The latest Super Mario Bros. games added DLC to the picture, but that doesn't mean Nintendo is going to stick to that trend with every upcoming game of the series. As part of an interview with the French site Gamekult, Producer Yoshiaki Koizumi was very clear in stating that "there's no plan" to create additional downloadable content for the upcoming Super Mario 3D World.

Koizumi-san also mentioned that the GamePad will be used extensively, delivering a small Toad-focused tease when asked if the game will deliver asynchronous gameplay (IE: the GamePad showing completely different elements compared to the main screen):

Yes, there will be levels where the GamePad will be particularly useful and in which you can find that kind of approach. There will also be a special mini-game with Toad, but I can't talk about it right now.

Finally, if you love less linear, quasi-open world Mario games like Super Mario Sunshine there's hope for you:

I don't know if we can consider Super Mario 64 as an open world game, but I think Super Mario Sunshine is more consistent with that definition because of the city and entire worlds to explore. Our main standpoint with Super Mario is to ensure that players always know where to go.

It's for this reason that we have given great importance on the placement and visibility of the flags, particularly in Super Mario 3D World . Again, as creators, we want a large number of people to be able to play and enjoy the game, so it's sort of our duty to ensure that the objectives are clear to everyone. However, if a very large number of players expressed the desire for a more open Mario, we would take that request very seriously.

You heard the man open world fans: it's time to start asking.