Add metroid and zelda please Nintendo!

If we use the qualifying term, "worthwhile" it's not like the other consoles are much better. Nintendo can easily advertise its diverse online offerings and free online without talking about their competitors. I mean if we're going to pretend the PS4/Xbone has a dozens upon dozens of good online games then we can at least add MH3U , and Injustice: Gods Among Us.

At the end of the day it is quality that matters when it comes to online games, not quantity. Nobody plays online in dozens of games. They have a few games that they like to play online on a consistent basis, and the rest of the games they might dabble in a little here and there. That is just the nature of online gaming, it is competitive and not pick up and play. Since Smash Bros, Mario Kart, and (potentially) Splatoon are excellent in quality and high demanded games it is a no brainer to advertise them, and the "free-online" bit is just to act as the icing on the cake. 

They can't talk advertise their online being free without indirectly comparing themselves to their competitors. It's not pretending. There are far more relevant games on the PS4 and XBO to use the online for. None of the games you mention, other than maybe MH3U, has an active enough online community to be worth mentioning.

Quality is absolutely not all that matters. If you're a huge fan of those three games, then you already own a Wii U, and there's no reason to advertise it's free online. If you don't and you hear that the online is free, you're naturally going to see if there are other offerings that makes the free online relevant to you, and when the closest decent alternative is an incredibly niche game like MH, it makes Nintendo look bad. Everyone knows that the online on the Wii U is free, but no one cares because they probably wouldn't use it much anyway unless they happen to fall in the very specific camp that will naturally like those three games.

I just think it's unwise to put any emphasis on the free online when there are so many easy ways that people will spin it negatively. Until Nintendo's online offerings are on par in software variety to the competition, they should not focus on it being free. It's not enough of a selling point.

Certainly they can. People do this all the time. The other day I saw a painting contractors van with the words, "free consultations." The overwhelming majority of painting contracters give free consultations and bids before they do a job. It was a pretty useless thing to put there. Nevertheless, it is an additional thing they can advertise. And regardless of their quality, whether or not they're a shittier painter than the guy who charges for consultations, it will be something people look at and think, "well I really don't want to pay for a consultation, so he might not be the best painter, but at least I get that free consultation." They can do this without thinking about the painter who does charge for consultations. 

I never said quality is ALL that matters. Just that it principally matters. And I can guarantee you by the sales of MK Wii and SSBB that there are plenty of people who like Mario Kart and Smash Bros who don't have a Wii U. For the more somewhat casual gamer who just wants to play the game they bought online without bothering with subscription fees, I'm sure free online is a much bigger deal. And if somebody is playing Mario Kart or Smash Bros they can spend just as many hours online as if they were playing five of the PS4/Xbone games. Again, most people aren't looking for five online games. They're looking for one or two that they can get hooked on and keep playing. Sure, they might want to switch it up every once in a while, but I don't think the Wii U will be so lacking on online offerings that they can't. Hell the Wii had plenty of online offerings, it just didn't have good quality online with basic features. 

And "free-online" doesn't have to be the emphasis. The emphasis can be the online games: SSBU, MK8, and Splatoon with free online being the icing on the cake for the more casual online player who just wants to put in the disc and play. 

Again because the Wii U in general has a small community, perhaps a lack of advertising is partly to blame!

Everyone knows the online is free? Hardly anyone knows the console even exist!

Everything Nintendo does is spun negatively regardless, so nothing new there!

i was pretty excited for splatoon, but if there is no in game chat it's going to take alot of wind out of it's sales (see what i did there {8D )

You're kidding right? It's selling half as much as the fastest selling console (so far) ever. How the flippity fuck is that bad (or an "unmitigated flop")?

I didn't see what you did there, only seeing Nintendo's games still selling well without mid-game chat! I mean honestly I don't understand why people make such a big deal about it. Sure it's nice when playing with friends but against randoms hell no I'm turning that crap off!

I said IN EUROPE. It's selling poorly in Europe and only doing 'okay' in the States.

Still don't think you can consider it a flop, even if you are talking about Europe. If you're talking about Japan, go ahead, ramble on all you want about it. But I disagree with you that it is a flop in Europe. And it's doing pretty well in the States, if you ask me.