4. The Controller
Having to share a TV with someone can be a real chore. Many was the night I had to endure terrible soap operas or reality television whilst dreaming about continuing that day's gaming. Not anymore. I can use the game pad to change the TV channel and continue contentedly gaming away whilst someone catches up on Summer Bay and Erinsborough. Seeing that a majority of actual Wii U titles or Virtual Console classics support off TV play. The benefits of the new controller don't stop there either. Following on from the variety of uses as presented in Nintendo Land; Nintendo and those developers willing to experiment are finding novel ways of utilising the game pad to enhance game play. Games such as Deus Ex or the Arkham series turn the controller into actual in game artifacts used to hack security or assess crime scenes. Various mini games on Nintendo Land have the TV and the game pad display similar, but subtly different, images so as to aid or challenge the player. Even those games where the game pad and TV become an over sized DS with the gamepad displaying maps or inventory have the beauty of saving the player not only time spent pausing and scrolling through menus but also free up screen space with minimal HUDs. If a player is finding a game particularly difficult they can hit the home button, start the internet browser and look up hints and walkthroughs, returning to the game almost seamlessly. Nor does every player in multiplayer gaming have to have a game pad. Many games will support either the wireless Wii U Pro controller and it's various third party variants, including one that looks like a SNES pad *squee*, as well as Wii remotes and nun chucks.
In fact if you owned a Wii prior to owning a Wii U you're in luck...