No! I'm sure you're familiar with Nintendo's clear downward trajectory from the SNES to the N64 to the GCN. Pursuing the blue ocean is what put them on top again (temporarily...). It was the best thing they could have done.
Their mistake last gen was in creating a system that couldn't handle the graphics and multiplayer components of third party games that became more and more popular as the 7th generation went on. The lack of CoD, AC, etc. is what killed the chance to transition well into this gen.
I respect the Big N's choice to keep hardware costs low and not produce an HD system, but the online is where I think they really shot themselves in the foot. Do you think it really would have hurt their family brand image if they nixed friend codes and simply had a normal account based online system?
Game specific friend codes, the lack of accounts, and weak servers killed their chances of capitalizing on the online multiplayer boom and because of this the Wii's rocketing trajectory fizzled out early and led to an air of irrelevancy that has carried through to the WiiU.
Just my presumptions.
