If our trains had powerpoints I'd totally give it a try sometime, but they don't... so it's 3DS for me.
Could always take it to EB Games in the city and play there though, or in my Uni lectures.

At first I thought this thread was sarcastic but now I see it's super serious. Actually I think it'd be a pretty good idea if you have a long commute on a train that has desks and powerpoints. Wouldn't work in Perth but, our trains are packed to the point that I'm not even sure if you could easily do anything other than listen to music at peak hour.

. If that guy who turned a ps3 and a xbox360 into a portable laptop, I'm pretty sure he can come up for something for the wii-u to give it a power supply and make it portable

It all depends if the display can output straight to the game pad with no tv required. If so then it would be totally possible. The console it self is pretty small by the
looks of it so it shouldn't be much hassle to lug about. That said ill keep my Wii U safely tucked under my tv and take my 3ds out if needed

I really, really hate to bring up the "I" word again, but, uh... IPad.

Yeah, I don't get why you guys are thinking wether the Wii U could be portable, so that's why portable consoles were made!
Anyone heard of the 3DS?

buttons

I like buttons as much as the next guy, but I can't imagine playing Hook Champ with them. Not every game is better with them.
Oh, and the iPad does more then play games. When it comes to everything else, iPad kicks every other device to the curb.

Anyway, I'm not feeling the WiiU as a semi-portable thing. In the house when close to the TV, sure, but outside, not really. I feel it's a bit early to say, since we don't know exactly what the UI is like right now, and if you can do everything from the Gamepad.

@moomoo
The GamePad has a touch screen if you'd forgotten. Still, my point was that for most games the iPad isn't really the best option given the lack of buttons. The fact that the iPad is awesome at other things that the Wii U fails hard at doesn't remedy that fact.

I mean I wouldn't take a Wii U on a train anyway but if I wanted to have a reasonably portable, proper HD console experience it's probably one of the best options assuming a powerpoint is nearby. A very distant second to a decent laptop but well above an iPad.

This turned out to be a nice conversation.
About this being super serious or sarcastic: I am excited in a certain way and I'm going to try it, but of course I'm not totally serious.
I mostly use my 3DS when traveling, but home console games tend to be better in my opinion.

I sure hope we won't necessarily have to use the TV, but only for certain dual screen games.

Okay.
This is one of the best suggestions ever.
I could probably carry it in a backpack with some heavy duty batteries. I don't mind having a console on my back. I've always wanted one of those portable consoles on Youtube.

I could get into yet another pointless argument about how the iPad plays a few hundred awesome games awesomely well, but, well, can only lead a horse to water, can't make him drink.

Enjoy the thought about how innovative it would be to carry the Wii U tablet on the train though. No one else has ever thought about putting games on large touch screen devices alright.

Stop deliberately taking it the wrong way.

@OlympicCho
Not saying it was innovative was just saying what options in this circumstance were better and how cool the idea of using the Wii U in this way would be. In the scenario where you have a bench, a powerpoint and a backpack to carry your gear in the Wii U actually seems like a surprisingly reasonable option for playing games. Because of the buttons, horsepower and style of games it'll have it's better than an iPad but not as good as a laptop in that scenario. If there wasn't a powerpoint or if portability was more of an issue the iPad would be better as would a 3DS or Vita.

.

It would be less cumbersome to just buy a controller for the iPad if buttons were that important, considering the iPad has a long battery life and a far better quality screen.

What good is an iPad when you can't play Nintendo Land on it?
Checkmate.
/sarcasm

Eh, there will be a Gameloft clone of NintendoLand within a month if it's a popular game.

Given how unappealing NintendoLand us, a 1/10th price Gameloft clone will do me just fine.

About this iPad discussion:
Touchscreen only gaming is awful in my opinion (as is motion only). Most proper games need buttons (This is why the Wii U has the perfect controller).
If there was a tablet that allowed me to freely install any PC game on it (like the upcoming Microsoft tablet/laptop hybrid Surface Pro) and there was a gamepad shell for it (like this: http://www.wikipad.com/ ) it would be the greatest thing ever and I would totally get behind it.
Providing it would have beef and battery life.

I don't want to live on this planet anymore.