Free online is one reason I bought a Wii U. I wanted to play COD online, but didn't want to pay for Live Gold, and I knew both new consoles would be charging for it. So far I've saved $120 by owning a Wii U.
But yes, they absolutely should. They should have a service like PS+ that gives you free downloads of classic titles and allows for online match making. It needs to be a better service than right now, in particular they need to have more classic and original titles and more often releases. The NintendoLand team should be dedicated to remaking classic titles and making new classic-style titles and one should be released every month or two and they should be free to NN+ subscribers.
And Nintendo should use this revenue to make a better system or sell the existing one cheaper. They should experiment with it now, but then fully implement it with their next system. With that additional revenue they could put an additional $100+ of gaming power into a new console. Or Wii U could be $199. It's effectively what Sony did, and it's what Nintendo should do. It's a great strategy.
