I think the complete Wii U games were a predecessor to this. Pikmin 3 and Mario Kart 8 include the Wii U DLC.
[Then Pokemon Sword and Shield released the game + DLC on cartridge.](https://twitter.com/SerebiiNet/status/1324698296674406403) [Cadence of Hyrule cartridges all have the season pass on the cartridge.](https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2020/10/reminder_cadence_of_hyrules_physical_edition_with_all_dlc_included_launches_today)
[In 2021, Nintendo released BOTW and Splatoon 2 with DLC only in Japan.](https://twitter.com/Nintendo/status/1441162996928036869) These ones really caught my attention. The Splatoon 2 one doesn’t have English, but BOTW with DLC does! It’s a complete cartridge that I can use when the eshop is gone, but will I care in 10 years? My siblings and I can share DLC with this cartridge. Also, I just think it’s cool.
I do think it encourages double-dipping, and that’s not great. I’m sure that’s why it makes business sense to release these as limited releases. They’re more for collectors than useful.
Now we’re getting Violet/Scarlet with expansion pass, but that doesn’t interest me. Then Mario Mario Kart with DLC in [Japan](https://www.amazon.co.jp/-/en/dp/B0CJ4WHPPX) was a preorder for me! (Sold out already, but BOTW + Expansion restocked many times.) It was rumored to hit Europe, but I guess that never happened? I wish it would come to the US.
I hope Nintendo keeps doing it. There are a few games that I don’t really care about seeing a complete version like Luigi’s Mansion and Captain Toad. But I would absolutely love a Smash Ultimate Complete. I think that would be really good for the long term competition scene too. My pipe dream would be NSO cartridges for each system.
Did I miss anything? Do you want more of these, or do you think this is consumerism at it’s worst?
by pickledgreatness
5 Comments
Kind of different… but Mario Tennis has a revised game card with all the post-launch free DLC included (I have it, can verify).
I just bought the complete BOTW cart recently and have zero regrets with the double dip. The game is just so special to me, and I want to future-proof it for my collection. I have the Cadence of Hyrule physical too.
I agree. It’s great for preservation. As a side note, the Scarlet/Violet release is only half complete. The first DLC will be on the cartridge but there is a code for the second DLC. That was what made it an instant skip for me.
As long as nobody buys the normal edition AND the one with dlc, its all good. Dont support that.
Now that I think of it, is this even a thing that’s being done with games on other consoles anymore? I remember for a time, practically every big PS360 game got a physical re-release of a “complete edition” somewhere down the line, but lately I can only think of a couple recent examples. Maybe it’s because of the decline in physical game sales altogether, or maybe I’m just not looking in the right places. There does seem to be a huge shift to digital sales lately, and I think I’ve heard that the digital-only versions of the PS5 and Xbox Series S have outsold their counterparts by three or four times.
Edit: Coincidentally just ran into [this](https://twitter.com/LimitedRunJosh/status/1712554666838704169). Holy jeez, physical gaming is dying faster than I thought.