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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
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.
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.
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.
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 :(
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.
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.
!!!!!! (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).