I am one of the biggest haters of charging for DLC there is. Most of the times everything DLC has could have been included in the original game. DLC is just a way for developers/publishers to earn more money by leaving things out of games. I know some of you out there enjoy DLC but to me it is a scam (especially when companies start talking about DLC before the actual game is even released). By paying for DLC you are supporting the idea that video game companies can just release unfinished versions of their game. While some DLC can be justified by content and price, most offer little value for their price.
Lets go back a few years to what used to be popular (mainly with PC games). Expansions.... Yes, I can grasp expansions because at least you get way more than the usual DLC offering. Lets take one game for example: Civilization... I played Civ3 for a very long time (mainly because I was playing user made scenarios that were more in depth than what the actual developer could release for their scenarios). Each expansion for Civ3 came with new resources, units, civs, scenarios, etc.. Fast forward to Civ5 (I recently picked up for $20). The DLC content they offer for Civ5 is a joke. They offer 1 civ and 1 scenario for $5 a pop with each Civ having 1 or 2 unique units/buildings. They also offer maps for different parts of the world for $3 which is a joke because you probably could download those maps for free from civfanatics (or a better one or an actual scenario using that map). Anyways, it seems that DLC can't even match expansions for price and value.
Nintendo has been the saving grace of the video game industry in the recent generation. At least I know I can buy a Nintendo game and not worry about having this character or that character left out just to be included in a DLC later. How would you like to buy Mario Kart and then only have 10 characters available. Instead of unlocking new characters by actually playing the game you have to buy each character for 3 dollars each. This is what the game industry has turned into in my eyes. Screw DLC and the "elite" paid services for CoD.
Nintendo should focus on including level editors in their games. They included one for Brawl (while it might not have been a game changer it was a nice feature). I am sure a few people made Brawl stages just as good or better than ones provided by Nintendo. A level editor for NSMB or Kart would be amazing. Nintendo should let the users create new content for their games for free. Level editors were pretty much the first DLC and they were free.
I wouldn't mind if Nintendo offered free DLC at all. Game such as Animal Crossing could benefit a lot with free DLC (such as new clothes, furniture, etc). I just don't want to see Nintendo holding content from the game to purposely release as DLC later. They should include all the characters they want in the finished game and leave it at that. Let a few be hidden/unlockable and that is enough for me.
