I think a big issue issue Nintendo has is this herd mentality of self-identified "Nintendo fans." It used to be such a big boon - what brand wouldn't kill themselves trying to build that kind of loyalty? - but these days, that crowd is aging and the size is shrinking and becoming more loud and exclusive.
The more insular yet vocal it becomes, the more it's a turn off for younger gamers which really are their largest market.
Which is kind of sad, because Nintendo themselves really stand for the very opposite of exactly that. They are one of the most Inclusive entertainment brands and do, at least product wise, reach out to that 5 to 90 audience they've been clamoring about for years. Surprises and smiles for everyone. Charming games like Toad, Health games, action, fighters, mature, brain puzzlers, sleep aids - whatever. They want to surprise and delight.
But this thread is a good example of what I mean, looking at Captain Toad not for the charming unique game it is, but as a symbol - a rally cry for "real Nintendo fans to come together and save our beloved company!" - which obviously A) does a disservice to the game and what it is trying to accomplish and what its value to the player is by putting it on an unrealistic pedal and B) gets a lot of people angry because they feel excluded from the party in a sense
Either they don't have the nostalgia, never owned a previous Nintendo system to "grow up" with this character and therefor 'don't get' this message and just turn away from it instead of being curious about the game mechanics, don't have a wii u and can't play the game, are young and are met with this sense of "Nintendo elite" wall of expectation they can't relate to and lash out, or somehow are annoyed at yet another "save Nintendo" thread when they were initially just curious what this game was. It just isn't going to end well.
I was just really offering my two cents, but poor Toad. You finally have your own game and you can't just, well, be a game

.
Happens so often with nearly every product Nintendo tries these days.