Nintendos consoles are on a decline since the SNES. The only exception was the Wii, which turned out to be a fad. A successful fad, but a fad. Ironically this was a banable offense back then.
So we had SNES, N64, GameCube, Wii U...
Nintendo totally messed up their online gaming business. Dreamcast was introducing it, Microsoft put it on a whole new level and it even took sony years to catch up and if you asked me, XBL is still way superior.
Nintendo did not even care. Even with the DS / Wii money they could have built one if the best online infrastructures in the world, but they didn't even go for it. It needs more than capable hardware to get (serious) third party support. You need a network big and powerful enough to get CoD players, Battlefield players or Fifa players. Nintendo can't provide it right now.
Nintendo managed to be late to the party for HD Gaming, Online Gaming and digital distribution. Speaks volumes about the management.
I know you can buy your games online and play online. It is just nowhere near as big as it is on Xbox Live, PSN or Steam.
Imagine not having GamePass on your console...
