"is it the fault of a console maker if third parties don't do well?"

If they in anyway shape or form, hinder them, then yes.
It seems like Nintendo does do so more than the others (going by multiplat devs).
So yes.

"Is it Microsoft's fault that Japanese originating games like JRPG's don't sell well on their systems?"

Partly yes, they needed to start off the gen with lots of JRPGs to show consumers they could in good confidence buy a Xbox and not be left out, they didnt. Consumers that like jrpgs went with a safer choice in the playstation.
Also Microsoft hasnt had as many well scoreing japanese games (metacritic) as playstation has had.
If they did, Im sure there would be a user base there on xbox one.

The problem is Xbox let it appear as they dont really want to service that consumer base.
It has a brand issue in this reguard, and unless they drive it through from start to finish, each generation, it wont change things.

So in that sense, yes its also their fault.
"build it and they will come"

Make better 3rd party games if you want them to sell on Nintendo system.
Had enough of 3rd parties releasing crap games that fund their AAA games on other consoles.

That's a very complicated question, and the answer isn't in any way straightforward. It can be the manufacturers fault if they don't support third party developers in any way, if their console is difficult to program for (Sega Saturn, PS3 for example), or has hardware that is incompatible with other console's on the market that makes it difficult to release the same game on the system at the same time (Wii's motion controls for example).

However, it can just as well be the fault of the developers themselves, so while in many cases third party titles on the Wii ended up failing because of the hardware and the motion controls limited what they could do with it, often many developers also seemed unwilling to put the time and effort to really make use of the console's unique aspects and potential, which tended to lead to a huge number of games with extremely poor implementation of motion controls.

It can really go either way depending on the situation, and sometimes both sides can be at fault.

That question is too simplistic to have much meaning. Can a console manufacturer make a big difference with regards to the success of a third-party game? Yes, of course. I can't imagine that anyone would argue differently. Is it always the case that the console manufacturer is a fault when a third-party game isn't successful? Of course not. Sometimes a product simply isn't appealing to consumers or the developers/publishers have themselves done a poor job.

You can't get a much more specific answer without a more specific question.

Now, if you want to compare console manufacturers, I think it's fair to say that Nintendo, from a historical perspective, hasn't been as good a business partner as Microsoft or Sony with regards to most third-party developers/publishers. Over time, that resulted in the audiences of certain types of games moving elsewhere. Of course, Nintendo has every right to run their business as they see fit and third-party companies have every right to do the same. Neither has a responsibility to the other beyond any contracts they may sign. However, any actions on that front can affect the future for many years, even many generations.

Alright, I'll bite.  What is your evidence?

Minecraft sells well on Nintendo platforms. It really has to do with making an IP that Nintendo gamers care about and most of them (devs/publishers) don't. You can't just throw GTA on a Nintendo console and expect sales because the demographic isn't there. Though, I suspect it would do pretty well.

So the question is, do we need to blame Nintendo for not broadening their audience to include the COD/GTA crowd? Personally, I don't think so. Nintendo knows more about the industry than I do from a business point of view and if they COULD, I think they would.

Double Post

I'd say the developers are somewhat to blame as well, if they don't advertise, don't have the game be of high quality, have less content and release weeks, months or years after the other versions it's all on them.

If they do release the game day and date, advertise it and have it running smoothly and be polished then, to be honest I don't think we'd to be having this conversation as I don't see it performing badly if that is the case.

Developers flocked to the NES because it was by far the best selling console of the time. Their policies back then did indeed help in stopping the flood of crappy titles that plagues the Atari 2600, but the reason 3rd parties did best on the NES in the NES era was because the only succesful platform was the NES. Now there are other platforms which suit 3rd parties more, hence why many of them ignore Nintendo's platforms nowadays.

I don't understand how you can make a game and that game NOT be your responsibility...