Video: We Hereby Declare That 2023 Will Be The Year Of 3DS StreetPass

Zion didn't say it, he declared it!

Street pass would have been a great addition to the Switch. I think Nintendo didn't exploit the portable benefits on the Switch as much as they did with the 3DS, and that's what makes the console stand out from the rest of its generation.

It’s time to let go of the 3DS now. It’s had its time, let’s move on

@Bl4ckb100d,

Not sure it has a massive mass market appeal, but I guess more features are always welcome, a bit like the Mii's on the Switch, nice addition, but pretty redundant with the cool avatar's on offer.

Yes, more StreetPasses please!

No one is going to do this lol.

I feel like my Puzzle Panels are doomed to forever be incomplete. Still, anything to support the 3DS is a good thing. I agree with this sentiment.

The gaming device I decide to bring around with me is generally the one I'm currently playing a game on. During the heyday of StreetPass, I was playing a lot of Pokémon Gen 6, so I had my 3DS with me all the time.

But there were times during the 3DS era where I also brought my GBA SP around with me too - mostly when I was playing a lot of Rhythm Tengoku GBA. I was kinda obsessed with that game for a while lol.
...This was also when I was buying a lot of JP games on eBay too, so I remember also bringing Pocket Puyo Puyo Sun for GBC with me and playing it on the SP. Heheh...

Nowadays, I bring my Switch with me, mostly because what I want to play is so conveniently on Switch.

However there are still a few 3DS games I still need to play - during the big eShop closure rush, I did purchase Radiant Historia Perfect Chronology... And I still haven't yet played Bravely Default, Ever Oasis, Fire Emblem Echoes Shadows of Valentia, Dragon Quests 7 and 8, and a few other 3DS RPGs that I've been meaning to get around to...
So if and when I get around to these games - sure, I may bring my 3DS around for that purpose.

...but I'm sorry, I'm not brining my 3DS around for the sole purpose of StreetPass, when I'm not really playing anything on it.

I actually had several StreetPass hits over here less than a month ago, although that was at a local con. One of my students this year has been carrying around a 3DS, too.

That said, I have yet to import another 3DS battery here, and the current one is already worn out to the point where it can barely last 24 hours in sleep mode even with disabled wireless. And I don't even have many games that make use of the feature outside Smash Bros For and the Plaza (wish the latter was patched to offer ALL puzzle pieces in the coin gacha, but I'm not holding my breath).

I started playing my 3DS again on the side to make it through all the Pokemon games I missed (wasn't a fan till gen. 8) and I will admit that I miss streetpass.

Hang on to your 3DS guys! Going to be a big collectors item in the near future.

I still take my N3DS around with me in my bag most of the time, but I don't leave it in sleep mode because it's pretty poor at battery power preservation, and I don't intend to compromise the life of the battery for the slim chance of a street pass.

Plus, once you've got custom firmware on your 3DS, the advice is to disable street pass to minimize the chance of getting clobbered with anti-cfw measures.

If you want to really grow this, then it might not be a bad idea to start a dreaded tiktok account. I know I know, its horrible and i actually deleted it myself a few months ago but this is exactly the kind of thing i saw get brought to light there.

@Jacoby DS games are already extremely expensive, and I see 3ds games following the same trend

After attending a few gaming conventions, I was able to collect all puzzle pieces and 100% clear Find Mii 1 & 2. That one got stolen from me, and after I got a replacement and had to start fresh, I didn't even turn on Streetpass again after that.

3DS remains to be packed full of more features than the Switch, and to this day feels like a more complete system.

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE! I take my 3DS with me everywhere, everyday, at home and on holidays (I go away a lot) but have never got all the StreetPass Puzzles.
I think the last hit I had was over a year or two ago, but can't help myself, always hopeful

Switch 2 with 3D and Streetpass please!

Sad news, I've been taking mine out for years in my laptop bag. I would have my wife throw it in her purse for shopping trips and stuff like that. I haven't gotten a hit in like three years.

@Bunkerneath
Keep on walking and exchange the coins for the missing tiles.
Buy more 3DS's and carry them with you and exchange tiles to complete it.
There should be 63 puzzles to collect:
https://nintendo.fandom.com/wiki/Puzzle_Swap#List_of_puzzles

@Bulborb Some are StreePass only and I cannot buy anymore

I take my 3DS everywhere but I live in the middle of nowhere, so it has always been rare to get one.

I used to be able to go to Walmart and flip on the wireless mode of their demo unit and farm passes off of that, though.

I am ok with letting the 3ds rest. It had its time in the sun.

I appreciate the mission, respect it too.

