A Nintendo 3DS owner brought the handheld gaming device to a Green Day concert and was delighted to discover that their device had registered a StreetPass. Gamers who owned a Nintendo 3DS in its heyday will likely remember the excitement of seeing the status LED glow green, indicating that the owner had crossed paths with another 3DS.
As the Nintendo 3DS was a portable device and had a long battery life in sleep mode, Nintendo introduced a then-new feature: the StreetPass. If two Nintendo 3DS systems were in the vicinity of each other, the two would exchange a signal. The next time the users checked their devices, they would find that a new Mii from the other gamer’s 3DS had arrived in their StreetPass Plaza, which would open up mini-game opportunities, as well. However, now that the 3Ds is no longer supported by Nintendo and multiple systems have been released since, far fewer people are walking around with the old handheld.
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Despite their rarity, one fan ended up getting a StreetPass at a Green Day concert by complete surprise. On Reddit, user Leftoo explained that they brought their 3DS to the concert because of a meme. Photos have sometimes circulated of 3DS owners using their systems to record live shows, despite the video and audio quality not being particularly good. They decided to do the same thing during the Green Day set in Athens, Greece during the Ejekt Festival on July 6. Then, at the end of the show as they were leaving, they realized that the LED on their 3DS was glowing green, indicating that someone else in or around the show had also had a 3DS with them.
Nintendo 3DS Owners Get Nostalgic for StreetPass
In the comments, others 3DS fans have been congratulating Leftoo on their random StreetPass encounter. Some were nostalgic for the old days, as StreetPasses in heavily populated areas were fairly common in the past, but getting a StreetPass is extremely rare now. Based on the comments, it seems that some fans are still carrying theirs in sleep mode to this day in hopes of encountering another user. While Leftoo didn’t share the Mii that their 3DS had downloaded, they noted that this was actually their second StreetPass in recent times, as they’d also had the exciting green light pop up after riding a train.
While the 3DS doesn’t have online play and isn’t officially supported by Nintendo anymore, the passive StreetPass system runs locally, so there’s still a chance of bumping into other owners out there. Sadly, Nintendo has shown no indication that it plans to bring back this unique system in the future. Many Nintendo 3DS owners were disappointed that the original Switch didn’t carry over StreetPass, and Switch 2 hasn’t brought StreetPass back. It’s not clear if it was left out due to battery life, the portability of the systems, or something else, but fans like these would likely be happy to see it return in some form.
- Brand
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Nintendo
- Original Release Date
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March 27, 2011
- Original MSRP (USD)
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$249.99
- Weight
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3DS: 8.3 oz
3DS XL: 11.9 oz