Unified system means less money in the long run for Nintendo because people won't need to rebuy digitally downloaded games multiple times. I can understand why they would be hesitant. Yes Steam is very successful at selling those games but I think in 10-15 years when people have all the "old" games that they bought when they got really cheap then people will only buy brand new games and overall sales will decline. If they all just kept making people buy it for each system then the sales wouldn't really drop.

If they know fans really want it, they'll probably get moving on it soon. I anticipate unified accounts by next gen.

Why would any dev complain about a lack of a unified account? It's like a dev complaining about the PS3 clock. It just doesn't directly affect them.

This is the one thing that is seriously holding them back. I still buy eshop games because there are a lot of good games to play on it, but my only major complaint with them would be fixed if they can get a unified system like every other digital distribution.

So at the moment your 3DS account is different from your WiiU account?

Hopefully the big update to the Wii U fixes this.

the 3ds does not have Nintendo ID's, so when you buy from eshsop the purchase is tied to the hardware

Yep, they needa fix that. Im getting a 2DS at launch and am planning to get a WiiU next year, didnt know this was the case...

I think it is the same case as the wii u despite the Nintendo ID's being present  in that  the digital purchases are also tied to the hardware

can someone correct me?

:/ this is ment to be next gen, I dont wanna knit pick but that is seriously annoying if thats the case. 

If my console breaks or gets stolen do I lose everything I've brought on it? or can I use the ID again on a new console?