But alas, my 3DS has been stored in a drawer for the last few years, and I doubt it'll ever see the light of day again for use. Only for display purposes in the next decade.

i don't think any dedicated gaming system ever had this much fun features out of the box without inserting or installing an actual game. Face Raiders, AR minigames, Streetpass games, the 3d camera,... Still use my 3ds regularly, and I've had one from day one. I did transfer my data a couple of times (for the XL, and later the N3DS and N3DS XL models). When I still lived in the city, the local gamestore chain had Streetpass relay, so just walking in maxed out my Streetpass. I also went to conventions back then, and I could open my 3ds every 5 minutes and find it maxed out again. My partner back then also had one, and we always made sure to collect different puzzle pieces and then share them when "Streetpassing" at home. Now it's just a great gaming device with still unique features that are still underrated (3d) and still exclusive masterpieces of games I'm sure most of, if not all of us, still have to play several of.

Streetpass was so fun….I wish they at least had a suite of mini games like this for the Switch…

I would love for this to be true. But alas, I don't think there are enough people left to make it really work.

I carried my 3DS everywhere — and knew all the places where I could get stored Street Pass hits (McDonald's, Barnes & Nobles, Best Buy, etc.). But one-by-one, those systems ceased to provide visitors (new or returning) to my plazza. And after visiting Vermont and not getting any hits, I had to use my back-up 3DS to complete my US map — and that was more than five years ago.

I still play my 3DS. But it now stays home.

Haven’t played my 3DS since yesterday,

I went to a VGC event in French Perth and got like a gazillion hits. It was awesome, and I completed the sword and sorcery game.

The airport was always a good place to get international pings too.

@MS7000 I still have quite a few to finish myself, but I was smart enough to make sure that I got all of the pink tiles (which can only be unlocked via StreetPass) first.

All I have left now are blue tiles, which I can unlock with Play Coins, which can be acquired by just walking around with my 3DS in my pocket.

It might take a while, though, as it's always a random tile on whichever board you choose, so you might get one that you already unlocked. But it is possible.

@AstroTheGamosian I used play coins for the first few panels, but I never managed to get all of the pink panels unfortunately. I am kind of hoping that maybe Nintendo will do a last minute update where pink panels could be acquired with play coins when they are ready to shutdown the 3DS servers entirely as I don't realistically think I will encounter anyone who has them.

Is my console only a couple years younger than me? Yes. Will I be participating in this? Why of course.

I got a lot of Street Passes at Pax West, maybe we got each other. Won't be everyday, but I be bringing it out fa sho.

I just recently bought all the streetpass mini plaza dlc games.
I wish I could help but I live in the middle of nowhere.

I bet in 10 years time the 3DS will have a much bigger cult following than the Switch.
It might even go down as the last 'Quirky' Nintendo console ever.

Challenge accepted. Once i find my 2DS XL. The same one that Zion has. It’s not fun when you misplace your console right after purchasing Kid Icarus Uprising for over $70.

EDIT: It has been found. So far a singular Streetpass from my friend who also has a 3DS.

I take my 2ds with me a lot. I love playing Rusty's Real Deal Baseball in the park during summer months. I find the Switch a little too big to take with me. I've actually been looking to buy a 3ds.

I remember getting the max 10 people for streetpass after only five minutes walking around in Osaka or Tokyo. I'd always have to clear them out whenever I stopped. Streetpasses really died down for me in 2019. One day I only got the same guy twice in Osaka.

Hmmm I’ll bite. I’ve been taking it out with me on most trips anyway to get those Play Coins as I’ve purchased all the Streetpass games now so I really need a lot of play coins to enjoy them. I’ve decided to probably just focus on playing on my 3ds from now on instead of caring about the Switch as I don’t want to support Nintendo too much now after the piece of ***** they’ve been for a good while now. These last 3ds and Wii U eshop purchases are the last bit of money they will get out of me

Thanks to NL's (purposefully) limited commenting system, you'll just have to imagine a gif of "Michael from The Office Declaring Bankruptcy."

@tseliot I was thinking more "George Harrison saying it's been done from The Simpsons"

They really need to bring this feature to the switch since you can bring the switch anywhere I think this would be a cool and fun feature.

@6thHorizon I think that will be the Wii U as their last quirky system. For all of it's flaws it is amazing. It almost feels like a PSP/Vita is more weird than a Switch from what I know but I never owned one, only a couple people I saw at school and my cousin

I likely couldn't get this to work in my area since it's more open. But I do have friends and family I could force to get out their 3ds's if we ever want to. This brings back memories

@Mattock1987 No.

I'll help over here in Muskegon. I shall prepare to go on more walks.

@MS7000 Honestly, considering how Nintendo is basically in the middle of shutting down all online functionality for the 3DS, I highly doubt they will release any updates beyond stability improvements at this point. And even those will stop coming out, too.

