As a pro-Nintendo guy, I do agree that it'd be nice if there was less shovel ware on the system. The question, though, is why did they ever drop their seal of approval?
I have a few thoughts:
1) When Nintendo was on top in the NES/SNES days, it got a reputation for being a bastard to work with, which is one reason so many third party publishers were so willing to jump over to Sony. It took years for Nintendo to repair their relations, and may be hesistant to push too hard.
2) Related to #1, coming in 2nd and 3rd in the last 2 generations simply robbed Nintendo of it's clout. It needed the third parties more than they needed it. Now that they are on top, it may give them the leverage to insist on more quality.
3) Lots of shit from third parties only makes Nintendo's games look that much better. So long as the competition is ass, there will be a market for Super Mario Tea Party.
4) The N64 had the rep of "quality over quantity." It got it's ass kicked by the PS1. The GameBoy and it's descendants have always overflowed with shovelware, and they have dominated like no other. Titles like Eternal Darkness, Beyond Good and Evil, and Psychonauts struggled to find an audience, while Transformers and Spider-Man 3 fly off shelves. It may be that Nintendo has finally realized that gamers may not be as discerning as they once believed.
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