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?