Basically, your best bet at this point is to schedule a meetup with someone who has a 3DS and StreetPass them that way.

@MS7000 I was sooooo close when the pandemic hit. I fear this will be a lifetime near-miss! =>)

Part of me doesn't want to go through this again. I live in a rural area of the USA and getting StreetPasses was a Herculean task. I'm honestly glad that the Switch does not have it.

Part of me knows that I'm the perfect person to do this because I've completed all of the puzzles and have the StreetPass-exclusive Eon Ticket on Pokemon OmegaRuby & AlphaSapphire.

I already bring mine everywhere, but rarely get any hits anymore. I think I might've gotten two the last time we went to an anime convention.

At least I've got all the puzzle pieces. I still need to 100% some of the other StreetPass games, but I can do that with coins.

@EllaTheKawaiiNeko Oh, so it was you!

streetpass was a super cool feature but i wouldn't carry around my switch as much as my 3ds, they should make it a part of their smartphone nintendo app

how about a good simple adapter for the 3DS so my old eyes can play on a bigger top screen?

Maybe the Switch 2 can have a 3DS slot and then you use it like a Wii U with the switch as the touch screen lower and your TV as the top?

It's about time the people are reminded of Nintendo's best handheld console, and Nintendo's greatest era. Don't just leave it in your bag while outside, take it out and play it!

Waiting in a long line for something and you're bored of scrolling on Twitter? Pop open your 3DS and play your favourite game! (Just make sure your sound is off..)

Plus, it's a great nostalgia trip every single time. For me, Tomodachi Life will never get boring.

The state I live in is very sparsely populated, so my only hope for getting tagged was to pop into a McDonalds or other 3DS Streetpass Zone. That or going to a convention. I did manage to complete every puzzle, so I'm super-proud of that.

I miss street pass! Going to conventions i knocked out almost every puzzle and hat

I still bring my 3DS with me to work hoping in vain I get some StreetPasses. Not to mention, my internet hates the 3DS so I have to download stuff for it at work.
The most StreetPasses I've gotten have been when I go to a tech market in another city when I visit my sister. My 3 hours in the market net me about 15-20 StreetPasses.

This is definitely a feature that should've been on Switch.

Every con I go to still have groups that do that. I want to buy a new 3ds but they jumped up so much in price. I was lucky a few years back to grab the hyrule edition 3ds and the 2ds that came with Mario kart 7. When I looked up how much that Zelda one goes for I put it in its box to collect. Though I love the feel of a 2ds in my hands, I couldn’t deal with the screen size.

I'm in!
(putting more words so the form won't complain)

StreetPass was such a great feature, prior to this I never carried any of my handhelds with me. The games had me hooked and managed to complete the Puzzles and Quest 1 and 2. I loved seeing the green light flash, it was nice to know there was another 3DS-er nearby. At trade shows/Expo it was a way to break the ice and strike up a conversation with someone, I still keep in contact with some people I met this way. Living outside of London the Nintendo Zones helped, I did however attend the National Street Pass Day at Waterloo Station in September 2013. They had the arch from the game and there was a steady flow of people joining in.
I still carry my 3DS around with me every day, and even got a hit a few months back! Despite having multiple thousands of StreetPass hits I never completed the Accomplishments. I have just checked my total step count and am up to 17,439,080.

Already way ahead. I’ve been carrying my 3DS everywhere for like the past decade.

Ah streetpass, I still carry mine some.

@MS7000 yeah, mine will be too. I never had enough friends to really take advantage of the street pass and even during the height of the 3DS even if I took it out and about with me I rarely ever got any street pass hits, I could literally travel to the nearest city and still get no hits so I could only rely on my sister and my friend who had 3ds'. As much as I'd love to see the DS make a return I don't think it's gonna happen especially with them taking down the Estore in a couple months, while people like you and me may still play for nostalgia I can see the end for the DS coming soon.

My Nintendo 3DS XL - Legend of Zelda Majora's Mask Special Edition is much too... special... to take out of the house.

I had a great time with Streetpass. Manage to collect all of the hats, puzzles, flowers, fish, everything! Did need to use my girlfriend's (now wife's) 3DS to get the last few ingredients for the Chef game, but it was worth it.

I'd probably do this if I still lived in a city, but I moved to a smaller town in the Scottish Borders last year, so the chances of me crossing paths with anyone else with a 3DS seems sadly quite remote now.

Apple and Google’s Covid Bluetooth pinging was basically street pass in functionality; why not leverage the massive user base of smartphones and release ‘Nintendo Streetpass’ as a mobile title?

You could create a Mii (please bring back Miitomo!) and then they could offer the Quest and Puzzle games for free and the rest as DLC packs. Heck, why not put Play Coins in there that feed back to the Nintendo app so you can spend them on in-game stuff on the Switch?

