According to a release this morning, Nintendo will be suspending the use of StreetPass relay stations in Japan on March 28th at 10am local time. The service, which has been online since 2013 has been primarily used for long range Street Pass sharing, granting connection with other 3DS users, and thereby adding small bonuses to your games and Miiverse.
While Street Pass as a service will not be disabled, it will limit engagements to local proximity only, or via WiFi connections. It’s worth noting that in recent years Japan has increased public wireless infrastructure to the point where almost everywhere in major populated hubs have access to WiFi everywhere you go. It’s probable that these nodes have seen a decline in access as a result of the almost full coverage.
At this time, no other regions will be affected. As a matter of speculation, the decision to cut access to this service seems to indicate that for the Switch and future revisions of mobile devices from Nintendo, Street Pass functionality will no longer be at the forefront of the development cycle. As WiFi access improves and the ability to stream content increases, it’s likely we will see a push towards greater integration with over-the-air services and online access.
For now, 3DS Street Pass is alive and well, but this change may speak volumes about the future of the service.
the direct text can be found here: https://www.nintendo.co.jp/information/2018/0125.html
William Russell
