Reggie
Image: Vince Bucci / Nintendo of America

A vital part of Nintendo's messaging at E3, so far, is that the GamePad is to become increasingly integral to the Wii U in the coming months and years. Shigeru Miyamoto has been focused on it exclusively, with Splatoon also being given a lot of time on the Treehouse broadcast.

Speaking to IGN, Nintendo of America President and COO Reggie Fils-Aime was asked whether the company would contemplate dropping the controller, in a similar manner to Microsoft offering a Kinect-free Xbox One.

For us, that is not part of our vision. We believe that the GamePad is an integral part of Wii U.

During this week, we're going to be showcasing other ways for utilizing the GamePad, and this has been a priority for Mr. Miyamoto. He, himself, has dedicated a lot of his personal energy to showing what can be done with the GamePad to really bring it to life.

We're committed to it. We believe that it is a key innovation that, otherwise, all you're doing is making prettier pictures and using faster processors, and not bringing a lot of uniqueness in terms of gameplay.

There's little denying that Nintendo's showing so far has offered a distinctive alternative to those of Sony and Microsoft — as per Fils-Aime's reference to "making prettier pictures and using faster processors" — and the GamePad has been near the centre of the stage.

The GamePad is definitively going nowhere, so let us know what you think about these comments from Fils-Aime.

[source ign.com]