Marketing something with "Wii" in the name to hardcore consumers won't work, it's like trying to market a Twilight movie to males, there's too much stigma attached to the brand, Nintendo made their bed with a casual console with a controller gimmick that didn't take off and now they kinda have to ride it out.
At this point their best bet is to try and get the price of the system down as much as possible and reposition the system for kids with amiibo. Thought New 3DS is kind of a kick in the gut for that because it offers amiibo functionality for a lower cost.
Nintendo hasn't supported the SNES, N64, GCN, or Wii far past their successors, so I doubt Wii U (which likely is going to be lowest selling one) will get a ton of support after its successive platform is launched.
As for chat functionality not being there it's intentional. I don't think Nintendo wants "hey cocksucker!" being the last thing you hear before starting a race.
