
It's obvious Nintendo is trying to build out a solid digital platform. Does this include free to play games and downloadable content?

The rejection is non-final (and even when such rejections are labeled as “final”, the process is far from over, given that there can be, at minimum, an appeal to the Federal Circuit).
Good, as they should! A game mechanic like that shouldn't be locked behind a patent, and Nintendo didn't invent it either.
Nintendo wants to keep wasting money on bullshit lawsuits, real smart in this economy. They should put that money aside for other game projects. On the other hand, I don't care if they waste it all either, and they are screwed in the future maybe that will teach them a lesson.

Nintendo completed its share repurchase and set its secondary offering price at 8,347 yen ahead of March 16 delivery.

Nintendo filed a lawsuit in the United States Court of International Trade.
Nintendo of America is suing the United States government over the sweeping tariffs President Donald Trump put in place last year, according to a complaint filed Friday in the U.S. Court of International Trade and obtained by Aftermath.
LOL I read this on gaff, will they refund the money back to the gamers? highly unlikely. Didn't they just raise prices and pass it onto the gamers? Only Nintendo would send out the Ninjas to the US government.
It seems pretty obvious Nintendo would go the route of free to play and DLC. Like the article says, I think Nintendo could possibly offer some great options for f2p and dlc, but I just hope they don't do it halfheartedly like their past online initiatives.
FTP and sell DLC? no thank, the last thing i need is bunch of cheap guy bombbard my mail box claim that they play same game with me and ask me for share them the DLC
The author seems completely oblivious to the fact that the 3DS has had unpaid DLC for a long time and paid DLC for a few months now.
If they sold the digital versions of retail games at a lower price, like Steam, then it could work wonders, and provide great incentive for a digital purchase, being how digital sales make more money for developers.