Nintendo of Spain’s Wii U brand manager states that the ability to play Wii games on just the Wii U Gamepad “makes sense,” because the Wii U can play Wii games and the Gamepad has a Sensor Bar that you can point your Wii Remote at. He states that their is no confirmation for this type of feature being added. Would this be something you would want?
We still don’t know if you can play Wii games in the Wii U GamePad. It’s not confirmed, we don’t have any information yet, but as you say (speaking to the interviewer) Wii U is… you can play old Wii games, and as you also said, the Sensor Bar is included in the Wii U GamePad, so you are able to point the Wii Remote at the Wii U GamePad. It makes sense, but we have no information or confirmation about this feature. - Nintendo of Spain’s Wii U brand manager