As part of today's surprise Nintendo Direct Mini broadcasts, both Nintendo of America and its European counterpart confirmed a Nintendo Zone StreetPass Enhancement to help all 3DS owners make the most of the functionality.
Said to be on the way "in a few weeks" on both sides of the Atlantic, this upgrade will use the thousands of free Nintendo Zone hotspots in both regions as StreetPass Relays; when you pass a hotspot you'll receive a StreetPass of the last 3DS owner to walk past, and the next person will receive your data, and so on. It'll be the usual data exchange, so it'll include Mii Plaza characters and puzzle pieces, as well as goodies for your applicable StreetPass-enabled games.
It's designed to help those who get few hits to enjoy StreetPass more, which is certainly welcome for a lot of 3DS owners. We'll keep an eye out for details of when this new StreetPass Relay service will go live.
Comments 50
Makes it easier to get street passes
I kinda feel like that takes the magic away from a Streetpass hit, but hey, I need the puzzle pieces.
Erm, wasn't this announced like a couple months ago? Whatever, at least I can finish those darn puzzles a little easier soon.
I already get a decent amount of streetpasses thanks to lots of friends/family with 3DS, but having the opportunity to have even more rocks. I might actually enjoy shopping... in some places... with Nintendo Zone.
As for the Magic thing @Itsa, you hardly ever see the person you pass with in a store/mall/etc anyway, so what's the diff? Just means now you don't have to be at the right place at the right time. Just the right place at some point.
This will totally help me out where I live!
SWEET!!!
Thank HEAVENS! Now maybe I'll start filling out puzzles faster than they release new ones!
Do you need to log in to Nintendo Zone or just pass it?
Sounds nice, wish they had these in Australia. Although I am starting to get some StreetPasses regularly in my own town, which never used to happen.
The only problem I see with this happens when (for instance) you and a family member walk into a McDonald's. One of you may get a new Streetpass. The other will get nothing. Presumably I just streetpassed my friend. I will get the new Streetpass and he will get nothing since he all ready streetpassed me and the Streetpass clock hasn't reset yet.
Huh. So if you were the last person to pass the hotspot, could you streetpass yourself?
Anyway, this is good news, because I need the help with all these new puzzles. ._."
@WingedFish yes they were but no time frame was given. Sounds like its almost here now. I did however was hoping for more then just one hit at a time. Was hoping it held up to 10 and bumped the first one off as you pass it.
@XCWarrior The magic is knowing someone near you has a 3DS. For instance, yesterday I was on a train and got a StreetPass. That's a common occurrence where I live, but still - it made me look up from where I was sitting, look around, and find a middle-aged woman sitting a few rows ahead of me playing her 3DS. She was playing Animal Crossing. Awesome.
As opposed to just seeing their virtual avatar pass by with a tiny greeting...
Lives 4 blocks down from a McDonalds woo.
Wait, if you rename your internet to become a nintendo zone, can it become a streetpass relay system too? (I doubt it but it would be cool)
@darklink604 No registration needed
That, of course, isn't to say this improvement isn't welcome.
I love that it's here.
StreetPass may work easily in Japan, but for everywhere else, for most people, it's near impossible to get a single StreetPass in a day.
I can get 5 StreetPasses a day easily. If I wanted to, I could get 20 in a day by going to the right areas. And if there's an event, it's normal for me to get 100 StreetPasses.
But that's because I live in a major city. I know that definitely isn't the case for most others. Definitely for the better that this is implemented.
While I'm glad they're making Streetpass easier in the West, I am a little disappointed that the relays look like they'll only retain one person's data. The thought of going to Best Buy and leaving with 10 Streetpass hits was pretty awesome...
I thought it would hold more than just 1 StreetPass hit. I thought I'd go to my local best buy or McDonalds and wind up getting like 4 or 5 hits.... Just the last person to be there is kinda terrible....
I'm so excited to take advantage of this. I pass by five Nintendo Zones on my way to school including one that's on campus, so I should be getting a healthy amount of StreetPasses once I get back in the fall.
I wonder how this will work...
I dare say it all happens cleverly through the 3DS rather than the hotspots themselves, as the 3DS knows to automatically connect to a hotspot with an SSID of "_The Cloud" and no security.
