and being able to use the gamepad as a classic controller, do you think there is a chance we could see something like this enabled on the Wii side as a whole?
No. They were only able to do it because they ditched vWii in the process. It would only be possible if we had native wii u access and did something like Nintendont but for the wii.
Wii digital releases will do that, they boot Wii mode and have access to the gamepad. So it's possible. I think it goes through vWii app loaders, at the time you boot a digital Wii game the TV loose the signal briefly, just like when you enter to vWii.
