When Nintendo first announced it was going to introduce paid DLC, the upcoming Animal Crossing for the 3DS seemed like a perfect chance to nickel and dime players. Seemed like one, maybe, but it won't be one, says Nintendo.

In a recent financial Q&A, Nintendo honcho Satoru Iwata talked about paid DLC and Animal Crossing, noting that the power of money could not only impact gameplay, but change it, perhaps even making the experience, as Iwata called it, "unwholesome".

Iwata frequently discussed the issue with the Animal Crossing team, and can now say, "That sort of element [paid DLC] is absolutely not being added."

Fantastic news for Animal Crossing players, who might have been worried that Nintendo would turn AC into some sort of paid add-on nightmare.

Previously, Iwata told Kotaku that Nintendo didn't want gamers to feel "cheated or deceived" by DLC, adding that the paid experience should add to the experience and not detract from it.

http://kotaku.com/5955704/animal-crossing-will-not-have-paid-dlc-thank-goodness

After spending 3 games worth on DLC for Theathrhythm, this is amazing news!

Latest trailer

Oh, there'll be DLC, just not paid.

(I never played, but it seems that even the Wii game had DLC)

I believe this is a good move. It would have pissed off too many AC fans if they went for paid DLC with the game. I probably would have still bought the game (not the DLC) if they went with paid DLC but I wouldn't have been too happy.

The free DLC they did for AC:WW and CF is if you log online during certain days they would send you an item in the mail. CF had different regions getting different gifts so it was pretty neat getting a Japanese item from someone that was friend with someone from Japan. This is all they need and to nickle and dime consumers trying to complete a set or something would have been very upsetting to me.

I see where you are coming at but I just have too much of a negative view on DLC that even legit paid DLC is tough for me to swallow. Sure they could release a big DLC pack that includes clothes, furniture, bugs, fossils, etc but to me it just wouldn't sit well. I wouldn't want to be tempted to fork over more money to collect more things. They could keep the game going for a longer time by releasing more things into the game. I just see too many ways to abuse Animal Crossing series through paid DLC (they could do half ass DLC and have one for clothes then another for bugs then another for fossils, etc). I usually play AC games till I collect most of the furniture, bugs, fossils, and fish. It would be like WoW where they keep raising the level cap through expansions. I couldn't ever reach an "end" point with the game if they kept releasing stuff.

Animal Crossing is a series with so much stuff in it that DLC is hardly necessary.

I played Wild World literally for 1 year, and I could still find new things on a daily basis.

Is he a professional reviewer? Because the game won't be released for another 10 days.

Shame they don't have AC lined up for worldwide release for the holidays. It would be a better system seller than just having Paper Mario. AC series is a lot bigger than PM series in terms of fans. If I see someone on my friends list that lives in Japan (I think I have a couple) playing AC I think I might have to cry in jealousy...

Yeah, Luigi's Mansion delay was bad, but Animal Crossing's was heart-breaking.

I bought NSMB2 digital copy but kind of regret it a little. I like having my physical copies. However, I believe I might get the digital copy for AC considering it would always be on the system. AC is one game that I view would be better to have the digital copy over physical. I believe the digital sales of AC will be a lot higher than NSMB2.