StreetPass

[Skyblade]

I'd like to take a moment to discuss a sorely under-discussed feature of the 3DS called StreetPass.

For those unaware, StreetPass is a feature of the 3DS that comes into play when the system is in sleep mode, with the communication function on. Any other 3DS systems that you pass by (which are also in the same state) will go through a brief communication with your system, and transfer some data.

The basic functionality of it transfers Miis which can then be used in the Mii Plaza Games. The Mii Plaza also lets you pass messages to anyone you've passed by more than once, as well as see what games they have been playing lately.

The genius of the system, though, is that games can be set up to transfer data as well. What gets transferred depends on the game.

The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds transfers your StreetPass Dark Link, a copy of your character with all your stats and equipment, and two items that you select. This Dark Link can then be fought by those who StreetPass with you for money, or to complete achievements.

Fire Emblem Awakening transfers your StreetPass team: ten soldiers (including the player avatar) that you select and equip to send out. The person who gets your team can choose to recruit your avatar, fight your team, or buy the items that your team is carrying.

Bravely Default lets you transfer villagers to rebuild the town, or friends to summon to battle.

Even better, however, is that once you set up StreetPass for a game, your system will continue to maintain the data, even after you stop playing it. So when everyone starts playing Bravely Default in a few days, you can still pick up the data from their Fire Emblem StreetPass, along with the new data for Bravely Default. The system is capable of maintaining up to 12 games worth of data at a time.


StreetPass really is one of the best social functions I've ever seen or heard proposed for a game. In the hands of a good game designer, it allows for some great social interaction, and some excellent additions to games. I carry my 3DS around with me all the time, and I just rack up StreetPass connections. I've seen regular customers at my work place that I've connected with several times, and passed items and team members on in Fire Emblem, or let them face my army of maxed out Dark Links in Link Between Worlds (actually, two maxed out, and one that I leave blank which they can fight for achievements). It's a fantastic way to have small, game-related interactions, and to give small gameplay rewards and bonuses.

I haven't heard a lot of people talk about StreetPass, which is a shame, because I think it's a brilliant system. So I'd like to make a thread here where we can discuss it. Give your opinion of the system itself, list which games you think use it best, and talk about how you think games could or should use it going forward.

[Bubba]

Skyblade, I think your point has been proven about how much people use Streetpass!

I'll be honest, I haven't used it yet but it does sound pretty good from what you've mentioned. I think I just have an issue with leaving it in sleep mode. I always, without fail, switch off my portable consoles by the power button. I may have to try leaving it on sleep whenever I'm out and about.

[NeoCracker]

I hate streeppass and don't' think it works at all as a Social function. Social functions seem like there should be, I don't know, social interaction between people. Not 'oh, you happen to be near someone who plays the same game? Here, have something.'

I also hate the Idea that you are getting trout for not playing the game.

More so, if you happen to live in an area where there isn't all that many gamers, like a country side, you're kind of screwed on it's functionality. The location you happen to live should not have an effect.

I'm only happy Street pass isn't relegated to anything more major then it has been in terms of games, or even anything really necessary. Not a single game I have played with it has really benefited in any noticeable way from it.

[Bolivar]

I think it was pretty cool for Fire Emblem and fits in with how the game gives you all these different avenues to access free bonus content. Keeps it very fresh!

The first time I saw a dark link I just stopped in my tracks like "oh, hell no..."

Sadly I think it's criminally underused. I take the train to work every day at the big commuter hub for Philadelphia, one of the top 5 cities in the country and my spot pass interactions were kinda few and far between, even for hits like Zelda and FE. I don't think I ever got any data for Etrian Odyssey IV.

[NorthernChaosGod]

I really like StreetPass for Link Between Worlds. I only need about 15 more of the medals, but I'm having a hard time since I'm finding very strong Dark Links.

[Skyblade]

I just leave my system on, in Sleep Mode, when I go to work or class. My work day usually nets me 9 or 10 passes (with 10 being the max you can get at one time), and school is usually good for 3 or 4 (would be more if I were taking more classes). Even with Wireless turned on, it has enough battery life to last eight hours and still get a couple hours of play out of it.

I hate streeppass and don't' think it works at all as a Social function. Social functions seem like there should be, I don't know, social interaction between people. Not 'oh, you happen to be near someone who plays the same game? Here, have something.'

Which is what it is, until you start passing the same person multiple times, which lets you pass messages, game suggestions, and more.

And, frankly, it's still far better than simply posting pictures to Facebook.

I also hate the Idea that you are getting trout for not playing the game.

Only on the really poorly implemented ones. On most of them, they require playing the game. Link Between Worlds? Have fun fighting Dark Link. Fire Emblem Awakening? A team to fight, or a shop, which requires you to play to get the money (and if you don't have the DLC, money is very scarce). Bravely Default? It helps you out in battle once per StreetPass (which I haven't used outside of the tutorial mission for it), helps you rebuild Norende (by a tiny fraction). Oh, and it summons really hard bosses for you.

More so, if you happen to live in an area where there isn't all that many gamers, like a country side, you're kind of screwed on it's functionality. The location you happen to live should not have an effect.

This is true. Nintendo tried to help a bit by setting up the StreetPass relay system at Nintendo Zone locations (and apparently my work is now one of those, score), but it is still limited by geography.

I'm only happy Street pass isn't relegated to anything more major then it has been in terms of games, or even anything really necessary. Not a single game I have played with it has really benefited in any noticeable way from it.

I agree that it is nice that it is limited to side-functionality. This is one of its strengths. Its there, but it's not forced on you, and you can skip it entirely without even noticing. But since I've turned it on, I'm happy I've done so.

