I never had a 3DS (or even a DS) during the peak of their release. Really, I never even had one until Walmart had that $99 N2DSXL with Mario Kart 7 deal. Something else though, I also love a weird Nintendo gimmick, so I was sad to never experience StreetPass. With Nintendo shutting down the 3DS servers, I thought my chances to get to play those weird minigames were over, but it wasn’t. I found an awesome app for all of us homebrew-using 3DS folks out there called NetPass!
What is NetPass?
NetPass is an awesome Homebrew app for the 3DS that allows you to enjoy StreetPass without ever leaving your house. You can download it from their GitLab page here. You can then put the files onto your 3DS (remember, it has to be a hacked 3DS for this to work). Once you have put the files on it, you can either download it via FBI or Homebrew Launcher, depending if you used the .cia file or .3dsx. That is it, you are in!
How Does it Work?
The app is extremely easy to use. You first open it and it will ask you where you want to go as you will start at your home. There are at the time of this writing, 6 virtual locations that you can choose to go to. Once you select where you want to go, that is it. You are at that spot for 10 hours.
Virtual Location Options
The best part? You can just close the app and keep your 3DS in sleep mode to collect the StreetPasses. Even if you want to play games or leave it on the charger, it will still work in the background. You cannot change your location for 10 hours though, so when you select a place, you are stuck there until then.
Is It Worth It?
I am Actually at My House
I say this is absolutely worth it, especially if you want to experience that Mii Plaza. Maybe you have nostalgia for it and miss using it or maybe you are like me and never got to use it to begin with. I started mine by selecting the beach and just left my 3DS alone while I went to do things. This was the morning, so I knew I wouldn’t come back to it until that evening.
Hey, We Have the Same Hate
I finally had time to sit back down and open up the Mii Plaza app and BAM! I had 10 new guests that I obtained from NetPass. It was so cool seeing them from all over the world. I had people from the US, Japan, France, Mexico, UK, and more! Now I was finally able to enjoy these MiiPlaza mini-games that I have never got to try out before.
I used this every day for the next week and got similar results each time. There is always a huge range of different people and usually 10+ guests each time. I have collected so many puzzle pieces and tried out these weird little games. I think this is extremely worth trying out. Seeing all the Homebrew apps still coming out for the 3DS is so cool. If you haven’t yet, check out this article about the Virtual Boy Emulator, which is another awesome one!
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