It's remarkable to think that the 3DS is now over 10 years old; it was a family of systems that didn't smash sales records like its DS predecessors, but nevertheless won a place in many Nintendo gamer's hearts. It was a handheld with so much personality and neat extras - themes, folders and more - that we'd love to see on Nintendo Switch.
Arguably the best of its features was StreetPass, which encouraged you to take your portable with you everywhere and meet strangers' Mii characters. At the time it was quite a big deal; you could go to hotspots to gather hits, there were StreetPass social groups and game expos were a hotbed of connections. There were various minigames based around it, but the simplest and perhaps most iconic was the StreetPass puzzles. Over time Nintendo released a lot of them, and it took plenty of effort to fill out all of these neat 3D dioramas and images.
It's an activity that evokes strong memories. This writer once recalls lurking outside a Pizza Hut with site boss Damien McFerran just for some hotspot hits, and another occasion passing a fellow NLifer who was on Holiday from the other side of the world; we only realised we'd literally passed in the street when we saw each other's Miis and messaged each other.
Good times, and if you have similar StreetPass memories the video below from The Famicast does what was impossible for most of us back then; it shows every StreetPass puzzle, apart from one Korea-exclusive variant of Rusty's Real Deal Baseball - we'll let them off.
Do you have fond memories of StreetPass on 3DS?
Comments 28
Good to see they're all archived now - finishing them on the hardware is a predictably tall order nowadays. And I'm not holding my breath for Nintendo to dust off the app and update it with all key pieces dropping from coin exchange instead of just StreetPass hits.
As someone who attended convention gatherings a couple times a year, I would spend just about as much time sorting through my Streetpass hits as I would actually attending the convention. I had all of these fully unlocked, which was extremely impressive to like... 2 people I knew, tops. By the time my 3DS was lost and I had a replacement, the number of Streetpasses I'd get from others dropped significantly. I think I was only 2 states away from passing someone in all 50 states of the US.
Watching this brings back some bittersweet memories for my completionist heart.
Loved streetpass puzzles when the 3ds was new. Tried my best to complete every puzzle until they introduced those huge puzzles with a lot of pieces that can only be gotten from other 3ds owners, rarely came across people here in the netherlands so it became too hard to complete all of them.
Streetpass Plaza was one of my favorite gimmicks on the 3DS for a long time. I wish Nintendo would update us with now-almost impossible to obtain pieces, since console support has pretty much been killed
I actually completed the last of my streetpass puzzles last month by way of play coins - at least the ones I had discovered.
I hadn't actually browsed through them yet - I wasn't aware the some of them contained animations like this.
I did encounter a few streetpasses over the last month too - they're naturally much less common nowadays.
I miss Streetpass.
Why did Nintendo think shut downing Nintendo Zone was good idea? It would've benefitted games in Yo-kai Watch series(specifically Yo-kai Watch Blasters Red Cat Corps & White Dog Squad(for the Wayfarer Coliseum(trophies are tied to it)& a chance at Pandanoko)).
What a blast from the past! I had a lot of these complete but not all of them. I went to Best Buy so much trying to get street passes.
worst part is l can't find no one anymore because my sisters 3ds consoles are never used since 2016. I still have 5 unfinished puzzles..
I feel like he could have cleaned his screen before taking this video.
Here's an incredible job, which is even more impressive on the 3D screen.
Wow, I do not remember that Culdcept one at ALL, and America apparently got it according to the list. I must not have been as diligent as I thought.
3DS plus subway commute was so good.
In the prime of the StreetPass era I worked at a movie theater. Always brought it with me to work and I used to get so many hits especially on weekends. It was really cool to get repeat hits too! Whenever the next big kids movie would release I knew my chances for StreetPass hits would skyrocket. There was other businesses nearby so occasionally I'd get hits from employees from those places too. Because of that I was generally always able to complete all the puzzles, mini games etc. with ease Yeah Nintendo should bring something like that back. I can see it easily being another unique feature for the Switch.
StreetPass was a terrific idea that unfortunately didn't seem to catch on in a big way in the US. I carried my 3DS everywhere, and it was sometimes weeks between StreetPass hits. Even a day of traveling through multiple airports would only net me a few contacts. I understand it was a lot more successful in other countries.
I never understood the appeal until my buddy told me to bring my 3ds to campus. Ohhhhhhh that’s how you get street pass hits lol. Took some computer science courses for a year and I was rolling in street pass miis. Loved it.
I absolutely adored the Streetpass games on the 3DS. I don't believe I picked up the last few, but at that point I had largely stopped taking my 3DS with me places. It was a fun concept though.
It was a very cool feature and a great idea.
I was a tagging machine. I had all the Mii Plaza games and took my 3DS with me everywhere. Conventions and trips to Vegas were always big wins. I'd make trips to McDonalds just to snack on fries and enjoy the streetpass tags. I got every puzzle piece and saved the king multiple times. I even got every flower in that dang gardening game.
I always really liked Street Pass.
One year I went to an anime convention and filled in nearly all of my puzzle pieces.
Missing the good old days when I can easily get 10 passes within an hour by just walking around in the city of Tokyo every weekends.
Also the good old days, when I use my phone to find out StreetPass relay point's Wi-Fi MAC address from a few Pokemon Centers/Stores like the one in Tokyo Station, and then setup a HomePass spoofing relay at home to "Street Pass" 5~6 real people everyday just leaving my 3DS home before Nintendo end the service 3 years ago.
And now... no one's bringing their 3DS out.
I miss Streetpass so much. Collecting pieces of these puzzles was like my second full time job!
I completed every one of these (at least those available in the U.S.) and I was darn proud of it. I am also deeply ashamed of it.
I remember getting random hugs at conventions because people were so happy that my Mii had so many pink puzzle pieces that they needed.
It was a delight. I have a full set of completed puzzles or at least ones we got in Canada. We use to have an active meet up group from 2011 to about 2018/2019 that would get together play 3ds and together we worked on and finished the puzzle collection.
I believe when the pandemic ends I will see about getting it back together for a 1 off of gaming.
Thanks for sharing!
neat!
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