I definitely agree with the first part of your rant, but I think you're giving too much credit to Nintendo. Nintendo has been on the opposite side of that problem recently, not doing enough to innovate and suffering for it. Almost all of Nintendo's big console titles after 2007 (SSBB, SMG2, Skyward Sword, Donkey Kong Country Returns, New Super Mario Bros. Wii and U, Nintendoland) have all been fun, but have failed to do much new outside of throw a new control scheme or two in.
I do think Nintendo has gotten back on the right track somewhat with some of its 3DS offerings, such as Kid Icarus: Uprising, Fire Emblem: Awakening, and Luigi's Mansion 2, which are both sequels but throw in quite a few new features to keep the experiences fresh. It also helps that these series haven't had releases for quite a while (it's hard for something to go stale if it doesn't come around frequently), so I also applaud Nintendo for attempting to make use of more of their franchises lately.
