Haven't registered for Online yet, however I don't think that $20/y is something outrageous to ask. Moreover, I personally feel that lack of voice chat is an advantage rather than an issue because most of the time it's pretty annoying to listen to random mumbling of people on XBL or PSN. 99% of the time Nintendo is about casual gaming, except some pro cases (Smash Bros, Pokken, Mario Kart, anything else?).

I personally will support Nintendo in this because I like games that still look like games, not an interactive movie, and decent online service is something that they lack and they will build it eventually, having enough people being interested.