The Gamepad is pretty pointless, not really worth it. They would have done better without it.

Off-tv play is the best part by far, and they could have solved that by letting you stream to phones and tablets. Maybe make money off accessories to turn them into Gamepads.

Nintendo is always trying to explain why their console is so underwhelming (look at their tone). It's just they have to constantly defend themselves of their consoles power, like they didn't see this coming. You can't launch a next next console that is the strength of the current generation. They need to stop being so defensive and go a different route as it's clear they aren't competition for the Playstation 4, nor the Xbox One. They need to make themselves a niche market, just like the Wii did. No clue if they can fix their public perception now. Might be to late.

Can't expect to shoot for the moon and land every time.

Honestly, I'd probably buy a Wii U for $199 without the pad.

Gamepad rocks and I don't give a shit what anyone else has to say about it. I'll even buy the longer lasting battery from Nintendo once they release it in the USA. Sure you might have to plug it in most of the time but with the new extended battery you can get 5-8 hours (instead of the current 3-5 hours).

PS4 camera = 60 dollars
WiiU tablet = 100?

LOL!

I don't care honestly how much it adds on to the price. I'll pick up a Wii U when SMT X Fire Emblem comes out. That and Project X are the only two games I'm excited for on the Wii U, those two games alone justify the price of a Wii U.

What is the joke?  A camera costing less than a controller with a screen?

I like the gamepad and hope Sony turns Vita into a full-blown gamepad (apart from giving it exclusives games obviously). I don't want just remote play (which is awesome for me), but also extra experience while using it instead of the Dual Shock. To me Wii U would be significantly less appealing without the gamepad. Though obviously, the price is way too high to justify the purchase just now. Nintendo has to suck it up, take a bigger hit per console and cut the price by 100$ this year. The cost of parts has probably gone down a bit, so they should be able to do this, especially since now they compete with a $399 PS4. Nothing can justify a $349 price at this point, not even the gamepad.

But you can do cool things with that camera and you don't need to stay without the controller, with wiiU you need to choose between the pro controller or tablet. Depending on the game, the pro controller is better.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AvpCdtjTrAo

I can play games such as MH3U and Zen Pinball on offscreen play.  I'll check out that video later but nothing is going to change my mind about the gamepad being awesome and beneficial to me.  I've enjoyed many hours of Zen Pinball on off screen play.  I actually prefer to play the game on the gamepad than TV screen.  I see a lot more value in the gamepad than a regular controller with a little touch interface and a camera.