Skip to main content

Nintendo 3DS system update finally arrives

The long-awaited firmware update for Nintendo 3DS has officially arrived, bringing with it a host of expected — and even better, unexpected — new features.

The anticipated update to the 3DS camera does indeed give you the ability to record 3D video and create stop-motion film projects, but it’s the update to the StreetPass social environment that comes with a few pleasant surprises.

The Mii Plaza in StreetPass now features a series of “accomplishments” (the equivalent of Xbox “achievements” or PlayStation “trophies,” it seems) that can be unlocked according to the number and location of other Miis you interact with. A music player has also been added to the Mii Plaza, as well as new games (including Find Mii 2 and new additions to Puzzle Swap) and the ability to transport Miis from the internet to your Mii Plaza.

Along with new features for the camera and StreetPass, the latest update also adds a “Nintendo Zone” app that allows for some special features linked to “participating” wi-fi hotspots.

There are likely to be a few more features that accompany the new update, so make sure to let us know what else you discover as you Mii-ander (*wince*) around the new 3DS environment.

Editors' Recommendations

Rick Marshall
A veteran journalist with more than two decades of experience covering local and national news, arts and entertainment, and…
5 Nintendo DS games we need on Switch after Another Code: Recollection
Key art for Radiant Historia

We’re in the middle of a Nintendo DS renaissance on Nintendo Switch, which is fitting as that classic handheld turns 20 in 2014. Coming off the excellent Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective re-release from last year, more DS classics are coming to Nintendo Switch this month. First, Another Code Recollection contains a full-on remake of the cult classic Another Code: Two Memories, and it's out now. In a few days, on January 25, Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney will remastered as part of a trilogy collection that also bears its namesake.

This has all gotten me to think about what other Nintendo DS games I’d like to see make a comeback. According to Moby Games, There were well over 2,000 DS titles, but not all of them matched the notoriety and success of titles like New Super Mario Bros. or Nintendogs. That means the DS library is still full of cult classics primed for a re-release or full-on series comeback. These are the five I’d like to see make a comeback in the wake of Another Code Recollection and Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney Trilogy.
Hotel Dusk: Room 215

Read more
10 significant video game anniversaries worth celebrating in 2024
Gordon Freeman's suit in Half-Life 2 RTX

2024 isn’t going to be as jam-packed with new AAA games as 2022 and 2023 were, giving us more time to go back and appreciate the classics. Anniversaries and the celebrations that follow are commonplace in the video game industry, especially if that anniversary is a multiple of five. Plenty of fantastic, influential games will hit milestones this year, but a few stand out. Some could even offer teasers into what might be in store for 2024 if developers plan to celebrate their classics. Regardless of whether these birthdays come with any presents, these are 10 video game anniversaries worth celebrating this year.
Warcraft -- 30 years

I can’t talk about video game anniversaries in 2024 without bringing up Warcraft. 2024 is filled with milestones for the series, thanks to some uniform releases from Blizzard. The entire franchise will turn 30 on November 15, as that's the day Warcraft: Orcs & Humans released and redefined the real-time strategy genre in 1994. Then there’s World of Warcraft, the most popular MMO of all time, which turns 20 in November 2023. Finally, the Warcraft digital collectible card game Hearthstone turns ten on March 11. To celebrate, Blizzard Entertainment plans to release World of Warcraft’s The War Within expansion and add Cataclysm to World of Warcraft Classic.
Super Metroid -- 30 years

Read more
I was burnt out on video games until I dusted off my Nintendo DS
A Nintendo DS sits on a table with a few game boxes.

It was mid-December, and I’d just finished my final assignment of 2023. A hectic year full of exciting games capped off with yet another monumental achievement for the medium, the Meta Quest exclusive Asgard’s Wrath 2. No longer locked into playing a never-ending stream of zeitgeist games that I had to keep up with for work, I was finally free to play whatever I wanted.

There was only one problem: The thought of playing a game made me sick. It turns out that playing well over 100 new releases in any given year is a straight path to burnout. Who would have thought?

Read more