An idea popped into my head the other day.  I was looking at a picture of the DS Lite and how it was such a great re-design of the original ugly, clunky DS.  At the same time I had my WiiU Gamepad in my hand.  I like the GamePad.  It's great.  The WiiU system is also very cool looking.  But I was thinking, specifically of the GamePad, is there a better design?  When PS4 speculation was going around saying that a small touchscreen may come to DualShock 4 I thought it might be a good idea.  Now I am wondering if a Gamepad Light may be a good idea in the future.  The design would be a little smaller, with a more DS-sized screen.  The controller would be more traditional in shape, blending elements of the WiiU pro-pad with the gamepad.  It would be lighter and have much better battery life.  It could also be potentially cheaper to produce and a good fit as a player 2 option.  The WiiU Lite would not replace the regular WiiU necessarilly, but be offered as a seperate model.  It could be potentially used as "re-launch" like the DS Lite with fresh advertizing and a new image. It wouldn't fragment the userbase because the fundamental capabilities would be the same, it would just be in a slightly different package. What do you think?

Nintendo is known for heavily redesigning their handhelds, not so much their consoles.

The exception to this rule is the Wii mini.

Nope. They just need software.

They should of had 1-2 first party games launch in jan/feb.

I fully expect Nintendo to release a new slimmer version of the Gamepad but not in the same way your describing.

meh doubtful

I can't see a DS Lite screen working for the Wii U. Many of the games need larger scale screens since the games are larger in scope and detail. (That wouldn't come through well with small screens.) But, I could see a re-design for the controller. Maybe something with a more traditional layout. (AKA, grips like the GameCube Controller, etc.)

*Lite

It might be cool, but the current controller is perfectly fine just the way it is imo.

Smaller screen? And how would I be able to play games on that? Putting a 720p or 1080p screen in the gamepad, THAT would be a redesign I support (Hypothetical, so I'm not caring about technical limitations here).

I don't see the purpose.  The DS Lite serves to increase the ease of portability.  The Gamepad isn't intended to be carried around anywhere outside of your house, so I don't think too many people are longing for the ability to carry the Gamepad in their pocket.  Also, I think shrinking the screen would be a mistake as it would take away from it's console feel.  I traded up from the 3DS to the 3DS XL, because the bigger the screen to play on the better.  So no, I don't think a Gamepad Lite is warranted, especially not a reduction in screen size.