Then you see why the controller situation on the Wii U is such a mess. The gamepad is the primary controller, the one that (should) work with every game, yea? Then what should the secondary controller be, the specialized motion controls from last generation that require careful planning and consideration to take advantage of when designing a game, or a controller that's functionally identical to the gamepad minus the screen. It really makes no sense for the Wii controllers to be the the secondary controllers on the Wii U. Games require special attention to design around the gamepad as is, only a small amount of games will design with the gamepad and Wii remote in mind, given how vastly different they are.

From a practical standpoint, almost every game that has the option of Wiimote or Pro controller plays better on the Pro controller. In Mk8 I personally haven't met a single person who has enjoyed motion control steering at my parties, and maybe 1-2 people in any given 12 person lobby online is using motion controls. People prefer a regular controller. SSB4, good luck playing with a Wiimote, you'd be handicapping yourself pretty hard doing that - the Pro or GC controllers are superior here as well. SM3DW treats Wiimotes like any other controller, and again the Pro controller is preferable for most people if you're just going to be doing regular controller things. I don't even think games like WWHD or Hyrule Warriors allow you to use the Wiimote - it's either gamepad or pro controller.

My point is in any game that doesn't require motion controls as its primary input method, the Wiimote is the ugly stepchild or video game controllers. If you're going to be doing regular old controller stuff, the Pro controller just works and feels better than a Wiimote + Nunchuck, especially given that it's basically a carbon copy of the gamepad layout without the screen. Besides making it easier for Wii owners to upgrade, there's really no reason for the Wii U to make the Wii controllers so important, and the games show that.