Yes, 4 X $5 is way different than $20.  Online is optional only if you don't want to play games online, which is a main feature of most games.  COD has a single player and online multiplayer.  It's part of the game.  It's not an "option".  I shouldn't have to pay extra to unlock it.

Sony charged $600 for PS3 with free online = outrage.  Sony charged $400 + $50 a year for online ($700 for a 6 year cycle)= hooray! it's cheap!

Consumers are easily manipulated. It's unfortunate.

Lmao, what games can you play on the Wii U that are online? I don't see Call of Duty, Destiny, Battefield, literally any other multiplayer game on Wii U. If the Wii U had the games and the sales as the PS4 and XBO, I wouldn't be surprised if they went with paid online.

It works but it's nothing to write home about. You get what you pay for.

If I had to pay to get Nintendo to shape up their online services, I would gladly pay

Missing critical features?

Meaningful and fast/easy to access friend list that allows user to Invite/Join their friends directly

Meaningful notification system with options to enable the pop-in variety based on differet criteria. Message vs. Game Invite vs. Chat Invite vs. Party Chat Join

System level Party Chat with option to toggle to Game Chat

...

All of this of course pointless if the system can't access and use these features nearly instantly without any disruption to flow of normal use.

Basically be like PS4 or be bust is how I feel

I have no issues with online at all with Nintendo. I mean online chat is annoying, so do not care. Do not really go online to be chatty kathy, its to kick people's ass in games. I will say what's up now then but that's to friends.

Ehh. I don't believe that. I am no child at this point in my life but I still hate paying for XBL... and haven't in well over two years now (as Halo:Reach was the last game my friends and I played over the net on xbox, and we haven't done so in a long time and moved to other games). Its not money that's the issue, I just don't see value in it and think its more a con than anything else. What is offered there I already have, for free, at my finger tips on my PC which I have interconnected across my whole network and can access from anywhere in my house or TV.

That cost me... what a spool of CAT5?

Also the "free" games they "give" have a transient nature to them that I dislike (and, more than likely, I already owned all the games I wanted to play when they released, and as such this offers zero value to me in its entirety aside from some oddball game that escaped notice). I was taught that nothing is free if price is attached somewhere, either way money is spent and never saved, just less spent.

What about team based games where you need voice chat in order to kick people's ass?

but the ps4 and xbox 1 offer expensive online, therefore its better.

Sure, we all wish online capabilities were free. I used to love not paying for online in PS3, but when I got my PS+ sub this november, although the initial $50 (for a year) was hefty for me, i am reaping the benefits. I have played multiple games, across 3 different consoles (PS3, PS4 and Vita) and taken advantage of some serious discounted sales (Ni No Kuni, Tales of Xillia, etc)

The Wii U will always have the advantage of free online but I think its online communities, activities and platform will never be on par with the Sony and even less from Microsoft. That being said, many casual players will not care for the "dedicated servers" or "cloud computing" or whatever the fuck the HD twins keep spouting about.

Also, the Wii U does not have a lot of online games, let's be honest here. Mario Kart 8 being the biggest right now, followed by Smash Bros which is usually enjoyed more with local players from all my time in All Stars and on Brawl on occassions.

I agree with your first three, and mainly the unified account; although they could still add them throughout the generation, just like they have done bolded part.