3DS sees high connection rate, new 3DS StreetPass features coming this year
Never before has a portable system achieved the same kind of Internet-connection rate success as the 3DS. According to Satoru Iwata, over 80 percent of system owners in Japan and the US have ventured online. At one point in 2012, the rate was only hovering at around 60 percent.
The 3DS is also seeing success when it comes to StreetPass – well, in Japan and Europe. Gamers in Japan continue to use the social element, and Iwata says that it has started “gradually become popular in the metropolitan areas of European countries.” In order to increase StreetPass’ appeal, Nintendo will introduce new features this year.
The Internet-connection ratio for the Nintendo 3DS has reached a level that no handheld gaming device has ever experienced. In Japan and the U.S. where the ratio is specifically high, the number of Nintendo 3DS units which have been connected to the network has surpassed 80 percent. I referred to “approximately 60 percent” in one of my presentations here last year, and that ratio has significantly increased in one year.
When it comes to StreetPass, users in the automobile-dominated U.S. do not use it as much as Japanese users do. In contrast, it has gradually become popular in the metropolitan areas of European countries. This year we plan to add some StreetPass-related features to the Nintendo 3DS in order to encourage more people to go out with their Nintendo 3DS, and make StreetPass and SpotPass more popular overseas.
