Topic: Design improvements in Nintendo's Wii U game updates

In the updates for both Pikmin 3 and MK8, I've noticed several tiny/small improvements i both visuals, sound/music and user interface. For example:

• Highlighted area added on the ground below the the boxes in MK8 2.0
• New music when in ending 4+ in a cup in MK8 2.0
• Improved sound/music mix in MK8 2.0
• Numerous visual and improvements in the Battle Mode for Pikmin 3 2.0
• Retry button added to Mission mode in Pikmin 3

While none of these are "major", they all improves the user experience of the game. I surely appreciate this kind of attention to a released title. How does Nintendo decides on these small additions? Monitoring user forums? Talking to players on expos?

They most likely have a person or a few that search the internet for things that are frequently talked about and that people discover (a bug for example). Club Nintendo surveys also most likely get checked, because they are sure that it's the users stating opinions. Don't get surprised if you see more DLC in Nintendo games soon I still brag to Nintendo that we need more stupid collectibles and additional DLC to extend some evergreen titles freshness.

I have some experience in software development and quite often those new features or updates are already in planning stages or actual development when the first release is finalized. Project managers hate "feature creep" so new ideas that come up during the development stage are usually put on hold till version 2.