Iwata says Nintendo thought of GamePad before iPad was revealed

Some have suggested that Nintendo copied the iPad when they created the Wii U GamePad, but Satoru Iwata says that is not true at all. In an interview with Japanese publication "The Nikkei," Iwata said the company came up with the idea of controller with a screen in 2008, before the iPad was revealed. He also pointed out that Nintendo created the DS before the arrival of tablets.

“We began talking about having another screen being a good idea around 2008. We thought thoroughly about our other options, but in the end, this was the idea which was the most logical for us. So, in 2009, just as we began to press forward with this idea, sure that we were on the right track, this thing called an ‘Ipad’ came into the world.”

“So, 2.5 years after the debut of the Ipad, when we were announcing the Wii U, it was the start of the tablet boom, the reaction was, ‘Nintendo’s just added a tablet to a game console, and there’ll be no revolution this time.’ Even though we’d been working on dual screens prior to the release of tablets, it looked like we were just following a trend.”

Source: The Nikkei via Nintendo Everything