It is deliciously ironic for IGN to claim that Nintendo takes no risks, because the biggest risk they took this generation was the risk of the hardcore/HD backlash that IGN's recent articles so typify. And guess what - it came true, oh how it came true. Thankfully it is a lot less influential that perhaps it could have been, because these people have been marginalised.
As for online, there are some very good reasons for Nintendo to not major on online gaming:
The first is that the WIi is predominantly a family and friends machine, it is the antidote to the stereotype of the solo gamer in the darkened back room, it is intended to bring people together and it does so. An emphasis on online play would destroy that.
The second is that local multiplayer not only encourages people to play together, it is also better for sales. When you are playing online you are only ever playing with people who already have the game, but when you play locally you are often playing with people who are new to the game, may like it and may buy a copy for themselves.
So not having an emphasis on online is good for the customers - the vast majority of Wii customers anyway - and good for Nintendo.
That sounds to me like a deliberate decision, and a good one. Not like laziness.
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