Head down, focused on the Nintendo handheld in hand, and with a purposeful look on the face. If you have never been somewhere a huge crowd of people are gathered with their Nintendo DS or 3DS, then you may be oblivious about StreetPass Mode. These Nintendo handheld gamers are meeting other people in a virtual manner: greeting each other with an 85 character statement and sharing puzzle pieces.
As I headed to PAX East, the idea of StreetPassing was not foreign to me but I had never done it myself. I had seen people sitting and playing with their handhelds while waiting in line and asking other people if they had been able to StreetPass with each other yet. However I never knew about the slight addictiveness that it could have. It becomes something that fills any amount of time you have open while standing in a line, while a friend is talking to someone else, or while just resting your feet.
What amazed me was how little I did StreetPass and yet I met over 200 new “friends” over the course of three days. The reason why the numbers were not higher is because when you take your Mii to the “gate” to meet new “friends” there can only able to be ten new Miis waiting for at a time. I had to greet mine and invite them into my town square before I could head back out and see if there is anyone else out there that I hadn’t met yet. Amazingly enough, I was able to meet the same Miis over and over again during the weekend. I almost wondered if I would see them again when I returned to the same place.
This is a feature of the Nintendo 3DS that I now find myself using when I am traveling. I’ve heard from many people that they use it when they are on the train or plane. It’s the safest way to meet over 200 new friends at PAX without having to worry about coming down with the dreaded Nerd Flu.
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