Nintendo were a little bit slow on the uptake when it came to realizing that the future was online. The Japanese company might have pioneered a lot since the NES and Gameboy days and I promise that friend codes is something that will definitely be remembered in the years to come (without a doubt), but when it comes to their store system it lacks quite a few things.
That may change when the Wii U comes out, at least if the rumours started by The Daily are to be believed. They say that Nintendo may be working on a more in-depth app store for their next console, a rumour that'll make many digital Nintendo fans very, very happy. If the rumour turns out to be true, you can expect Nintendo to take a cue from both Microsoft and Sony and bring together the best of both worlds, offering a combination of digital games, smaller titles and apps/themes and the like.