I've seen a lot of use of Chin's EX counter. And decent use of the normal one as an anti-air.
They don't use Goro or Betty's Neomax counters, because the meter cost was considered too high. But now, with the guage requirement down in HD mode on console, the point is that it could become a more viable tool.
I think they easily COULD have made Billy's counters work, I don't really buy the "too good for combos" excuse, that easily could have been handeled by a blowback attack, a dramatic recovery, or just making them non DC-able.
I think they just wanted to make Billy more about his Normals in this game. He has a fantastic close C, and 3 different command normals. His EX Sansetukonyuudanuchi seems to do DM-level damage at mid screen, he has strong counter combos, and he can set you into a screen-carrying combo series off the simpliest normal crouch attacks.
He seems like a character where EX moves should serve the purpose of multiple-moves in old games. Given the new systems, he's just NOT the same character he was before, and has to be looked at in a different way.