How The 3DS’ Streetpass Feature Almost Got Me Killed

Upon first examination the 3DS’ Streetpass feature seems extremely stupid – in actuality it’s pretty entertaining and rather unique. Messing around with Nintendo’s exclusive social feature landed me in a bit of potential trouble…

For those that don’t know what Streetpass is, here is a brief explanation. It’s a built in Nintendo 3DS feature that makes it so that every time you pass another person who has a 3DS in sleep mode, your device sends it your Mii and you receive that persons Mii in return. You also have the option to include a short message with your Mii – which is exactly where things can get rather complicated. You can then use these new Mii characters in two built-in mini games, a puzzle piece collection game and a simple RPG.

Until recently I haven’t really had a chance to test out Streetpass because I’ve been living in the suburbs. Now that I’m going to school again in downtown Toronto, I have finally had the chance to try out Streetpass for myself with a little experiment. Each morning I take  my 3DS with me and over the course of four days I ‘ve collected a total of three Mii’s; not exactly a bad number but not that amazing either. Interestingly enough, all three Mii’s were either gathered on the subway or bus.

This brings me to a rather terrifying experience, I’ll paint a proverbial picture for you:

I had a terribly long day at school and decided I’d relax and play a little Ocarina Of Time 3D to make the over-crowded subway ride a little more bearable. Crammed between two overweight, foul smelling people, I decided it was time to bust out my 3DS and bound across the open fields of Hyrule. To my surprise I noticed that I actually had a Mii waiting to be received in the Streetpass Plaza.

This hasn’t happened before and I quickly wondered if this person was actually near me. Then I remembered how rude my Mii’s message is and realized that if the wrong person received it they might find it ridiculously offensive. I looked around quickly to see if anyone was playing a 3DS near me and, to my relief, no one seemed to be. I breathed a sigh of relief and began to continue playing through the Forest Temple.

About 2 minutes later I noticed a hulking man looming over me, covering my 3DS’ screen with his obscenely large shadow. The first thing I thought was, “what the hell is this guy’s problem?” and then another terrifying idea occurred to me. What if this massive dude just read this offensive message and was now preparing to kick the ever-living shit out of me? I quickly glanced up at this colossal figure of a man, our eyes met for a split second, and I could tell he had seen my message. Needless to say he definitely did not look very happy about it.

So there I was in an awkward, even dangerous situation and it was entirely my own fault. My mind reeled as I thought over my only two options; I could get up and move, or I could sit there and pretend nothing was going on until one of us got off the subway, sweating it out between two fat people all the while hoping this giant wouldn’t destroy me. I waited and nothing happened and he eventually got off the subway about 6 subway stops later.  I made it home safe and sound.

I understand this situation was completely my fault; I should have had the foresight to make my Streetpass message less blatantly offensive. It just seemed so amazingly hilarious when I set it up that I just couldn’t resist. The idea of a person reading this message every time they receive my Mii was just too hilarious. I’ve learned my lesson Nintendo, I should have listened to you; no longer will my Streetpass message be offensive to strangers.

Oh and that message? I’ll leave most of it to your imagination, fill in the blank. But I will say one thing, it probably isn’t the word your thinking. I’m not that kind of person.

“What’s up __________”