Street Pass: Nintendo Plans To Extend Network In North America And Europe

StreetPass

Although extremely popular in Japan, Street Pass has had less of an impact in the west.  In fact, in comparison, very few people in North America and Europe even use the street pass feature.  However, Nintendo has plans to change that.  In an E3 Analyst Briefing, Nintendo stated that they plan to release software that will help take advantage of over 28,000 wireless access points in North America and 24,000 in Europe by utilizing Wi-Fi hotspots in well known establishments such as Starbucks and McDonald’s.

“This will involve taking a Nintendo 3DS system in Sleep Mode to an access point which will then connect automatically and send StreetPass data to a server. At the same time, the Nintendo 3DS system also receives the StreetPass data of another user from the server. In this setting, data is not exchanged directly, but rather through a StreetPass relay station.”

Nintendo went on to explain more.

“Previously the StreetPass feature required multiple Nintendo 3DS systems in Sleep Mode to be in the same location at the same time, but in this framework, you can exchange data with others by visiting the same location even at a different time, so we can certainly expect the use rate of the StreetPass feature to grow significantly.”

I actually took my 3DS XL out last night to an outdoor music event, hoping to meet some new Miis.  There was quite a crowd, so I hoped to meet at least one or two.  Instead, I got home to find that I didn’t meet any locals, but instead I was visited by Tanabe.  Actually, since E3 I have been visited by Tanabe, Hayashida, Tezuka, and Iwata.

Do you use spot pass often?  Will you use it more once the software is updates later this year?

Since we are talking about the 3DS, don’t forget we have  a friend code section in our forums!

Essel Pratt has spent his life exploring his imagination and dreams. As a Husband and a Father, he doesn't have as much time to write as he would like. However, his mind is always plotting out his next story. Someday he hopes to quit the 9-5 grind and focus on writing full time. Currently, Essel has three published short stories and is working on a handful of novels. Essel focuses his writings on mostly Horror/Sci-Fi, however is known to add a dash of other genres into his writings as well. In his spare time, he can be found playing one of the 40+ video game consoles in his collection, especially his Wii U (NNID: EsselPratt). Click the links below to follow Essel's exploits in the writing world, and be sure to follow his blog at http://esselpratt.blogspot.com/ as well as his articles on Nerdzy.com.