Well the GC was square and the WiiU isnt...

I'm not asking, but removing the pad would certainly improve my disposition towards purchasing a Wii-U.

Could the PS3 and 360 "barely handle HD graphics"? This is such a tired point.

I've played many games in which the use of the gamepad has been integral to my experience, such as ZombiU, Nintendo Land, Wind Waker HD, Wii Party U, Wonderful 101, Game & Wario, Resident Evil Revelations, etc. Also, almost every game features off-tv play or some sort of inventory/map on the gamepad, which makes games much more accessible and fun. 

PS, the best thing about ANY console should be the games. If the best thing about the Wii U wasn't the games, I would be extremely concerned. 

I think overall when you consider both first and third party games, they are equal. Gamecube had more third party support than the Wii U but even it didn't have that many games. 
At which point? I believe there was always a $100 difference in prices between the Gamecube and the other 2 consoles. When Gamecube became $99, Xbox and PS2 were $179. So almost double the price. 

Apples to oranges... GC was technically on par with the more expensive PS2 and Xbox but they were both dropped to $199 mere months after the GC launched so it lost any price advantage it had, and in the PS2's case it had a much better library of exclusives.

The Wii sold like hotcakes despite being underpowered because it was much cheaper than the competitors and had a handful of games that the casuals cared about like Wii Sports, Mario Kart, and Smash... the Wii U has a similar library, but is more expensive than the Wii was, and the motion control gimmick is no longer en vogue with the casuals.

The tablet controller never caught on either, much like Kinect 2.0 for the X1.  The difference is M$ eventually realized the Kinect was dead weight on sales, and as soon as they unbundled it and dropped the price to match the PS4 sales increased.  Meanwhile 2 years later the Wii U is still at the same base price it was when it launched, only now with a pack-in game for free.  This is because, and only because, of the expensive tablet controller that is not necessary for the vast majority of the games on the console.

Cannot say the same. Gamepads are the only reason I don't own a Wii-U.

i totally would buy the wiiu without the gamepad for 200 bucks, i am tired of the whole gimmicky things that get shoehorn into gaming and jacking up the prices of the consoles. First Kinect and now the Gamepad. And yes sony did also wrong choosing blue rays at the time. The Wii was only successful thanks to the casuals.

Games shouldnt be dependent on any piece of Hardware to make a better experience, they should deliver out from themselves a good experience with good storyline, level design, game design, combat tactics etc.
People dont buy the wiiu because of the gamepad but because of the exclusive games, if that wouldnt be the case you would have seen multiplats on the wiiu outselling the nintendo exclusives as they deliver gamepad controls over the other console versions, but they arent.

Could I interest you in a Super Smash WiiU bundle at $199.99 ??? 

For the wii u, third party does not matter much at this point. Hardcore gamers with a wiiu will buy 3rd party on the more powerful consoles, and Nintendo’s core audience, those that own only a wii u, do not want to play those games anyway. I think Nintendo can do well this gen with mostly 1st party games, if they drop the price with the understanding that you won't be getting a big library, but the games you do get will be high quality and unique. 199 could be the tipping point.

Nintendo shouldn't be focusing on making Wii U similar to the next console, so if they did stop fully supporting the Upad, it would be based on different logic.