Has Nintendo been neglecting it's core gamers?

This is really an controversial topic here. I decided to make a thread dedicated to this situation right here: http://boards.ign.com/nintendo_wii_lobby/b8270/189720568/p1/?22

Here are the ground rules of this discussion:

1. You are not allow to use this to hate on Nintendo or praise Nintendo as if they were God. That means you cannot make this as an excuse to rant on how awful Nintendo is and how they have 100% factually abandon the core gamers. You may also not call people crazy for saying Nintendo has neglected there core gamers and you may not say Nintendo is the greatest thing ever created or something along those lines.

2. Explain why you think why you came to your conclusion. This isn't something I'll report on or anything, but I strongly suggest more then an yes or no answer. Give your reasons why you came to your conclusion and make it worth reading (Even people who tend to usually make one or few-words posts).

3. Absolutely no flame wars.  Flame wars are massive and very common, and they usually take forever to get resolved. All name-calling, threats, messages mean to hurt other people, or others like that is unacceptable. Now don't get me wrong, I highly encourage debating with each other when done smoothly and with an apporite manner. I just don't want to see any flame wars here.

4. Read the posts completely before even considering replying. Make sure to read it completley once before reasponding. This will help keep things smooth.

5. Before debating the situation with anyone who posted here, give your thoughts out first. You can even reply to the same person who you want to reply to, as long as your thoughts on the situation comes first. This isn't something you'll get reported over if you break it, just an recommendation.

This is my post on IGN regarding the situation:

"Now the the posts are starting to pour in, I'm going to give my thoughts on the situation.

For the few people who were wondering, yes, I was that first preson who voted "Yes, to an certain degree". However, let me explain myself.

I voted "Yes, to an certain degree" because it really depends what area Nintendo has really been neglecting. In general, they have done an excellent job this generation with great games, great market stragedy, and made two unique consoles this generation, the Nintendo Wii and Nintendo DS, both great systems, although I prefer the Wii since I am losing interest in the handheld market. Thus, they deserve lots of credits and respects this generation. And just to add something nice, the Nintendo Wii improved from the Nintendo Gamecube, which I consider to be Nintendo's worst home console.

That's not to say that Nintendo is perfect and is an almighty god we should bow down to. They certantly have some flaws that no Nintendo fan that isn't an deliusional fanboy can denide.

First off, they do not have the best marketing stragedy for core games. Very rarely do I see an adversitment for an Wii game nowadays (But that's also link to the fact that I don't watch TV much) and most third-party core games underperform due to that. The fact that Excitebots: Trick Racing sold only 140,000 is saddening, as I love the game and believe it's highly underrated.

Another problem with Nintendo is how they treat some of there franchises. Pokemon haven't received an great console installment since Pokemon Stadium 2. Nintendo has also failed to give the Earthbound franchise a chance to suceed outside of Japan, we're even left in the dark if Earthbound itself will be on the Virtual Console outside of Japan. Kirby hasn't been that good in the console area either since 2001. And they are well known for milking the living **** out of Pokemon, which resulted in me and numerous other people who grew up with the first generation to lose interest in future installments after the 2nd or even 3rd generations.

And the Virtual Console, while that is great for the most part, they have failed miserably in the Nintendo 64 category, which is my favorite video game system. Having just seventeen games, all first or second-party games, on the Virtual Console for that system is disheartening, and is the main reason why I'm getting another Nintendo 64.

However, despite the big words I put into them, overall, Nintendo has done very well this generation. Nevertheless, I say they have neglected there core gamers, but only mildly."