Swapnote SpotPass Features Discontinued

Users will no longer be able to send and receive notes using the popular 3DS messaging app.

By Kevin Knezevic. Posted 11/01/2013 10:00 7 Comments     ShareThis

Regular users of Nintendo’s Swapnote (known across the pond as Nintendo Letter Box) may have noticed that they’re no longer able to send messages to one another via SpotPass. It turns out that reports of some offensive material being distributed through the app have prompted Nintendo to discontinue its SpotPass features.

According to a statement issued by the Big N (which can be read in its entirety at the link below), it appears that certain 3DS owners were using the service to send inappropriate messages to minors, whose friend codes they’d acquire through various Internet forums. As Nintendo cannot regulate the contents of these messages, it has opted to disable the service completely to prevent further misuse.

It’s certainly a shame to see the service shut down so abruptly, especially as it earned a runner-up spot in our Best Multiplayer Games of 2011 awards, but that’s not the end of 3DS messaging. The handheld will also receive its own version of Miiverse sometime in the near future, so 3DS owners will still have a way to communicate with one another, this time in a safer, more regulated environment.

What do you think about Nintendo’s decision to discontinue Swapnote? Are you upset that you’ll no longer be able to send messages to your friends, or have you long since stopped using the service? Share your thoughts with us in the comments!

Source: Nintendo

7 Responses to “Swapnote SpotPass Features Discontinued”

  • 402 points
    geoffrey says...

    Pathetic. Absolutely pathetic.

    I could fully understand patching it to no longer be able to send photos back and forth. But to kill the entire thing is such an over the top kneejerk reaction.

  • 849 points
    ejamer says...

    What is the point of parental controls if Nintendo wants to regulate what content people can send and receive anyway? Hugely disappointed by this sudden, unannounced action.

  • 1379 points
    xeacons says...

    Some people just like ruining things for everyone else. But I’d rather see Miiverse on the 3DS anyway. I don’t think Swapnote was entiirely desined properly. It started at the earliest rather than the latest, and I was tired of the emence back log of messages.

  • 6 points
    joshpjones99@gmail.com says...

    This crap sucks. I travel a lot and have 3 younger kids so I got them each a 3DS so they could send messages to me on the road and me back. One of them isn’t even old enough to read or write but she could draw daddy pictures and learned how to send them. Being not a retard I locked their 3DS’s down before giving them to my minors. they can only talk to me and each other. Destroying an awesome feature like swap note is stupid. and No MiiVerse to replace it. maybe I should have gotten them iPod Touches instead? but then I’d miss playing Mario with them when I’m home. thanks Nintendo :(

  • 1332 points
    Andrew Hsieh says...

    I stopped using SwapNote a long time ago, but this sucks majorly. I’ll miss you, Nikki ;_;

    Can’t believe it didn’t even make it to its second birthday. Life.

  • 702 points
    Matthew Tidman says...

    Well, on the upside, I now don’t have to feel bad about the huge backlog of messages that was constantly growing on my system. On the downside, now I can’t message back and forth with you awesome people. Here’s hoping that the Mii Verse functionality comes soon and we can have an awesome Nintendojo community there.

  • 3 points
    RoyalSisters12 says...

    !!!!!! (if you can’t tell, I’m really mad) I haven’t used Swapnote for a while, the last time was when they did something with it (don’t remember what, I think they temporarily stopped special notes).

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