Here is what the WiiU Gamepad has been used for on some of Nintendo's biggest games:

New Super Mario Bros U- Boost Mode... yeah you all remeber how much fun tapping blocks into the game was.

Donkey Kong Tropical Freeze- The screen was turned off -_-

Super Mario 3D World- You could tap to find hidden blocks.

Pilmin 3- Possibly the best use of the gamepad but even then people mostly play this game with a Wiimote and Nunchuck.

So Nintendo truly needs a game to show off the gamrpad, a game with mass market appeal.

Mario Kart 8... Nope

Smash Bros... Nope

Super Mario 5... Well what else is really left, but what could they do with it??

I hope not. I really don't like forced interaction and look up and down from the TV becomes a pain in the ass after a while. It's not fun.

I want to be able to enjoy Mario on my big screen HDTV, not some dinky little low-res SD display on my lap. I didn't wait through 12 years of GCN + Wii era for that.

I can't think of anything they could do with it that wouldn't be gimmicky, but I guess that's one of the many reasons I'm not a game designer.

If anyone can think of a great way to use it, it's Nintendo, but I would be surprised if the next Mario game had anything major other than off-screen play.

Probably never... Its interesting cause even though Nintendo makes interesting and unique hardware, they don't really make it mandatory for almost all of their games which is good imo cause they should be used to enhance a game but if you don't it, you should always have the option to be able to not use it...

Meh.. I am not going to cry in a corner if it doesn't use the GamePad in an unique way!

The use of the Gamepad touchscreen is just optional, not mandatory, so all the fuzz people make around it is pointless.

It´s good to have different control options. In the case of Pikmin 3 , playing with it makes all the difference in the challenge mode, because it allow you to see all the map for once and plan carefully your actions for getting higher scores and medals. Deus Ex: Human Revolution is another game that is so much easier and pratical to play with the second screen than without it.

Other games, like ZombiU, Rayman Legends and Nintendoland make extensive use of the touchscreen and those games simply couldn´t exist, in their actual format, without it.

When a game doesn´t need the second screen, an off-tv play option is just enough. Like in DKTF

We should be glad that Nintendo is providing games with so many different control approaches and options, so players can choose their favorite setup instead of sticking for a mandatory control scheme Now it´s up for the developers to use it, if they want.

Excuse me? Mario Kart 8 uses the GamePad in one of the best ways possible; a car horn.

I'm not expecting Nintendo to implement GamePad features for a game that most likely won't be made, no.

So what the fuck is going to sell the casual audience on Wii U??
I mean the Wii U needs its Wii Sports or it will never hit a decent sized casual audience but they have nothing left to make with wide enough appeal.
Well I guess general consensus is no forced or gimmicky gamepad for Mario... Wii U doomed forever =P

3D World has a lot of hidden uses for the Gamepad. Activates switches, stops enemies(which kills certain enemies, can control that thing you step on that goes on rails. Small stuff but pretty damn effective.

@whoever asked how to use a GamePad.

If no one did (lol) i can imagine way for it to work in a horror game.

You know how people don't like how the bottom screen shows exactly the same thing as the top screen?
Imagine a game where you character is losing their sanity and you have to judge which screen is real or not -  the TV screen or GamePad?

A game where you can control two characters in different stages that eventually meet together but you have to find a way to get them to do so.

A stealth game where the TV screen shows your character in third person view and the Game Pad shows the views of enemies (who are all robots like terminator i guess) and cameras. It can also show the enemies health, their bios, and next attack they're charging like a super power attack.