i keep hearing about this software drought, but heres the thing. THERE were TONS of games at launch, nobody bought them. If there was such a drought why the hell have BLops2, AC3, Batman, hell just about any game not made by Ninty (and even then, Wario) how come no one bought those games during the drought. Even if that were true that doesnt take away from the fact that the gamepad hasnt really done them any favors. It might not be hurting but it sure as hell isnt helping.

No, you also have to understand that Nintendo has 5-6 year console cycles. Nintendo will have another console in probably 4 years depending on how the Wii U plays out after key game releases.

Their current system focuses on the use of the gamepad. Miyamoto even admitted to more possible HD remakes but with added gamepad features. To abandon the gamepad would be abandoning their entire idea of the console.

Im indifferent, I personally like the gamepad but im not opposed to them offering a cheaper sku without it as long as they keep it around.

No

No

No

No. You can't drop the gamepad without splintering the market and complicating software support. Developers, Nintendo and otherwise, need to be able to make Wii U games knowing that their audience has the necessary hardware to play their game. This isn't like dropping the 3D from 2DS, which only effects an aesthetic, and not mechanical difference.

The consumer will decide.

If the Wii U is still selling under Nintendo's internal expectations even after Mario Kart is released, then I think Nintendo will start to abandon the idea and try to just get out of the generation treading water.

The best way to do that might plausibly be to simply re-position the machine as a budget "Wii 2", and cut your losses otherwise.

If by spring 2014 the system is still missing sales targets ... Nintendo probably has to do something drastic.

I'm actually not convinced Mario Kart is the be-all/end-all for Wii U. NSMB Wii sold 30+ million on the original Wii too ... it hasn't been able to do much for the Wii U. The problem isn't Mario. 

The problem is people don't like the console concept to begin with and I think Nintendo can throw all the Mario in the world at the problem, but it won't solve the root of the issue -- this isn't like the Wii where people loved the idea of motion gaming for a few years anyway. No one aside from Nintendo's most ardent cheerleaders give much of a hoot about "asymeteric gaming", not even Nintendo's own design teams that barely utilize the function. 

The fact is it's kind of a silly idea to begin with. Unlike the DS dual screens, you can't really functionally look at what's on the game pad screen and the TV screen at the same time. You have to stop and look down and it effectively breaks the flow of the game. The game applications for a feature like this are just extremely limited. 

Pac-Man VS. was a sales dud on the GameCube ten years ago ... making a console basically based around that idea 10 years later was always asking for trouble. 

The gamepad is what makes the WiiU unique, so no.

What makes the 3DS unique outside of the 3D screen? 

It's a DS with slightly better than PSP graphics otherwise.