Nintendo president Satoru Iwata has hinted at possible downloadable content for 3DS titles Super Mario 3D Land and Mario Kart 7. Iwata believes that offering DLC — paid, of course — will increase the lifespan of hardware and software.

“What if we could provide add-on content through the network?” Iwata posed the question at the company’s recent investors’ meeting.  ”As I referred to before, for example, this is the idea of supplying new stages to Super Mario users who want to play the game more but have completed the game and lost interest in the existing stages. This will not only give us new profits but will lengthen the life of a product, in that it will never be out of fashion and can keep attracting public attention as long as many people play it.”

The latest firmware update for the 3DS added DLC functionality, preparing the handheld for its first game to utilize it — Theatrhythm Final Fantasy.