This is such a big deal. For serious. This is the vision of Wii U from the begining. A lot of people think that it doesn't have the 'casual' draw that motion gaming has, but the casual mass market has become very comfortable with touch interface. It's the big trend in tech gear, and the Wii U pad allows conversion of iOS games, and also the conversion of customers who like touch screens. There are a lot of people out there who would like some Angry Birds and Mario Kart in one convenient place. Not to mention Facebook and Youtube. Thow in some COD and GTA5 at $299 and you have a compelling package. A really great marketing campaing that makes Wii U look like an iPad to the casual audience combined with GTA5 and a very impressive Mario 3D title and MarioKart could make Wii U explode in popularity.

multi-touch replaced with buttons

Oh, sorry, yes, incorrect sarcasm.

I was agreeing. The tongueface was to myself. Those games don't need multitouch .

Great move that further opens up the WiiU and 3DS to indie devs. The eshop on both consoles has HUGE potential!

In my opinion this is exactly the WRONG move to make at this time and smacks of desperation.

You do not successfully compete with mobile/Android based home game systems by being their poorer cousin.

You compete by offering compelling gameplay they simply cannot (such as Zelda or motion controls).

Yes, this will give existing owners more games to play - but the more time they are playing $.99/free apps the less time they are playing $60 console games.

And this is no incentive for anyone to get a WiiU. Aside from WiiU console games (which apparently aren't enough to get someone to buy a WiiU now) you can now choose between buying a $99 Ouya, $79 Gamestick, a Dual analog controller for your Galaxy S4 (or rumoured iphone 5S) to play games off your TV (or phone), or a $349 WiiU. Or a tablet which plays 100% of the games and does soooo much more. How does WiiU come out on top here?

It's not desperation, it was the plan from the begining.  Bring back gamers who are leaving traditional consoles for tablets by offering the tablet experience plus more.  And I didn't realise there was a tablet which played 100% of the Wii U games.  Which one has NSMBU and CoD: Blops2?  iPad mini?

Well it's clear Nintendo is desperate, but at this point, they might as well try every avenue.

The issue here that I see is these games will have to be 99 cents/free like they are on iOS/Android, otherwise no one is going to buy them.

I agree few people will buy a Wii U over a tablet. A move like this might hint at an Android-based Nintendo tablet some day though.

I'm sure this was planned day 1. Not a reaction to lower sales, their hope is that this increases value and aligns with the more casual tablet crowd. Additionally, this is a feature set the will 100% exist in the neXtBox and to a degree on PS4.

Again, its not all about games. Its as much about other media services and smart applications as it is about games.

I doubt it. Iwata went on a big tirade against smartphone games a couple of a years ago at TGS. They've also pushed the "Wii U controller is not a tablet! Was not influenced by the iPad!" angle several times.

I think this is Nintendo resigned to the fact that they've lost the casual demographic, and now have no choice but to accept these games.

In a battle for casual hearts and minds between the philosophy of Apple/Android and what Nintendo wanted ($60 for Nintendo Land please, and buy Mario again too), Nintendo lost.

I would agree, I'm much more interested in apps than Android/iOS games. I'd like to see things an app that allows for playback of MKV/AVI/other video files for example or an app that expands the functionality of Nintendo TVii. Stuff like that would be cool.

Should mean that its almost free for devs to port to Wii U (and probably 3DS).