Masahiro Sakurai’s latest column in Famitsu is all about downloadable content. That makes sense, given how Nintendo just recently announced plans to expand Smash Bros. with additional fighters and Mii Fighter outfits.

Sakurai’s column seems to defend DLC for Smash Bros. Wii U/3DS by saying it’s “genuine” compared to day-one DLC. He also mentioned that DLC for the two games is made for the fans.

One excerpt from Sakurai’s column reads:

It’s a huge undertaking to create a fighter, so I think we can’t make them in large quantities. I’d also like to feel refreshed when the project is over. However, since we have decided to tackle [DLC] once, I’d like to offer as much fun [content] as possible. It will take a while from now, but please look forward to it.

Smash Bros. Mewtwo DLC just came out for Club Nintendo members last week, and will be available for purchase to all players starting on April 28. There are also plans to introduce Lucas in June, along with other roster additions. Fans can vote on the character they want to see included over on the Smash Bros. Fighter Ballot.

More: DLC, Masahiro Sakurai, Super Smash Bros. for Wii U/3DS, top

The North American Splatoon site was recently updated with a few more clips from the game. A compilation of the footage can be found below.

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Update: Charizard out of stock.

Walmart is once again taking pre-orders for several upcoming amiibo. It’s possible to reserve the various Splatoon figures, plus Charizard, Wario, and Pac-Man. Links to each are posted below.

Splatoon 3-Pack
Inkling Girl
Inkling Boy
Charizard
Wario
Pac-Man

More: Amiibo, pre-order, Walmart

NIS America is now taking pre-orders for the Rodea: The Sky Soldier Limited Edition on its European store. The Wii U version is located here while the 3DS version can be reserved here. Pricing is set at £59.99 / £49.99 respectively.

More: Europe, Kadokawa Games, NIS America, Prope, Rodea: The Sky Soldier

IGN uploaded over a half hour’s worth of Puzzle & Dragons: Super Mario Bros. Edition footage. Check out the video below.

More: GungHo Online Entertainment, Puzzle & Dragons: Super Mario Bros. Edition

XSEED has a pre-order bonus in store for Lord of Magna: Maiden Heaven. Those who pre-order the game in North America will receive the 28-track soundtrack CD pictured above.

As confirmed by XSEED on Twitter:

Lord of Magna: Maiden Heaven launches on June 2 in North America, and as a digital-only title on June 4 in Europe.

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More: Lord of Magna: Maiden Heaven, marvelous, pre-order, XSEED Games

Nintendo UK has released a new overview trailer for Puzzle & Dragons: Super Mario Bros. Edition. Watch it below.

More: GungHo Online Entertainment, Puzzle & Dragons: Super Mario Bros. Edition

Nintendo UK will be holding a special stream for Mario Kart 8 tomorrow. As the new DLC is launching, Nintendo will be showing off the new tracks as well as the 200cc mode. The stream will go live at 5 PM in the UK, which is 12 PM ET / 9 AM PT.

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More: DLC, Mario Kart 8

Pre-orders are now open for the Yoshi’s Woolly World amiibo on the Nintendo UK store, though they’re only available as part of a bundle. Reservations are live here.

The Yoshi’s Woolly World amiibo Pack (featuring the game and all three amiibo) are sold out, but these options are currently available:

Game + green Yoshi amiibo special pack – £49.99
Game + green Yoshi amiibo separate packaging – £53.99
Game + pink Yoshi amiibo separate packaging – £53.99
Game + blue Yoshi amiibo separate packaging – £53.99
Game + Green Yoshi + 8GB Super Smash Bros. Wii U system bundle – £219.99

Chances are that there will be quick sell-outs, so be sure to get an order in while you can!

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More: Amiibo, pre-order, UK, Yoshi's Woolly World

Yesterday, Dengeki Online published its review of Xenoblade Chronicles X. Gessenkou has since picked through the verdict and has translated a bunch of details. You can find them rounded up below.

– Clearing quests grants access to more party members
– Although you won’t have access to certain things if you don’t progress the story to some extent, you can explore the entirety of Mira right from the start
– The previous game (Xenoblade) set story objectives and gave you freedom to explore before arriving at them, but in this game there’s a much higher degree of freedom, like the developers were saying ‘you can do whatever you want, just do some story quests occasionally.’
– After clearing a certain quest, you’re able to freely re-customize your avatar
– You can even change genders, perfect for moody people who think “I don’t want to look like an old man again today”
– We left NLA and walked from one end of the continent to the other, and there really were no load times. I was surprised that the game didn’t run choppily due to the disc seeks.
– However, there are three points where there are some small loading: when you go in and out of the BLADE Home, use skip travel, or view cutscenes.
– And since this preview version is disc-only, the textures and character assets would sometimes take several seconds to load in when we’d drive around with the Doll at high speeds, or immediately after those load points. I’m interested in seeing to what extent the ‘load time reduction data packs’/digital version can reduce this delay.
– Rock faces and lakes are usually impassable boundaries in games, but if you try hard enough you can continue past them in this game. You can jump up some rocky platforms to scale cliffs, or stealthily swim[by sea] around tough enemies guarding the entrances to continents, which make finding paths through the world very fun.
– The direct path isn’t the only path. If you try going down a path that made you think “maybe I can get there from here,” you’ll find that you will in fact be able to. This kind of accommodating map design is just what you’d expect from Nintendo and Monolith Soft.
– No matter what height you jump from in this game, you won’t take any damage. You can jump all the way down from the top of the Upper Strata in the BLADE Area to the Lower Strata. And the game won’t have to stop and load at all, totally seamless!
– If you don’t plan out your strategy and manage your arts and equipment, the bosses are quite difficult, even for people who are experienced with RPGs.
– But don’t worry, it’s still a Nintendo game. They allow you to lower the difficulty on a boss if you lose to it several times. There’s no penalties for lowering the difficulty, so people who don’t play RPGs often can still enjoy the story.
– When you defeat native creatures, they’ll drop equipment that was used by members of BLADE they defeated/killed. Drops obtained from enemies have different abilities and affixes attached to them, some even have unexpected ones! Searching for equipment with amazing abilities by killing enemies can give it a bit of a [loot-focused game] feel.
– You don’t get money for buying equipment from killing monsters. You can sell the materials you get from them, but that doesn’t net you much cash. So, how do you get money on Mira? The Frontier Net, of course. It’s not just for gathering info on the planet. The person who placed the probe receives payments regularly(fixed intervals), from the citizens of NLA who pay a fee to view images and information recorded by the probes. The more Data Probes you set, the more money you make.
The moneymaking occurs in real time, so you’ll make a lot if you just leave the game there and space out!
– There are tons of Doll weapons and armor as well, that you can freely customize.
– Dolls turn into vehicles when dashing. The frame series don’t just differ in vehicle design, their handling and engine sounds change as well.
– I played this review copy for much more than 100 hours, but there was still so much left to see in the game. There were many things we were unable to fit into this review, so we hope you play it yourself to experience all of its limitless fun!

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More: details roundup, Monolith Soft, Xenoblade Chronicles X