It's true, in fact all major auto manufacturers must use water based paint to reduce VOCs (volatile organic compounds) that are released during the paint process. That is for the color though, I believe the clear coat is still lacquer based.

I always heard that since manufacturers made the switch to water based paints; that the paint would be softer, etc. I 'lurk' on a lot of different forums (for sh!ts and grins/and to research cars for friends) and the paint durability ALWAYS seem to come up.

I've just thought to myself that soft paint and the paint as a negative would be something that would always come up; is Nissan no different than the other auto makers out there?

Nissan appears to have a lot more issue with it than other cars. I don't know if it's apples to apples, but the paint on my '02 Infiniti G20 is very fragile compared to other cars I have owned.