I still tend to carry my 3DS when I’m out and about but rarely get any hits on StreetPass unless I’m at PAXEast or at a retro show. At those times, I can still rack up 40 or 50 pretty quickly

@SwitchVogel We can do this! We can make the world Street Pass friendly!

@Mattock1987 "It’s time to let go of the 3DS now. It’s had its time, let’s move on" NEVER! It's still my go to portable (just took a trip to Taiwan with my 3DS, Switch stayed home) and I'm still buying games for it.

I'll be the one person in Japan to do this! I hope to see that green light at least once before 2024!

Heck yes. I'll be wandering around Anchorage and the MatSu Valley for y'all.

I am gonna use my old 3DS (Since the new one I got a few years ago has all my games)and set it up to see how many streetpass I can get. And instead of seeing how many until the end of the year, I am gonna do a monthly review and compare results using the hashtags MakeStreetpassGreenAgain and BringStreetpassBack so we can be part of this wonderful journey alongside Zion.

I remember Streetpass, don't remember ever really getting anything on it though. Guess I was too old by the time that was a thing to be walking around with a handheld console everywhere.

Everyone should bring their 3DS to gaming conventions!

@Ziondood I'm certainly onboard; I have literally every puzzle piece and I'm sure there are plenty who have a few left uncompleted!

Just last year, we were talking about the trendiness of capturing video through the 3DS video recorder!

https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2022/05/random-people-are-recording-concerts-on-their-3ds-consoles-and-we-love-it

Guess its time to ride on the trend by further making the 3DS our daily driver through Streetpass!

Ill play my part and bring around 3 systems

@Asaki What was me?

@EllaTheKawaiiNeko StreetPasses in Muskegon.
I'm just kidding though, it probably wasn't you.

@Asaki Probably wasn't me who you got that Streetpass from. I haven't tooken my precious 3ds outside in a few years. But I'll deffinitely start taking it everywhere. I'll take it on walks to the store, I'll take it on drives to Walmart (With my brother taking me, I'm too young to drive) and pretty muhc everywhere. Muskegon is small and stuff, but if I'm lucky, I'll get a Streetpass.

I still play 3DS a lot, my DSi screen edges started fading so now I have more reason to play on the 3DS.

I still would like to get the bulky 2DS, if only to have a sturdier version of the console, the clamshell feels like it will snap and the trigger buttons make it so that pocketing the thing could break them, which is mostly the reason I don't do streetpass anymore.

I have fond memories of playing KH:DDD and Smash, but it's the backwards compatibility that really made this system for me. Whether it's DS or 3D Genesis games there is always something to play on the thing.

Sorry to be a downer on this, but I see StreetPass as a relic of a bygone era — a gimmick not unlike the Nintendo e-Reader for the Game Boy Advance or the Game Boy Camera/Printer. Was StreetPass mildly enjoyable in its heyday? Sure. Do I ever think about it now that I've owned a Switch for a while? Nope.

@Bunkerneath

i still keep my 3ds (or both, lol) with me on travels to entertain me on train/plane. Now ofc few years travels abroad have been non-existing but so was hits last time I travelled D: I was sad. I never really go hits in my country even in cities and my travels abroad were only chance (and ofc somethign like Video Games Live concert or Symphony of the Goddesess concert)

...is this a threat-

That never worked here even back when people knew what a 3DS was.

The switch may have one of the best game libraries since SNES, but I still truly miss the Nintendo style charm and quirkyness the 3DS and Wii U era had. I brought my 3DS to high school almost every day once I got one late freshman year. I remember going to a Pokemon X and Y midnight release and raking in tons of street passes, and then playing X and Y til the wee hours of the morning with my friend.

Also I was thrilled when I finally finished every puzzle in streetpass, but at some point when I was... Future-proofing my 3DS, if you know what I mean, I somehow lost all of my spotpass puzzles. It still hurts.

I am totally on board with this! I'll be representing London.
Nice idea.

@Mattock1987 The 3DS is a console that just doesn't get old. It's handy and convenient and can be used to play a Nintendo's huge library of games on numerous classic consoles.

It doesn't make Nintendo money anymore, but the gaming potential of the 3DS spans far beyond simply 3DS games, giving it endless potential. I still recommend purchasing this device if you're a fan of Nintendo. The games it can potentially run is mind-boggling.

The 3DS is dead as far as Nintendo is concerned, but who says you need to follow suit? When Nintendo shut down the virtual store, they were also saying, “It's time to say goodbye,” but it's still alive and doing well amongst various gaming communities. Anyone still playing the 3DS from time to time likely understand how nice it is to have.

Get my first Streetpass of 2023 yesterday (January 26th). I'm so happy !

I’m also going to do this now.