So by that means it might know to automatically store streetpass info in that hotspot somehow.
What I'm saying is, if Streetpass Relay needs no configuration on the part of the hotspot holder, be it a Greggs or a Starbucks or something, it's entirely possible that people could set up their own Streetpass Relays at home, the same way you can create your own Nintendo Zones at home.
If McDonald would just get a few 3DS devices up and running, no need for Streetpass Relay, and we can get more than one hit per visit. I always get hit when I visit Gamespot or Target, because the sales person has one or a demo unit was sitting there.
Ah, this is just what they did with the first Nintendogs game on DS. Remember that feature where you could "walk your dog" by closing the system and whoever you passed, also with the game, would see your dog? At a Gamestop once they had a Nintendogs Relay set up on one of the in-store DS systems. It looked like I was the only one who did it that day, but I did get to play with Hayley Duff's dog! (I guess they start the thing with a celeb or something.
A bit disappointing that you can only get one hit. I suppose if you went around a town centre, you might get a lot of hits. Would they be from different people? I suppose that depends on how popular the stations are and how big the town is. Still, this is a step in the right direction. At least it will be possible to Streetpass someone other than my own consoles! However, that accomplishment list looks like there may be spaces to get 11,000-30,000 etc hits. One every day for 30 000 days is going to take just over 82 years! Even 2 a day is longer than the battery is going to last. I really hope those accomplishments are something else .....Maybe number of hits from a relay station? Please? At least something possible...
Ouch. I thought it stored so many people for awhile. So, say - it has 5 people stored currently when you show up, then you get 5 passes. Guess I greatly misunderstood the last news on this..
I hardly ever get StreetPass tags, so this is good news I guess
2 Nintendo Zones within 10 minutes of my house.
doesn't apply to me though since this is a US only thing.
If you hit up one of the Zelda concerts be sure to take your 3DS.
While it would be cool if you were able to get multiple from one point I'll take the extra streetpasses where I can get them.
I try to hit up the gaming shops in the area in case other gamers or the staff their have them on. A couple places used to have demo units running but they've either turned the feature off or don't keep the demo plugged in anymore for some reason. (Which honestly meant I stopped going over there so often.)
I am curious to whether or not if I've streetpassed a person who is with me, if we will both get a streetpass at the Nintendo Zone or if only one will and then the other won't because it hasn't been long enough between us streetpassing again for the system to take it.
I am also curious to see if you could potentially streetpass yourself, as that would just be interesting. Or maybe the Zone does store a few Mii's but then only hands off one that your 3DS will take?
This is very cool. Where I live I only street pass a single person maybe once every 2 months or so.
I always get StreetPass hits everyday but now I will visit those places with those relay spots a lot more so I can rack them up. I need more pieces since Nintendo released new panels recently.
I'll have a few Nintendo Zones at my college campus and I've got a handful by my parent's house. Not counting the vast amount scattered around my area... Loving this so far. Hope it's active before September!
@mumof3kids82
It's in Europe too!
Excellent. I walk by a Starbucks twice a day every day, going to and from work, so that means a guaranteed two hits every day.
Good to hear!
AH finally!
I never get streetpasses so I hope this will help me get some more.
Great, another reason to hit starbucks everyday.
This sounds fun. I'm near about three nintendozones everyday so it'll help me alot
You guys are lucky. I live in a country that has NO nintendo zone at ALL
Crap. I'm in the biggest city in Switzerland and apparently the closest Nintendo Zone hotspot is about 80 miles away. Looks like Switzerland got shafted - again
Hotspot finder can be found here: http://www.nintendo.co.uk/Nintendo-3DS/Download-Content/Hotspot-Finder/Hotspot-Finder-116574.html
sounds good to me
It's totally awesome that my work is a Nintendo Zone Hotspot! Thanks!
Oh, hallelujah. I could use some puzzle pieces - I still need to finish about 14 puzzles.
@UnseatingKDawg
I only finished one. I have ALOT more to get through
that's awesome
If its going to happen in a few weeks I'm guessing it'll be after August 10th. Which is the last day they're doing that Best Buy Nintendo Zone dlc for Animal Crossing.
That is...
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awesome!
Unlikely to feature here on the Isle of Man
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