Good to hear, I'm familiar with Ipads due to my job, so I'm sure it'll be easy to adapt to. I'm just trying to fit a Wii U purchase into my budgetting.

Note - Planning a wedding is a serious drain to your gaming budget!

I completely disagree.

Nintendo made the gamepad cause it was a good idea that worked wonders on the DS/3DS. I still think its great. Why? Because it makes easier to look at maps and manage inventories without having to go through a plethora of menu prompts and load times. Really streamlines the experience.
2 more advantages are the ability for it to turn into a keyboard, wich is really useful for future Online RPG games like Monster hunter 3 ultimate and X, and finally the ability to stream the feed of the Wii U so you free up the TV without having someone on your neck annoyed or wanting to check whats on TV (i have someone like that at home and it demotivates me from playing home consoles), or even when you want to watch something on TV at the same time (sports for example).

Personally im hoping Sony takes advantage of the Vita to at least stream all the PS4 games to the Vita and use it like the Wii U gamepad.

So, yes, its a good idea, stop hating. :)

Also, definitly better than motion controls...

Congrats on your future wedding, Raze. I hope for the best, ol' chap!

Back on topic: My answer is.., no. Heck, anyone remember the vitality sensor? That was another idea from Nintendo, but at this time I can why it got shafted for the WiiU.

If anyone remember, Nintendo never came out with ideas to frution first. They come out with concepts and idea that was already there, but showed us the best way we can use it and have fun with it.

I am interested in what the PS4 will be like, as a lot of rumors seem to indicate that it will basically be a more powerful Wii U with a different touch screen controller.

Nope, Nintendo said it themselves they wanted both the gamers and the casuals unlike the Wii which was basically all casual. They also wanted to tap into the tablet/cellphone market which was tearing into DS sales.

Well, I don't agree with the OP.
It's pretty obvious Nintendo's been experimenting with the idea of dual screens and, to an extent, asymmetric gameplay. Way back with the Game & Watch, and more recently with stuff like the GameCube's Four Swords Adventures, Pacman Versus, and Wind Waker's Tingle Tuner. And obviously with the DS line and 3DS.

I think the WiiU Gamepad is just a natural extension and somewhat inevitable evolution of those principles and ideas... It just has so much potential, especially coupled with all the extra stuff in the Gamepad like the motion sensors, the NFC thing, the mic, and the speakers (the sound experience in stuff like the WiiU menus and such is actually really neat and well done, it's really a unique sort of surround-sound, with the sounds and music from the Gamepad's speakers being different from, and complementing the sound from the TV speakers).

There is no Sony touchscreen controller. You have no idea what you're talking about.

Calm your tits. Just because I'm not a Nintendo fan, it doesn't mean I'm a hater.

I myselef never complained about any sort of waggling controls. Why? Because I never bought a Wii to begin with. The funny thing is that I was so excited when it was first announced. Good thing I did my reserach though. I saw that the technology was just a gimmick. 

Now comes Wii U. In my opinion, I say let developers do what they want with the Wii U. If they get ideas to use the Gamepad in a MEANINGFUL way....then do it. If not then don't. There is a Wii U Pro controller for a reason.

That may be an option of the pad, but it wasn't the reason they created it. They wanted a pad for the wii but it wasn't possible cost wise. There was no tablet market back then.

Thats what I can tell you: to calm your tits. The wii mote wasn't a gimmick and neither is the pad. Both are great input devises. No more or less gimmicky than duall analogs.