Home
The upcoming Nintendo 3DS might get you into a few scuffles with random strangers, and you might not even realize it until it's too late.
In the handheld fighting game Super Street Fighter 4: 3D Edition (due out this spring), you can unlock close to 500 figurines representing variants of all the brawlers. Each one has different statistics, such as base power, hit points, and super- and ultra-combo strengths, and you can customize the warriors further by distributing 300 points between speed, power, and defense.
The point of all this? So you can make an on-the-go team of five figurines to battle random passersby using the system's StreetPass function, which allows two 3DSes to trade information with each other without anyone actively doing anything. Also...so the developers can get you participating in an addicting side game that may actually be more interesting than the primary product itself.
If you have StreetPass turned on and you walk by another SSF4:3D player who also has the feature active, the two portables will have your respective squads duke it out automatically. Now, actual matches don't physically play out -- the aforementioned stats and some invisible dice rolls will determine the winners instantly, behind the scenes. And yes, you might not even know it happened until the next time you turn on your game.
Victories result in a bunch of points that you can use to buy more figurines, but even losers get a few for consolation's sake. And the interesting thing is, you don't even need the cartridge in the 3DS for all this to work. StreetPass will read everything right from the game's save file in the memory.
SSF4:3D's StreetPass mode is obviously meant for gamers with a collector's mentality, and publisher/developer Capcom is taking advantage by offering exclusive one-off figurines for download at various fan events. The Japanese launch of the game already saw a special-edition gold Chun-Li. No word yet on what exclusives the company will offer over here in the U.S., but stay tuned to Capcom Unity for updates.
