i'm making plans to purchase NSMB2 on my 3DS, and im certain i want it on a physical cartridge. but im curious; if i want the DLC, do i have to get it on the eshop, or can i get a physical copy? any help appreciated! thank you!

It's called Downloadable Content for a reason. Only way they would have it in cartridge form is to re-release the full game with the DLC all on the same cart.

@0LD_SK0OL_PUNK
Just for clarification, are you asking if you can buy DLC in stores, or if you can download the DLC after getting a retail copy of the game? If it is the first one, then no. If your question is the second one, then yes you will be able to download the DLC even if you bought the retail version.

woah, i can name several xbox retail games with DLC, but only xbox, i dont have any other console

well, i guess im off to nintendo.com so i can ask them D: i'll post the email results on the thread.

Those are usually Game of the Year Editions or something along those lines. They usually bring out the core game first offer the DLC as download content and than a few months later offer the game with with the core game and all the DLC included in one neat package while dropping the price of the original core game without the DLC. Some example of this is the Batman Arkham City Game of the Year Edition and Borderlands Game of the Year Edition.

The only way that will happen with NSMB2 is if Nintendo release some kind of package like a Game of the Year edition but for now the only way you can get that DLC is to buy the core game and than download the DLC.

woah guys, i just had a thought.
alright, so nintendo made a patch for MK7 in the eshop, right? MK7 is only available at retail! even though it was just a patch, it says to me that nintendo is capable of handling things like this situation. i now think that it's possible the DLC will be available with retail purchase! but i'll wait for an email, just in case before i purchase

But the patch was just a download much like DLC is right now. Not being rude but I dont think you understand how DLC works.

doesnt matter, i really dont anyhow, i got impatient for an email, so i just went out and got a retail copy. i got it preowned. then when i first saw the menu, i saw that there were already 50,000 coins collected >:[[ played it for a couple hours until i realized that i could hold the A,B,X,Y buttons before the menu screen to eliminate the coin total. i received a spotpass message, then i got off the game for a while. when i played the game again, there was a "shop" in the coin rush section. within were the extra oin rush maps you could get so i guess that answered my question.

Someone doesn't understand DLC...

Basically DLC is just that. You buy a game at retail in this case NSMB2. DLC is extra content that the developers add to a game that has been out for awhile to give it more game play so to speak. It could be new levels or new characters but usually its something of that nature. DLC as the name implies is always download. As I stated earlier some companies come out with a GotY edition of certain games but that is usually late in the games life span. So to add the content to an already purchased game like NSMB2 in this case you have to get it through a download.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Downloadable_content This is probably a better definition.

meh, i understood how it worked, i just didnt have a clear definition, so thank you. i am content with the information on the thread, so i will delete this on 10/9/12 so people will have time to read our discussion.

No problem it can be a bit confusing at first. Heck I remember in the early days of DLC I went over to my friends house and his game had like added maps and such. I didnt have that stuff of course on my copy so I though that my copy was a messed up copy, that was untill he explained to me DLC. Lol.

back in 1972, i had an Odyssey, the first Home console. we never had graphics or games, just overlays on a screen. the closest we had to DLCs would be if we got see-through paper, drew on it with marker, and taped it on the TV screen, so you can understand my confusion.