In a recent interview with 1Up.com Bill Trinen, Nintendo Product Manager, was asked about how far the GamePad could be taken away from the console.  See Bill Trinen’s response to 1Up below.

“We tend to be more conservative, because we’re looking at it from a performance perspective. What, really, is the range where you’re going to get the best performance out of that? And you’re going to get the best performance within a range of about… They had a very precise number at one point. In meters it’s like eight meters. In feet it’s about 24 feet. That’s for best performance.”

Bill Trinen’s response is based on performance so it seems like you could go beyond the 24 foot distance but then you will end up sacrificing performance of the GamePad’s connection to the Wii U console.  This information seems to coincide with information I have gathered.  I asked a person that was showing off Batman Arkham City: Armored Edition for Nintendo at the Wii U Experience when it came to Washington DC and they said that the Wii U GamePad could be used on the opposite end of a ‘good’ sized living room just fine.  I do not know what everyone else’s definition of a ‘good’ sized living room is but to me that is about 24 feet or so.  Is this an acceptable distance for you?  Let us know if you think this is adequate performance for the Wii U GamePad below in the comments section!