While I agree with you that Dillion could become a popular new IP for Nintendo, I disagree with the fact that Nintendo should have brought this first title to retail. To me this game highlights Nintendo's new online retail strategy where smaller development teams get a chance to develop their own new IPs without the same level of company oversight that a full Nintendo retail game would have to deal with. Online distribution allows Nintendo to create and experiement new ideas without having to take the risks of releasing a completely new and untested game to retail at full price. Games that could easily be sold as retail titles at full price or a little lower like Dillion or Pushmo can be distributed to a much wider audeance at a quarter of the price without costing Nintendo anything in regards to production and distribution.
I feel that it was specificaly because of the eshop that a number of these games were released and without the eshop many of the new Nintendo IPs would never have come out or their gameplay ideas would have been recycled into establish IPs. The eshop gives these new IPs a chance and if they do well then Ninendo will probably expand on the title and convert its sequel into a full retail game.
though people still complain about the future of Nintendo's online I would say that if the eshop is anthing to go by then Nintendo's online retail is going to be incredible.
