The industry has obviously jumped on DLC, probably as a way to increase revenue without increasing the up front price of games, and Nintendo has gotten into the game especially with NSMB2, Fire Emblem and the upcoming NSMBU Luigi. I think, because of Nintendo's specific situation, DLC can be a great thing for them.

Nintendo's key franchises are huge sellers, but it's difficult to stray far from customer expectation. This can result in loss of novelty. DLC is a chance to do something new, introduce new villains, and gauge customer response. For example, people may have been a little disappointed (and not purchased it) if Bowser and his children hadn't been the main bad guys in NSMBU; and if the general thrust of the game hadn't been along the familiar lines of SMB3 and SMW. The DLC is a perfect chance to try some really different things and perhaps develop fresh new villains. Customers already got the experience they were expecting, and the DLC isn't the price of a full game, so they're more inclined to try and enjoy something new.

Similarly, DLC is a great chance to add value to an existing game. If they have more level ideas than would fit in a Mario game, or a dungeon for Zelda that just doesn't fit with the others, DLC is a way to still get it to the customers. It's better than putting out a whole new game that is too much like a rehash of an existing one, and it can be offered at a lower price but with higher profits because they don't need to make physical copies.

The ugly side of DLC is if companies put out games poor on content or even incomplete, and then sell DLC to extract more money, but I don't expect Nintendo will do that. They characteristically include a lot of value in their first party games.

I think that's their plan for New Super Mario Bros. U and a reason why they had to sell it at launch, because as Iwata intend with the first on Wii and DS and NSMB2 on 3DS, they will be the only NSMB games, one for each console. So DLCs for the ones on 3DS and Wii U must be part of the plan.

They have the opportunity to make a new story in the same universe with Bowser has the hero gathering his troops to conquer Peach's Castle, Peach has the heroine wITH floating techniques and stuff trying to save her own kingdom, Toad — because of my avatar — working underground to save the castle from Bowser plans before they even happen...

Just because they started with the very basic and generic "Mario saving Peach" idea (with a twist) allows them now, during the lifetime of the Wii U, to bring all those crazy ideas to life.

I'd love to see a playable Peach!

Nintendo adds DLC to add content that may be too abnormal or too dynamic to put in content.
Take Fire Emblem for example. One of its Maps is a place filled with gold from enemies. But it isn't technically pay to win because with the reward comes risk of losing a person.
It doesn't inhance Awakening's story, and it doesn't inhance the game if it was packed in. So Intelligent Systems decided it makes great DLC

Kid Icarus would have made great DLC. But I suppose it's not having DLC because Sora was moving along with their next project, Smash Bros. 4.

I don't like that when I buy something from eshop It sticks to that console and not to my account. If god forbids my Wii-U brakes down, all my DLC content goes with it.

That's the only thing that I hate.

I think they help you transfer it as long as you contact them. If you instead take it back to the store and then try to download it later, that's when you can run into problems.

Deal with Nintendo and you don't lose anything. If the system breaks, send it in and they will either repair it under warranty, replace it, or if out of warranty, repair it for a price that is lower than it would cost to buy a new system. There's no reason to be paranoid.

I remember mentioning the New Super Luigi U DLC about a month ago at school, and my friend was like "NOOOOOOOO! WHAT HAPPENED TO NINTENDO?!? I CAN'T BELIEVE THEY GAVE IN! WAAAAAAAAAH!". I facepalmed at him, and explained that there has been DLC since NSMB2 (and even the Wii in a very few cases), but he was still surprised. (He was joking about the "giving in" garbage, but he was surprised about Nintendo having DLC.)

Just goes to show how in-the-loop my friends are. 3 months after Sticker Star was revealed at e3, my classmate was like "Finally, a new Paper Mario game.".

And just the other day, another friend found out about Luigi Mansion 2: Dark Moon's multi-player for the first time from me! I swear...

@xBASSxMONSTAx If you contact Nintendo they'll transfer over all your stuff (up to $200) free of charge.

I'm just glad they kept paid DLC out of Animal Crossing. Paid DLC for Animal Crossing would ruin the game and destroy the series.