[NeoCracker]

I just leave my system on, in Sleep Mode, when I go to work or class. My work day usually nets me 9 or 10 passes (with 10 being the max you can get at one time), and school is usually good for 3 or 4 (would be more if I were taking more classes). Even with Wireless turned on, it has enough battery life to last eight hours and still get a couple hours of play out of it.

I hate streeppass and don't' think it works at all as a Social function. Social functions seem like there should be, I don't know, social interaction between people. Not 'oh, you happen to be near someone who plays the same game? Here, have something.'

Which is what it is, until you start passing the same person multiple times, which lets you pass messages, game suggestions, and more.

And, frankly, it's still far better than simply posting pictures to Facebook.

I also hate the Idea that you are getting trout for not playing the game.

Only on the really poorly implemented ones. On most of them, they require playing the game. Link Between Worlds? Have fun fighting Dark Link. Fire Emblem Awakening? A team to fight, or a shop, which requires you to play to get the money (and if you don't have the DLC, money is very scarce). Bravely Default? It helps you out in battle once per StreetPass (which I haven't used outside of the tutorial mission for it), helps you rebuild Norende (by a tiny fraction). Oh, and it summons really hard bosses for you.

More so, if you happen to live in an area where there isn't all that many gamers, like a country side, you're kind of screwed on it's functionality. The location you happen to live should not have an effect.

This is true. Nintendo tried to help a bit by setting up the StreetPass relay system at Nintendo Zone locations (and apparently my work is now one of those, score), but it is still limited by geography.

I'm only happy Street pass isn't relegated to anything more major then it has been in terms of games, or even anything really necessary. Not a single game I have played with it has really benefited in any noticeable way from it.

I agree that it is nice that it is limited to side-functionality. This is one of its strengths. Its there, but it's not forced on you, and you can skip it entirely without even noticing. But since I've turned it on, I'm happy I've done so.

1) I should specify I don't mind it detecting other people as you walk by and maybe fining people with similar game tastes to you based off whats on there, that's fine. Not a great functionality, but handy enough. My gripe is it's use in games.

2) And how does it help you fight Dark Links? By walking around not playing the game detecting other people. How does it help you get additional townsfolk and allies to fight in Bravely default? By walking aorund not playing the game detecting other people.

The only one of those functions that is even reasonable in game is for something like Fire Emblem, but with built in wi-fi and how easy Wi-fi is to detect these days, at best it's a secondary nice little thing it happens to do, but doesn't really add much at all. Again, were wi-fi connections not so easy to come across it may be a nice function, but as it stands it's an almost forgetable feature that likely wouldn't have had an effect on any ones opinion of the game were it not announced.

Really though, it's still rewards and bonus's you are giving for not playing the game, even in all your examples, and that bothers me deeply in my soul.

[Skyblade]

The "bonuses" all require gameplay. Try facing Dark Link with just the sword, when you can first unlock StreetPass. Good luck with that. Also, the only "reward" for doing so is money, which is pretty well scaled to the difficulty of the encounter, so it's never actually getting you anything for not playing. Beat a basic Dark Link and get 50 Rupees. Woo-hoo? Even though Dark Link has the best AI in the game, and identical stats to you, so it's both riskier and will take longer than getting the money in any other way. StreetPass rewards give you more gameplay, if they're properly executed, they don't reward you for not playing.

[NeoCracker]

....You unlock Dark Link by walking around with your DS in sleep mode. You unlock gameplay options by doing something that in no way shape or form involves you playing the game.

You are indeed getting trout for not playing the game.

[Quindiana Jones]

Seems very FromSoftian. I like it. The Japanese seem to be having great ideas when it comes to unique and interesting online interconnectivity.

[NorthernChaosGod]

....You unlock Dark Link by walking around with your DS in sleep mode. You unlock gameplay options by doing something that in no way shape or form involves you playing the game.

You are indeed getting trout for not playing the game.

Money is ridiculously easy to get in that game, as I've been maxed out with nothing to spend it on for quite some time. You're not really getting anything except more gameplay from StreetPass. I quite enjoy fighting Dark Links.

[Skyblade]

....You unlock Dark Link by walking around with your DS in sleep mode. You unlock gameplay options by doing something that in no way shape or form involves you playing the game.

You are indeed getting trout for not playing the game.

You're getting a single type of fight. They're short, and they don't really impact the main game at all. Oh, and the game will give them to you even if you never pass by anyone (something else a lot of the good games do with it, such as Awakening's StreetPass teams or Bravely Default's Update Data).

[NeoCracker]

Well yes, it's very minimal, but it doens't change my dislike of the Idea. It just means it's not enough to take away from a game for me, hence why I still love Bravely Default and A Link Between Worlds despite the function being there.

[NorthernChaosGod]

Well yes, it's very minimal, but it doens't change my dislike of the Idea. It just means it's not enough to take away from a game for me, hence why I still love Bravely Default and A Link Between Worlds despite the function being there.

I don't think I'm understanding you. How is this a negative at all?

[NeoCracker]

Well yes, it's very minimal, but it doens't change my dislike of the Idea. It just means it's not enough to take away from a game for me, hence why I still love Bravely Default and A Link Between Worlds despite the function being there.

I don't think I'm understanding you. How is this a negative at all?

I don't like the Idea that, because you walked around in sleep mode, this gives you something in game.

I feel anything you get in game should be earned in game, not by leaving the game in sleep mode.

Edit: This includes things like continuing to collect revenue from homes in Fable 2, or anything like it. Though yeah, Fable 2's thing was way worse then street pass has been in any game I've seen.