Sales are in for the new iPad launch and it has sold an outstanding 3 million in its first week! That's triple the iPad 2 launch....
Tablets are the future. Nintendo knows this and they have a tablet controller planned for the Wii U. If Sony and Microsoft don't follow, they will get left behind. Embracing tablets controllers doesn't mean they have to abandon the traditional gamepad, they can do both. 

So what do you think the chances are of Microsoft embracing tablets? Sony? Do they even have a choice?
These days you need gimmicks to sell stuff. It's not enough to just have better graphics and bigger games.

copying the tablet controller is a good way to make yourself indistinguishable from the competition and thus irrelevant. MS would be better off figuring out how to get kinect to actually play a fun game. sony is just screwed.

No, that would just be silly. iPad's sell well because they're portable and simpler than laptops for most multimedia and general tasks.

The Wii U controller looks intriguing, but if MS and Sony were to go in the tablet direction, it'd be a bit copycat. Maybe having an app for smartphones and tablets that could interact with the new console and its games. Like the Mass Effect 3 app but encompassing all games (if the publisher decides to of course).

A lot of people use their tablets at home.

I bet you that at least either Microsoft or Sony will come out with a tablet controller for their next console. The one that doesn't will be stuck in 3rd place.

i don't know if you're serious or if you're trying to be funny.

I'm serious. The Wii U will be a huge success because of the tablet controller.

"These days you need gimmicks to sell stuff."

Funny, I see plenty of people playing 360, PS3 and PC games without gimmicky controllers. Hell, half of the worthwhile Wii games ditch the Wii-mote in favor of the classic controller as well. Personally, I really don't want Sony and Microsoft to fouc their efforts on tablet controllers, although Microsoft has already become a bit of a lost cause since the Kinect launched >_<

I really hope they don't. I would rather Sony and Microsoft distinguish themselves rather than becoming more similar to the "competition" presented by the Ipad. That and the ergonomics of the WiiU controller don't look very good, I think your hands would get tired after a while. The preview pics make me think of the old Nintendo thumbs from the NES days.

Microsoft had: Achievements, Kinect, and XBL 

Sony had: Blu-ray/DVD player, eyetoy, and cell processor(I guess)

Each system had gimmicks that extinguished them from other consoles 

On topic: It's not a gimmick if everyone does it

If the wii u succeeds in becoming the next big thing then you can almost guarantee sony will rip it off...ahem... I mean adopt a similar style pad controller that is coincidentally almost identical or bigger and better to nintendo's (they will probably have a pad-like controller with a screen on BOTH sides or something impressive like that). It'll most likely occur even if the wii u is only a moderate success...

MS will probably play it cool and come up with a less obvious ripoff...ahem, I mean alternative. A touch screen implanted in the brain which is thought activated...er....sumfin like that anyway...