Since I had the time figured I'd also do a point by point.
I would usually be really excited for their products and services, but how they handle things are just worrying me. I have difficulty in acquiring their products and it is just not simple for me as a consumer. Right now the biggest problems I have with Nintendo are:
1. Product marketing.
Who cares how Nintendo's marketing is doing? Nintendo clearly doesn't. Their lack of success is their problem. Are they giving you enough games to feel like you got good value for your money? If so good. If not, stop buying their products.
Stop viewing them as a team you root for and you'll stop caring about their marketing success or lack thereof.
2. Not meeting consumer demand.
This is intentional profit maximization. It has been a Nintendo practice for a long time. It is part of the deal. Accept it. They would rather fail to meet demand on a product every quarter year after year than be left overstocked and have to go out of pocket on something just once. The 3DS and Wii U both needing to be sold at a loss only furthered the notion of "leave them wanting more" from a physical goods standpoint.
3. Their online services still suck.
They're Nintendo. I'm pretty sure they only support online grudgingly at this point. They're focused on single player and community oriented games. Again, accept this. They aren't likely to change. It simply isn't something they care about.
4. Their account system is still terrible.
Absolutely, which is why you should more or less restrict yourself to buying physical copies of games and view digital copies as more like long term rentals a la PS+. Much like online I don't think Nintendo really cares to be good at this. They lack the technical expertise to execute it well, would need to hire more people and pay a lot of R&D money, and really, how much is it going to help their bottom line? They still get away with murder selling discrete 3DS, Wii, and Wii U copies of all their old games for exorbitant prices for the age of those games. Their core fans still lap them up. Why spend money to create a feature that has no real chance to pay for itself, let alone make money?
5. Third Party companies are skipping out on the Wii U.
This is a core element of what defines a Nintendo console. Has been for four generations now. You can't blame them for you still thinking they're ever going to try and change this.
6. Still no region free despite the competition.
Nintendo says "fuck you" for the same reasons as #2. They want to control product flow as much as possible to reduce inventory risks and maximize pricing and therefore profits. They are risk adverse. What you're asking for is them to take on more risk. Not going to happen.
7. Controller options are not simple. It is confusing.
Of course, they're trying to service a very fickle core audience. Those people will educate themselves while the younger audience will find a way to make whatever they pick up work. Nintendo gains nothing from streamlining this but exposes themselves to a lot of angst if they eliminate a control set that gets fanboys up in arms.
8. Wii u has no gamecube backwards compatibility despite that it is possible.
Ever think that the new disc drive isn't GD-rom compatible? It took serious R&D to develop a blue laser disc drive that didn't have problems with DVD when there was a huge need for it (legacy support of movies). That included early prototype configurations with dual laser chassis. Nintendo isn't going to foot the bill to R&D that into their new system when they can instead sell those games back to you a la Sony and Microsoft digitally. One costs a ton and makes no money, the other costs nothing and makes a ton of money. I wonder what the for profit company will choose?
9. It's dependent on amiibo as a platform.
I own zero amiibos and enjoy the system quite a lot. How is it dependent on them as a platform? You don't need EVERYTHING related to a game to enjoy that game OP. A lot of times all that extra stuff actually waters down the core experience. I'm sure Nintendo has avoided this but many pre-order bonuses for example take away the challenge from a game right out of the gate.
10. No Nintendo stores in key locations.
Again, very conservative company. How do you expect them to open up Nintendo stores all over the place when they only sell two hardware products, neither of which is lighting the world on fire? You're asking for a brick and mortar boutique from a boutique software company.
Perhaps I expect a lot from them, but it's not rocket science and Nintendo fans are pissed.
You expect way too much from them. They aren't Sony or MS. They aren't going to compete with them. They've dropped out of that race unless they luck into another Wii. Enjoy them for what they are, not the white knight of gaming you seem to think they should be.
