To me, the SwapNote service was something that randomly appeared as a gift on my Nintendo 3DS and was never used even once since installing it. But apparently there were people who did use it, and according the Nintendo there were people who also abused it. In a recent statement issued by the major console manufacturer, developer and publisher, they have confirmed that the service has been abruptly terminated.
Nintendo has learned that some consumers, including minors, have been exchanging their friend codes on Internet bulletin boards and then using Swapnote (known as Nintendo Letter Box in other regions) to exchange offensive material. Nintendo has been investigating ways of preventing this and determined it is best to stop the SpotPass feature of Swapnote because it allows direct exchange of photos and was actively misused.
Similar features appear on their competitors consoles which despite not having an entirely “family friendly” focus have not ended their messaging services. They have issued an apology to all of those who were using the service responsibly, but it doesn’t seem like the service is coming back at all.
Of course, the question remains about why parents were not keeping an eye on their children’s usage of the Nintendo 3DS console, given that to use such services required a wi-fi internet connect (and I doubt you would be seeing too many minors setting up wireless routers). But in the end this highlights one big message:
PARENTS, GET INVOLVED, BE INFORMED
and don’t ignorantly assume that your child will automatically be afforded every protection possible when they are connected to the internet.
Nintendo offers parental controls on all their consoles, which allows parents to manage their children’s experience on their system – from deactivating the 3D effect to disabling access to certain apps.
