Games make the system. Do you know what I'll always think of when I reflect on the Wii? Struggling to play DKC Returns because Nintendo insisted on shoehorning some broken, unresponsive **** control scheme into every game because it was an effective marketing tool for rubes. That's the Wii: potentially great games ruined by **** controls. So I don't give a **** about this tablet nonsense.
I understand where you're coming from, but I don't think we need to worry quite as much about the tablet controller. The Tablet's gimmick is a touch screen, which could be annoying if games shoe horn that in where it isn't needed, but from having played the DS at least we can be sure the touch screen will be precise and not hit or miss like the wiimote and its waggle controller is.
But the real danger is there is more to the tablet controller than just a touch screen. Apparently it also has gyroscopes and accelerometers, and the E3 presentation last year demonstrated it being used to catch a baseball and things like that. I think this is the area we need to worry about, because this is where things can get really imprecise and wonky.
Another thing we should keep in mind is the Wiimote itself isn't actually dead, because again at E3 2011 they showed that all the Wii accessories we know and "love" will be forward compatible on the Wii U. So once again we may have to deal with that imprecise waggle instead of just doing a button press. But what makes me hopeful is that the Wiimote gimmick is old news now, so it doesn't need to be "proven" like it needed to be on the Wii, so that means developers don't have to shoe horn it into their games. Unfortunately, they still can and probably will in many cases, but at least there isn't the same pressure on them to do it this time.
The people who shoehorn it in will likely have games no one cares about. The competent developers will do what they feel works best for their game and their vision. People forget the PS3 has the six-axis motion capability, and while a couple top games used it to a detrimental effect (leading to Factor 5's destruction), the games that matter don't use it unnecessarily for the most part, or it can be turned off. Fact is this, the Wii U will be packaged with a tablet, which has all the functionality of a typical controller, with other features that can be used or not used. Developers no longer have to fear whether someone has, for example, a classic controller or not.
The tablet controller, and yes the Wii Mote provide OPTIONS which is NEVER a bad thing, especially when the initial obsession to use every feature wears off. Just look at the NIntendo DS when it first came out, developers felt the need to use most if not all the features, but after a year or so things calmed down, some games that could benefit from, let's say, the touch screen were crafted, while others that wouldn't were crafted with more traditional controls.
My guess is that the tablet controller will be beneficial most for a second display screen, and everything else will be based on a game to game decision by the creator and what their vision is. Perhaps one of the biggest blunders, arguably, NIntendo made with Wii was not including the classic controller with every console. I see none of those issues cropping up with Wii U.