Nintendo 3DS eShop getting DLC, demos, and web store

Demos, downloadable content, and a web-based storefront are coming to the Nintendo 3DS eShop, Nintendo president Satoru Iwata has revealed during his latest financial results briefing. Nintendo hopes that these new features will bring both developers and customers to the oft-overlooked digital store.

Iwata explained that, in its current state, the eShop "does not have a great affinity with the social media which are currently being used as a means to spread information." To rectify this, Nintendo plans to make the eShop viewable online.

Initially, it'll be purely a catalog, not selling anything. However, pages will have QR codes to scan with your 3DS, which will take it straight to buy it on the eShop. Ultimately, Nintendo plans to let you buy eShop titles directly from the web, a feature the Xbox 360 currently employs.

With that making users more likely to see games, demos should make them more likely to buy them. Iwata explained that, combined with the eShop's review system, demos will "expand the number of opportunities for consumers to be able to notice the potential and appeal of new software titles."

Support for downloadable content is also long-overdue, with every other modern gaming platform already supporting downloadable add-ons. DLC is hugely popular with developers and publishers for increasing a game's longevity and profitability, so Iwata noted that this "should" lead to more games being developed for the 3DS.

The 3DS is also gaining the ability to continue eShop downloads while in sleep mode.

There's no word on when exactly these new features will launch, but all except the web eShop should arrive in the next 3DS system update.