Nintendo President Satoru Iwata announced the company’s plans to pursue purchasable DLC on the Nintendo 3DS and the Wii U during a Q&A session at Nintendo’s earning briefings July 29.
Iwata mentioned that customers can expect to see DLC in the near-future, with plans to implement a paid transaction system (fancier wording for a DLC Store) for the 3DS by the end of the year and that there are plans to put it on the Wii U.
As with most things Nintendo pursues, they plan on implementing DLC their way, not the way done by those who have tread the ground before them. According to andriasang.com, Iwata and Shigeru Miyamoto intend on using DLC as a way to extend the gameplay experience for the players, meaning adding extra stages and other features. Iwata also said he believes that pursuing “low quality paid download content” like code keys or stat increases for characters would harm the long-term relationship with customers for the sake of short-term gain.
Iwata also dismissed the idea of implementing free-to-play titles with in-game stores that exchange real money for items, Iwata said he felt using this kind of system would “damage the premium value of Nintendo’s content.”
Despite it only beginning a little under two months since the Nintendo e-Shop debuted through the 3DS, Iwata said he hoped to make it a larger presence in the future and to establish the digital sales as “another pillar.”
This news comes about as Nintendo announced a price-cut on their newest handheld system the 3DS and Nintendo execs take pay-cuts.
