Written by Hi, my name is Craig, and I’m addicted to StreetPass.
It all started when I saw the green light on the hinge of my 3DS kick on while I was eating my Panda Express. Someone had just walked by with their own system, and for a split second those two systems chatted with each other and traded info from Street Fighter IV, Nintendogs, and the built-in Mii Plaza.
Right then and there, I was hooked. And I didn’t even do anything but carry my system with me.
StreetPass is this unassuming feature of the 3DS, and you won’t know how cool it is until it happens to you. Nintendo advertised this feature right from the start — it’s essentially Tag Mode developed on the Nintendo DS way back in 2004 for the original Nintendogs, but evolved to be aware without the game in the system.
The original Tag Mode was insanely restrictive. To get a transfer, two people have to A) have the game, B) have the game running in its tag mode, C) have the system on them, and D) come within a hundred feet of each other with this criteria. You’re playing the odds that you’ll never get a hit in your entire lifetime.
StreetPass is much more open solution. As long as the mode is enabled, both in your Settings and via the Wireless switch on the side, your Nintendo 3DS is always looking out for other systems, sniffing out data from games that are StreetPass compatible. Nintendogs sends dogs with photos and items. Street Fighter IV trades custom teams of figurines for a turn-based battle. Ridge Racer 3DS hands over ghost data for specific time trial tracks.
After that day of StreetPass initiation, I’ve had my 3DS in my possession. I’ve been on walks and riding my bike in areas that I would expect 3DS systems to be populated. Shopping centers, strip malls, department stores. Every once and a while I’ll get a hit, but some days my system simply looks at me with a shrug.
It does help that I have a housemate who also has a 3DS. Every morning his walk to work takes him just close enough to my docked 3DS so I can get another Mii Plaza visit — and now that our systems are aware of each other after more than two StreetPasses, we can even leave personal messages to each other. I have enough space for “Do the dishes!” but I haven’t used that one yet.
Wondercon swung by the San Francisco area this weekend, and it’s here where I wanted to experience the critical mass. I expected a convention full of comic book nerds to be with 3DS, and they did not disappoint. It was here where I experienced the small limitation of StreetPass: each game has a designated cap of user trades, and once that cap is hit you have to clear it out or no more StreetPassing. At Wondercon I was filling up the 10-person limit in Mii Plaza almost every hour, and Street Fighter IV about every four. These events of tens of thousands isn’t exactly a “real world” scenario for StreetPass, so I tried not to let it spoil me that I was getting 3DS hits every time I walked the convention floor.
And now I look at public 3DS gamers in disgust when I see them playing their systems without the Wi-Fi light blinking. Selfish no-good players trying to conserve batteries WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE??! You’re not doing me any good having a system that’s not giving me the stuff I want.
Today I landed a StreetPass hit at the local Target while shopping for underwear, and that satisfied my craving for the day.
Some words of advice for developers working on StreetPass-compatible games: don’t hide the “Enable” option, or you won’t get many people utilizing it. Have the gamer opt in the second they turn on the game for the first time. Also, don’t be lame in your StreetPass support: give us a reason to designate one of the 12 StreetPass slots in our system to your game. There aren’t 12 games on the 3DS that support the feature, but by this summer we’re going to have to discriminate — especially when Nintendo opens up the 3DS Shop for digital downloads.
Sadly, I live in a pretty small town, and have only gotten one Street Pass hit.
The feature seems really cool and all, but I just don’t see myself getting a lot of mileage from it.
I was pretty pumped to get my first one until I realized it was the BestBuy store 3DS. I can’t wait for PAX Prime this year. There will be hundreds if not thousands of virtual people to meet and greet with.
I too have the craving. A few video game and entertainment shops in my city seem to always have a system there on and ready to Street Pass Mii up
.
It’s not just Streetpass either, just the fact it’s in my pockets counting steps and getting me coins means regardless of Street Pass I’ll always end any day out with some form of progress.
I didn’t know there was only 12 Street Pass slots. Although that’s definitely a broad enough number, there has never been a system in my life were I’ve been able to say “these are the 12 games I’m playing on it regularly at the moment”.
Plus I’m sure some games will be much more easy to dismiss the need for it from as time goes on. Ridge Racer 3D does an alright job at catering to any racing game genre needs I could have right now (from launch expectations anyway), and I’ve already received some “ghosts” from people via Street Pass. Although as nice as those ghost times are, they pretty trivial when it comes to my enjoyment with that game, and the single player career is quite a hefty feat in itself, so I will have no hard decision in turning that off as time goes on.
Although that could just be my opinion?
