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Nintendo keeps things PG on the 3DS, kills off Swapnote's internet messaging
It's no secret that the 3DS' Swapnote app makes it easy to exchange salacious images, but that's apparently news to Nintendo. The company has shut down internet-based SpotPass messaging in Swapnote after discovering that online forum goers were using the feature to trade in "offensive material." The move will keep children safe and provide a friendly environment for everyone, Nintendo says. We're surprised that it took so long for the gaming giant to shut down a Swapnote feature that was risky by its very nature, but the closure is at least coming in time to reassure legions of gift-giving parents.
Nintendo shuts down SpotPass features for Swapnote on 3DS
Nintendo has abruptly shut down the SpotPass functionality for Swapnote on 3DS, noting that players were "exchanging their friend codes on Internet bulletin boards" and then using SwapNote to "exchange offensive material." SpotPass allowed players to exchange photos directly with others using the app. "Nintendo always wants to provide a positive experience for all consumers and limit the risk of any inappropriate activity or misuse of a service," Nintendo noted in an announcement on its site. "We feel it is important on this occasion to take this action." The service was stopped as of 7:00 p.m. PT today, and is effective for all regions. Nintendo said it will "work to ensure more consumers are aware of our Parental Control features" for the handheld system, pointing out that minors were among those exchanging offensive material. "We are very sorry for any inconvenience to the many consumers who have been using this service responsibly; however this decision was made considering the point that many minors also use this feature of Swapnote," the company added.
New StreetPass games make $4 million in a month
StreetPass enthusiasts have spotpassed $4 million to Nintendo by purchasing its four new Mii Plaza games for the 3DS, Siliconera reports. Nintendo President Satoru Iwata shared the sales data with Toko Keizai Online during an interview this week. Mii Force, Flower Town, Warrior's Way, and Monster Manor mark Nintendo's first experiment with pay-to-play Miiverse games. The previously released Find Mii 2 was introduced in a free firmware update. The new Miiverse games are $5 apiece or $15 bundled together. With the exception of Warrior's Way, we were generally pleased with what they offer. Considering Nintendo's plans to store StreetPass relay data in Nintendo Zone stations, these games might be enjoyable for those of you unable to cross paths with 3DS owners during your daily routine.
Capture free Fire Emblem: Awakening maps through SpotPass
Fire Emblem: Awakening has DLC maps available through its "Outrealm Gate." But there's also extra content coming to the strategy game for free, through the 3DS' SpotPass download service.Today, you can get a map called "A Hard Miracle," about Prince Chrom rescuing a group of villagers, by going into the "bonus box" found in the "wireless" area of the main menu. You'll find other stuff there too, including free weapons and extra battles, with recruitable enemies.More SpotPass maps will be distributed soon. "Ghost of Blade" on March 28 is about "a ghost and the ultimate sacrifice," "The Wellspring of Trust" on April 11 offers tough enemies to fight, and "The Radiant Hero" on April 25 brings your Fire Emblem Crew in contact with a "legendary hero."
PSA: 3DS firmware update is live
I just updated my 3DS, and other users are reporting that they've been asked to do so as well. This is the delayed "November update" meant to add DLC capabilities, 3D video recording, and more. Looking around my system, I see a new "Nintendo Zone" app for interfacing with "participating locations," to receive special content from certain free wi-fi hotspots. The "3DS Camera" app now has a toggle for video or stills, and -- most unexpected of all -- there are new "accomplishments" (achievements, kind of) in the StreetPass Mii Plaza. A few popped up immediately upon starting the app (above). You can see them all in a list within the Mii Plaza. I have 20 total (!) relating to the number and location of the people I've met. Other new stuff in the StreetPass Mii Plaza includes a music player for Mii Plaza music, new Find Mii stuff (Find Mii 2 game and lots of new hats, accessible only to those who have all the hats from the first game), new Puzzle Swap puzzles, and even some kind of new SpotPass connectivity, to bring Miis into your Plaza from the internet. I'm not sure how this works yet. Though the eShop was down all day in preparation for this update, I didn't see anything new there yet -- except for a news item about the 3D video update.
Here's how Sonic Generations' 3DS-specific features will work
When Sonic Generations arrives on Nintendo's 3DS this November, it's going to let you show off to the world how totally into Sonic you are. That is, if you walk by spindash past other folks with a 3DS copy of the game somewhere out there in the real world. Sega revealed the game's 3DS-specific Spot Pass features this week, which it detailed as bi-functional -- trade missions with friends and exchange "profile cards." Apparently, Sonic Generations comes with 100 extra missions that can be unlocked via Spot Pass, though the extra missions consist of the game's main levels, albeit modified with specific objectives (kill a specific type of enemy, time trials, etc.) As for the profile cards, 3DS gamers will be able to show off their percentage completion of Generations, as well as sharing various other info (messages like, "Eggman is #1!," for instance). Might we suggest adding your killer Sonic fanfic into that messaging area?
3DS 'Nintendo Video' service available tomorrow in Japan [update]
Tomorrow, Nintendo of Japan will launch its 3DS "Nintendo Video" service, following the debut of that service in Europe. Confusingly, this is the second 3DS video service, with its own dedicated app, in Japan. There's also SpotPass TV, which started late last month. What's the difference? SpotPass TV is original content produced by Fuji TV and Nippon TV, all in 3D, and delivered daily; Nintendo Video, according to Andriasang, offers periodic releases of 2D and 3D content "recommended" by Nintendo. It's quite likely that two teams were working on two services, and Nintendo just released them both. Still, with the eShop finally merging the "shopping" and "ranking" functions for downloadable games, it's odd to see another offering split into two apps along arbitrary lines. As is the trend for Nintendo now, this service is coming to Japan and Europe well before any news of an American release. It could show up here with the eShop update this Thursday, with content specific to the North American region ... or never. Update: Nintendo of America told us that its own "short-form video service" will be available "later this summer," and took the opportunity to remind us that Netflix is still on the way to 3DS. The statement is after the break.
