Funny that this has to be confirmed after all these rumors :p

Hopefully it's good

http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/260204/Standalone_Wii_U_GamePads_go_on_sale_in_Japan.php

Basically, a hundred bucks. 

In any nintendo advert that I have ever seen, the gamepad was always front and center. It's the central piece of their marketing. One might think they were marketing a handheld. 

The button layout is weird. Particulary on the right hand side with the joy stick and the four main buttons. It's basically backwards to xbox and playstation controllers. It feels strange to the majority of gamers.

Retail prices are not manufacturing prices mate that's a known fact about controllers, all controllers have a huge mark up for maximum profit, if the controller cost 100 quid the Wii U would not have the components it has now, the Xbox One Elite controller is also sold at 100 quid ( more then that on amazon).

The button layout is not that different to any other controller, the stick placement is even better as it's where your thumb rests naturally :? Don't also use your opinion as proof for the majority of gamers.

That's a silly assessment. Nintendo's consoles without traditional controllers have been their most successful.

Most notably DS, NES, and Wii.

What you pointed out is no different than what Nintendo did with the New 3DS and that system rightfully got flak, but even the old 3DS had been on the market for 4yrs by the time the New one came out. NX is releasing because WiiU is a failed effort on the home console front. So that clearly makes PS4 Neo and XBOne.2 a cash grab just like the New 3ds was. None of the companies want to or wanted to give any information on the systems even though rumours have been floating around frantically.

You're just putting your nintendo blinders on at this point. The controller makes the console cost more because the controller costs more than a regular controller. It has a sizable sreen in the middle of it. That's what one of my points were.

To the bolded part. You're very wrong on that. The button layout is different and it feels weird to other gamers. The majority of gamers are playstation, xbox and pc fans btw just so you know. Here's some pics so you can see with your own two eyes for comparison's sake the difference between the PS4/xbox one controllers. 

The main differences between playstation controllers and xbox controllers is where the left thumb stick and directional buttons are located. The directional buttons aren't used that much, so a fan from either console could use the other console's controller and it be somewhat comfortable. The thumbsticks and the four buttons by the right thumbstick are used a great deal with most games. FPS/TPS games make use of the shoulder buttons.

On the wii u gamepad and on the wii u "pro" controller, the right thumbstick and the four buttons are backwards. Third party devs make heavy use of the buttons closest to the right thumbstick (X and square button for the PS4/playstation controllers. The X and A buttons for the xbox one/xbox controllers). Because the wii u controller is ass backwards, devs surely would have said something to nintendo about the button layout because it would make the process of porting a game to their console a pain in the ass.  It's obvious that either nintendo talked to the devs and didn't listen or that nintendo never talked to them about their controller at all. 

No the console cost more because of the economic situation back when it released, the Yen was strong which meant sales from overseas yielded less money when exchanged, a screen doesn't cost that much, it probably only costs in the realm of 10-15 quid more to manufacture than any other controller, you failed to even acknowledge that X1 has a controller that's sold for more than the gamepad.

Your argument on the button layout is just beyond desperate mate no offence, the switching of the analogue and buttons makes no difference to how a gamer will play or how a developer will develop their game, the layout is also better for shooters as the stick is at the natural resting position making things easier to control with it, you're grasping at straws with this argument and pulling things out your ass for its sake. You know what really kicks this argument in the nuts is that the sticks on the left side for X1 and PS4 are switched in position.

LOL. Wii U is already dead today. How can NX will be alongside Wii U?

i was not commenting on the "anti consumer" allegation you pointed out, i dont think the new 3ds, nx or ps4 neo are anti consumer in any way shape or form. i was just trying to show how different the case for the neo is in relation to the nx. the neo, supposedly, is still a ps4 that will play all the ps4 games and is not to have any exclusive titles hidden from the original ps4.

the nx, supposedly, will be an entirely new console with its own separate library from the wii u.

now in my oppinion, having the choice to get an upgrade for my console without having to retire my entire library of games is fantastic. the same way that everytime i update my pc, i dont need to rebuy my entire steam collection. i think that is a very smart move from Sony side now that they settled on x86 architecture and I fully expect all future consoles to simply play my digitally purchased games.

that's, i think, the future and i'm 100% ready to embrace it