For reasons I can't begin to understand, buying a second or even a replacement Wii U gamepad at retail is not possible. This is completely insane. Now before people jump in and say "just send it to Nintendo for repair" or w/e save yourself some trouble. I want another Wii U gamepad and sending it to them is not an option.

If your Wii U gamepad is lost or you just don't want to send it for repairs you pretty much lose 50% of your functionality unless you buy one on Ebay for 1/2 to 2/3rds of the consoles entire cost. 

Just wait, I think Games, which support 2 GamePads, will be announced in the next direct or at least some new information.

WTF. I never even noticed this before. Is there a reason for this? :S

Who knows. Nintendo wasn't even planning on doing it, so I'm not sure they would do it. 3rd parties doesn't care, indies might, but I doubt it.

Me either haha. It's probably something you don't think about until you have to deal with it.

It prolly wouldnt look good if people went into a store and saw a gamepad for sale at 129 USD ? XD

Kinect s the same way really if it breaks or something your only option would probably be to contact Microsoft. Though in the gamepads case it is more jarring since its the main controller.

The system is not set up for 2 concurrent GamePads at the moment so there is no reason to sell it in stores.  It would eat up shelf space, manufacturing costs beyond the volume of Wii U consoles manufactured, etc...all costing way more than what would make it valid for general distribution.

If you need a replacement, contact Nintendo for direct sales.

What the fuck, Amazon doesn't even have it lol

Just get a pro controller in meantime and send the gamepad for repair

People would get upset when the retail price tag is $180 for one U Pad.

($140 Nintendo at-cost + typical accessory markup of 30%)