Best Buy distributing 3DS content through SpotPass
We trust that you're already carrying your 3DS around with you wherever you go -- your Nintendogs need the exercise, you know -- but you want to make doubly sure you bring it with you should you cross the threshold of a Best Buy this summer. The store has partnered with Nintendo to deliver 3DS content via the SpotPass feature starting June 7, including "exclusive offers as well as additional entertainment content such as gaming extras and movie trailers." No specific "gaming extras" or trailers were mentioned in the partnership's press release, but any reason to dust off the 3DS' SpotPass is a welcome opportunity, indeed. We haven't used a handheld gaming device's feature this infrequently since the original DS' infamous panini press mode.
First SpotPass-distributed DOA Dimensions costumes revealed
It wouldn't be a Dead or Alive game without patently ridiculous costumes that would humiliate the characters beyond recovery. The 3DS's Dead or Alive Dimensions has a novel way of distributing these confidence-destroying garments: online distribution through SpotPass. That means that any time your 3DS comes in contact with a wi-fi signal, it might automatically download one of 28 costumes, released over time by Tecmo Koei. One of the costumes, Team Ninja's Yosuke Hayashi told Famitsu, will only be available for download on launch day! That's March 24 for Japan; no North American date has been specified.
Nintendo GDC keynote roundup: Netflix and free AT&T WiFi coming to 3DS this summer!
We survived the keynote address here at GDC 2011, where Satoru Iwata and Reggie Fils-Aime just got done revealing a veritable cornucopia of info about the 3DS. On the video content front, the 3DS will get Netflix this summer along with the ability to pause a video on your handheld and continue watching on your Wii -- though we presume you may recommence your cinematic experience on an XBox or PS3 too. The addition of Netflix wasn't the only announcement by Iwata, however. Get the rest after the break.
Switched On: When gadgets talk in their sleep
Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about consumer technology. The Nintendo 3DS stands to democratize stereoscopy in a way society hasn't experienced since the View-Master craze, by offering 3D hardware more affordable than the current crop of televisions and PCs, and without requiring special glasses to see images pop out of the handheld's screen. But when it comes to innovation, the 3DS could represent a two-way street, for even as its 3D screen is focused on enhancing the handheld gaming experience, its "Pass" network technologies -- SpotPass and particularly StreetPass -- could have broader implications for the way we discover the world around us.
Shocker! Nintendo 3DS will have shorter battery life than DS
Who'd have thought that adding extra grunt under the hood, a glasses-free 3D display up top, a wireless "tag mode," and automatic wireless updates to the 3DS would serve to degrade battery life? Certainly not our naive souls. The same Q&A that informed us about Nintendo's Spot Pass plans for the 3DS has been found to also contain some commentary on battery endurance from Satoru Iwata himself. The company chief says "it is inevitable that Nintendo 3DS will be a device which requires more frequent recharging than Nintendo DS" and notes that as a major reason why a charging cradle will be bundled into the new console's retail package. With tongue firmly wedged in cheek, Iwata suggests that perhaps Nintendo ought to advise users to deposit the 3DS into its cradle as soon as they get home, but the overall point is as clear as it is obvious: your more powerful handheld will require more power.
Nintendo 3DS might update itself over WiFi, still won't cook you breakfast
Careful, gamers on the go: your next handheld might be a hotspot hunter. Along with the "tag mode" Nintendo revealed earlier this week, where the 3DS can seek out other similarly depth-endowed handhelds and exchange information automatically, comes a system called SpotPass, which enables connecting to any open hotspots -- even while sleeping like a baby. The purpose was ostensibly for passive downloading of game content and the like but, according to Nintendo prez Satoru Iwata, the company is pondering lumping automatic firmware updates into the mix. This would mean the 3DS would re-flash itself even while in suspended animation, in theory keeping software pirates and firmware buccaneers on their toes. As serious gamers who only purchase legal software (twice, just to be safe) this seems like a reasonable enough thing to do -- assuming we don't get any bogus firmware sneaking onto our $300 handhelds.
Nintendo 'looking into' SpotPass for automatic 3DS firmware updates
During an investor Q&A (translated by Andriasang), Nintendo president Satoru Iwata outlined a potential method of keeping the 3DS from becoming as beset by piracy as the DS platform -- and it uses one of the new 3DS features. Iwata told investors that "As part of the functionality of SpotPass, we're looking into having automatic system updates via the internet." That means that the 3DS would be able to download firmware updates automatically whenever in contact with a WiFi signal, a functionality that Iwata also wants to use to add new features. Iwata also said that Nintendo expected to keep game prices around the same price point as current DS releases. "We don't believe that the world is in a state where high priced software will sell well, so we don't believe it will be in a price range too far off from current DS software." And then Square Enix games will be ten dollars higher than that range.
3DS Tag Mode functions called 'SpotPass' and 'StreetPass' in the West
We know them by the catchy names "Itsu no Ma Tsuushin" and "Surechigai Tsuushin," but an English-language hardware outline for the 3DS (PDF) provides the English names for these Tag Mode services, both of which allow the 3DS to communicate wirelessly without the user's involvement. The ability for the 3DS to seek wi-fi signals while sleeping, and automatically download content, is known as "SpotPass," while the passive communication between DS systems (used, for example, to trade Miis in the new Mii Plaza) is "StreetPass." "It is possible to transmit data for multiple games simultaneously," the document notes.
