Never heard of PS Vita I suppose.

You can touch the screen to select items instead cycling through what is in the handheld inventory. On Wii U I only see putting the map on the Gamepad and of course the inventory. That means if you prefer playing away from the TV your essentially playing the Vita version of Minecraft anyway.

So Vita is the definitive way to play MC and allows you to play anywhere on, in or above Earth without relying on a wireless connection to another system to boot!

Playing on VITA you have only one screen - and a small one - and you still have your screen polluted. Playing on Wii U, you can play using two screens. I like that better.

haqqaton

On the Wii U you have to look away from the main screen to see important information. The HUD is a goid thing that is being implemented everywhere from fighter and commercial jets to street cars. Nintendo is moving backwards!

I prefer the older method plus HUD many games are removable or customizable see PCARS, Minecraft, DriveClub, Infamous: Second Son, NOVA 3, RR3, Zen Pinball 2, Killzone: Shadow Fall and Killzone: Mercenary just to name a tiny selection. In reality if your looking away from the main screen your not paying attention it anyway - It's the same as pausing the game. Holding the Gamepad up infront of you is just turning it into a clumsy opaque HUD - sounds pretty counter intuitive to me.

Zombie U would run just as well on PC, PS4, XB1 and Vita even without a second screen. Look at ACIII which had clutter and a mini-map even though the map was displayed independent of the main TV screen.

As far as Stealth Inc 2 it looks like a Wii U exclusive, but it would play exactly the same on multiple Vita's through AD-HOC and possibly mobile phones too.

The Gamepad is cool, but Nintendo hasn't proven it to be a necessary tool that completely changes the game.

Also it's is worth noting PS3's 3D support and simul-view which I've horribly misspelled this allows for two players to see two different full screens on the same TV! It doesn't allow for the same freedom that a mobile touch screen controller allows, but MP and Co-Op are still achievable on one system using one 3DTV. Many Sony 3DTVs support this function as well as a a few other manufacturers 3DTVs.

Sony proved Vita can do things no other system can with "Cross-Control" on PS3 and games like Tearaway exclusively for Vita. Nintendo needs to do that for the Wii U or the Gamepad will always be an unnecessary pack-in attachment.

Off-Topic: Editing text on mobile is a real pain.

You do have a point. The thing is, developers can't/shouldn't assume that you'll have a smartphone or another console (VITA) or a compatible 3D TV. It makes little sense spend resources developing something that only a very small fraction of players will use.  On the other hand, with the GamePad they know for sure what's the hardware available.

OFF: You wrote this on mobile? Kudos for it.

You mean besides PC right?

Just ignore the trolls.
They are the same that say "gimmicks!" but then they want a stupid rock to have 1m instead of 800k polygons.... That is a gimmick. The gamepad is not.


So far we have 5 player splitscreen/two player coop  where everyone has his own screen.
Radar/menu
"remote control/Cam mode" like using drones/or batmans batarang
asymetrical gameplay
off tv mode
etc etc



E.g GTA would have been a cool game to use it like customizable phones and then you actually use the ingame phone on your touchscreen. Every cars dashbourd/radio/gps would be displayed and you could change the radio stations with the pad etc.


Seriously its just a controller. What did we get with rumble? Only feedback.
What did we get with analog sticks?  Better movement thats it.
OR why do we have 4 shoulder buttons now?   You can only press 2 more buttons now WOW.....compared to snes

I mean when someone can complain about the WiiU gamepad then they should complain about
The NES having a dpad and the general controller shape. (its only different...)
The snes having 4 face buttons and shoulder buttons (more of the same wow)
The N64 having an anlog stick rumble and seperate camera control (different/more of the same wow)
The PS1 having again different camera controls by adding a stick instead of buttons. (not more but different wow)
The DC for having analog triggers (Pressure sensitive) (again different wow)


All of that just added little to gaming. COMBINED they made a difference.
Its about convenience.

I mean how many years did it take them to make gear shifts possible by using te second analog stick? How many games use it?

But they still aren't free. You pay for them.  And it still is not more practical than the pad. 

Preach it!

Let's be honest... the gamepad is the anchor weighing the Wii U down, and has been since day 1. The Wii U would be at least $100 cheaper without it, and Nintendo probably could've beefed up the hardware a bit more instead and still sold the Wii U for at least $100 less than the PS4/X1.

The console has been out over 2 years now and there are no games that justify it as a necessity. Where is "Zelda: Four Swords" for this thing? Not that it would matter since you can't have 4 gamepads connected to one console.

Ironically the gamepad's biggest advantage... being able to play games and use apps off-TV screen... has been nullified by the fact that it's essentially tethered to the console itself. You can't use it like a true tablet independent of the console, and you need to be in the same room as the console. The gamepad is an interesting concept, but its forced inclusion and poor execution have basically stunted the Wii U's growth potential this generation.