I see a new problem arise, however.  While there is no confirmation that Nintendo will be able to pull it off, let's pretend they did.  Let's also pretend, for argument's sake, that they pulled it off without performance issues and/or adding more expensive HW.  Now, what problem could there be, you may ask?  Well, the answer is...

Multiplayer.  Again, if Nintendo does accomplish this, the source also says there is no reason to expect it to be more than 2 controllers at once.  Well, what does that mean?  Basically for any games that have more than 2 players, the other players will be stuck with the old Wii-motes.  In my opinion, this is going to be a turn off to gamers.  Who wants to play Smash Bros. with the old Wii-mote, when 2 others get to have the full experience and play with the tablet, which will probably have character read outs and quick keys/taps for combos and/or moves?  Or Mario Kart, which will probably have a map and quick tap buttons for power ups/special moves.  I know I wouldn't. 

Which brings me to an even bigger problem.  As you can see by the picture above, the Wii U tablet has 4 face buttons and 4 shoulder buttons (only 2 are visible).  So that's great, right?  Added buttons means added functions, right?  Wrong.  Not for a multiplayer that supports more than 2 players, anyway.  If people are going to be using the old Wii-mote, developers are going to have to limit the functionality of the Wii U tablet to make gaming fair.  This may not matter for very basic games, but for more core related games this means no added depth to control.  So this means developers are going to have to choose to either a) limit the usable buttons/control for multiplayer games, to remain fair to Wii-mote users or b) limit multiplayer games to only 2 players, to not limit anyone's controls.  This is going to be a very tricky balance to achieve.

To me, it seems Nintendo has done the same thing to the Wii U that they initially did to the 3DS.  That is overestimate the abilty of their system's "gimmick" to see them through the gen, 3D for 3DS and the recent popularity of tablets for the Wii U, without fully thinking of how to pull it off and/or make it work well for gaming.

So, how do you think this will affect Nintendo next gen?

Players 3 and 4 use the classic Wiimote + Nunchuk setup. They demonstrated this at E3 and Reggie reiterated it in several interviews that no matter how many "tablet" controllers the Wii U ends up being compatible with, it will still work and support up to 4 "standard" Wii controllers along with peripherals like Wii Motion Plus, the Classic Controller and CC Pro.

Plus they will in all likelyhood come out with a redesigned and refined "Classic Controller" that will be better designed for the hardcore player (more ergonomic, better analog sticks and pressure sensitive triggers), and can be used as a standalone controller rather than as an attachment to the Wiimote.

That's not the problem. The problem is some people will have the added benefits of a Wii U tablet with the screen, and accelerometers and such, and others won't have that benefit. It won't be fair to the ones with the Wiimote/CCP. He thinks that it will turn off gamers. 

only thing that comes to mind is FPSs, if someone is playing COD or what have you and it is being streamed to two of the players and the other two have to use the TV, the ones with the tablets will at least be able to look on the screen and see where the ones using Wiimotes are at. Wiimote users would have no idea where the hell the tablet users are, im not saying thats how it would work, but it could turn out like that. Have no idea what the workaround

Nintendo's biggest problem is that the "core" gamers that they are trying to recapture again don't really give a crap about gimmicky touch screen or motion controls... they just want a controller that has a similar layout and feel to the PS3/360 controllers so they can jump right into playing Madden and COD and other cross-platform games the way they are used to playing them and have been playing them for several generations now.

Yes, I am speaking gamers in genral.  Sure, Nintendo fans will buy it, regardless, but I definitely see this being an issue for gamers in general, as well as the casual crowd.  I can see many are not going to like the idea of using the 6 year old Wii-motes, so basically getting the same gaming experience found on the Wii, while 2 others get the new, full experience with the Wii U tablet controller.  And just imagine the fights kids are going to have over who gets to use the Wii U controllers.

@ Rol

Of course I have played the Wii, and am fully aware of those controller setups.  Now, ask yourself, besides the more core Wii gamers, who played them that way?  I'm going to say very few.  Most, especially casuals and kids, probably used the Wii mote on its side for Smash Bros, and did the same or used the steering wheel peripheral for Mario Kart.  You know, motion controls, the whole draw of the Wii.  And given Nintendo seems to be using the Wii as the basis for the Wii U, i.e. using the same Wii-motes, that's how most games are going to be developed.  Meaning aimed at the more casual gamer.

Boooooooo! I hate threads like this. You think the user will bring up a legitimate concern and it turns out to be something silly

I don't think that matters much how many games that aren't nintendo game are played 4 player in the same room? Though regardless its up to the developer to rectify that issue when it comes to their respective game.

It may be silly for you, but it may be a legitimate concern for many come launch day.  We will see.

I'm disappointed. If those examples are the best you can come up with you really have to think harder.
In your Smash Bros. example I can only see beginners wanting that feature. Why would a more experienced player need all that info on their controller screen?
I really don't see the benefit from having a lot of info on your screen when playing Smash or Mario Kart either, as it'll only break your concentration if you have to swift focus between the controller screen and the tv.
I truly hope that Nintendo has bigger plans for the WiiU controller than Racing game GPS's or char sheets...otherwise I'm out.

The biggest issue I see is with 4 player local multiplayer Co-op games that makes great use of the tablet screen. That's a fairly limited category though.

This is a bit off-topic perhaps, but the greatest feature of the WiiU controller imo is the ability to make games where one player takes the role of a "Dungeon Master". And if you have two tablets you could make advanced Counter-Op modes in Single player games where a second player takes command of the enemy.