Still, 12 “Street Pass” slots is a lot less of a worry to me than the claustrophobic feeling Nintendo installed in many of us when we realised we’d not have enough space for as many channels and Virtual Console games that some of us wanted to have available at our disposal without any sort of data management run around.
hi this is tyler and i have games for my 3ds my mum had to go to the job center so i went with her i was playing mario3d land whe a ? went on a wold so i went there i sore a new game and it said it was from kracy i wnent to my home and it went green i went to my plasa and there was a mii and i got a puzzle and other games he was the firt mii in my plasa and still is
The streetpass feature sure seems awesome, but I’ve yet to get any hits. I’ve been trying to play Find Mii on only 10 playcoins a day. Kinda difficult.
Hoping fairly soon I’ll start getting hits.
I wish I could get hooked on it….
but….the only hit I got was with a friend to test it…
and I’ve walked passed literally thousands of people since I got it…
Lots of potential, but they should have enabled streetpass by default.
I haven’t left the house with my 3DS yet – but I work at a busy international airport and own all three StreetPass games you mentioned. I’m hoping to start farming the hits while at work!
I agree completely with the last bit. I missed out on some SSFIV action with my first few StreetPass encounters solely because I had never opted in to it. At least I know to look for it now, but I have to wonder how many people with SSFIV aren’t battling me cause they didn’t know to activate it?
Every time I got StreetPass’d, I felt dirty on the inside.
Seriously though, StreetPass is pretty awesome. At the same time, unless you live in a big city, goes to school, or live on campus, it’s difficult to really take advantage of the feature.
I really need to hop on the StreetPass wagon (not quite a bandwagon yet, but it’s a wagon nonetheless, and an appealing one). It’s such an ingenious feature, and my Mii Plaza seriously needs some love.
StreetPass sounds like a cool feature. I can’t wait to give it a shot!
I have already had 7 street passes. Each time I was surprised because I didn’t recall going past a person with a 3DS (Except 1). Best built in feature to the 3DS.
Between street pass and the pedometer, the 3DS encourages me to get out a lot more in hopes of passing by fellow people and getting coins while I prevent muscular atrophy.
I totally agree! I was thrilled on Monday when I got two hits at the doctors office then another 2 at a local Gamestop. I didn’t even realise it until my commute home. I find when I’m less busy I check to see if I’ve been tagged more often too.
I just realized that I should start wandering around San Francisco in hopes of getting the coveted Craig Mii! So far I’ve only picked up people at odd places (like at a supermarket for example), but I have to admit that I too am addicted to Street Pass, carrying my 3DS every place and taking every excuse to go places even if I don’t need too.
I’ve gotten 2 StreetPass hits so far, I believe one actually happened while driving in my car. The other, walking around a mall. After only these 2 encounters, I’m hooked. I carry my 3DS everywhere, and any time I pull it out of my pocket my heart yearns to see that little green light shining. The Play Coin system is rewarding even when I don’t get a StreetPass hit. I can only hope these Play Coins I am hoarding come into play in my favorite titles.
I’ll bet the fanboys who get you in their mii plaza have little geekgasms when they see it’s you. You’re Craig freakin Harris! Bonus! Are you ever going to post your QR code so the rest of us can have him too?
I work at Rockefeller Center so I’m always trolling the Nintendo Store with my 3DS. Lots of pings. The downside is they’re mostly tourists so you never get a repeat. I still haven’t seen the functionality that let’s you send messages.
Does anyone else think it’s weird that you can’t import your friend list into your mii plaza? Or send them mii mail?
If you go to Craig’s MyIGN Blog he has a QR Code there..
My first tag I got while walking around one of the very large malls in my city (Toronto) and just yesterday I got 3 tags. At least one of them was while I was in the Subway, I’m sure of it, the other 2 while walking around downtown. Even more interesting is that the final 2 tags were at the exact same time and both people had just played SSF4 last. I don’t recall walking past a pair of guys playing out in the open, but I’m guessing they had to be friends who both had their systems on them, lol.
Yo street pass is the illest! I live in NYC, so the walk to the subway in the morning covers my 10 coins, and it feels thrilling to get those hits, especially if there’s a fun message waiting, such as “Fellow finance worker?” or something semi-personal to that effect.
if you want louds of play coins do not walk shake the 3ds or spin it it workes i do it in bed so i dont drop it on the floor:.)
my 3ds freind code is 472584163308 please comont your freind code
evry think in my life is amasing but one little thing is the best my 3ds i love it but i hate it but its so good my code for this is 83vk eamale is samowenty@mns.com