1) Do you like the pedometer feature of the 3DS? You earn 1 Play Coin for every 100 steps registered as you carry around your 3DS, and you can earn a maximum of 10 coins a day (after getting 1000 steps).

2) Is the 10 coin limit too restrictive?

I don't see a problem with it at all. I easily get the 1000 steps every day, even if I'm just walking around the house doing my normal routine.

I feel the Play Coins are a nice bonus feature on top of StreetPass that should motivate people to carry their 3DS around wherever they may go.

The 10 coin daily limit may start to feel more restrictive once a person's 3DS game library grows, and you're having to spread the coins across multiple games.

3) And on another note: What have you been using your coins on so far? Are you accumulating them in the hopes of picking up a game that will use the feature?

I haven't used too many of the Coins for the Mii Plaza games Find Mii and Puzzle Swap. The coins in Puzzle Swap can end up giving you pieces you already have, and I'd rather just use StreetPass Miis anyway for both games (even though it's been very rare for me to get any StreetPasses).

So I have been spending my coins generously on Super Street Fighter IV figurines and have a total of 103 figurines, while still keeping a bunch of Coins in the bank (currently at 50), ready for future 3DS titles I will buy later on.

4) How would you like to see Play Coins implemented in games? Just for optional bonus content?

Final note: It's awesome that the Coins are universal across any 3DS game, and it's all up to the game developer to decide how to use those coins.

Heh, I haven't actually used the coins at all...! I don't really carry my 3DS around, so I haven't exactly earned all that much anyway. Maybe I'll get a cool carrying case for it, and then I'll start racking up coins.

Maybe.

@GameDadGrant

Well, you're in luck, 'cuz there's tons of great carrying cases to choose from!

I happened to pick up this one, it's an "executive" case, all fancy and leather and stuff. (Looks a bit more professional than other carrying cases).


But often I just carry the 3DS itself in my pocket....

No, the 10 coins a day isn't restrictive when all you have to do once you accumulate 10 coins is change the date to tomorrow's date, earn another 10 coins for a total of 20...then change the date back to today and you get another 10 coins, now for a total of 30. Change again to tomorrow...40 coins...and on and on and on and on.

I walk around 13,000 steps a day, so thats about 130 coins a day. No, I wouldn't say the coin thing is restrictive at all.

1) Do you like the pedometer feature of the 3DS?

Yeah, it's a pretty cool feature. A part of me worries about carrying around an expensive piece of hardware. I had a tough enough time keeping my GBA and DS in good shape. Maybe I'll have to get a carrying case.

2) Is the 10 coin limit too restrictive?

Kind of, yeah. The coins don't really get you much, I mean, you spend all day walking around and then lose the coins nearly instantly trying to buy puzzle pieces you already have or whatever.

3) And on another note: What have you been using your coins on so far? Are you accumulating them in the hopes of picking up a game that will use the feature?

I've been using them mostly in Mii Plaza, although at a certain point the "help" you can buy in quest mode is near worthless and when you have a mostly full puzzle you're just spending tons of coins to get pieces you already have. Street Fighter figurines can also be bought with player points, which you can earn just by playing the game, right?

4) How would you like to see Play Coins implemented in games? Just for optional bonus content?

Yeah I suppose so. I really wouldn't want it used for anything too substantly.

gamewizard65 said:

No, the 10 coins a day isn't restrictive when all you have to do once you accumulate 10 coins is change the date to tomorrow's date, earn another 10 coins for a total of 20...then change the date back to today and you get another 10 coins, now for a total of 30. Change again to tomorrow...40 coins...and on and on and on and on.

I walk around 13,000 steps a day, so thats about 130 coins a day. No, I wouldn't say the coin thing is restrictive at all.

Eh, way too much effort.

Zero said:

Eh, way too much effort.

Not really. I pull the 3DS out of my pocket, maybe takes 30 seconds to change the date. Check back when I've walked another 1,000 steps...rinse and repeat....

Eventually, I will get all the pieces to at least one of these puzzles..what a joke that is to keep giving you the same pieces over and over and over...

Well, I guess I don't mean actual effort, but too much having to think about it and fiddle with stuff. I just throw my 3DS in my pocket and forget it is there.

I wonder if Nintendo could release firmware updates based by region that would change the limit of coins that you can gain per day. For a place like Japan, the Mii games probably work way better than they do on this side of the ocean. They use their coins less for those games but many of us are probably forced to use them. The 10 per day then becomes pretty insignificant considering this is a currency used across the whole system and its games.

Then again I've still barely used them and have around 120 coins saved up and will only use maybe 10 per shot. Not having any other game that uses coins helps out here too... but once the 3DS gets a lot more games, I wonder how many of them will make use of the feature.

I adore that feature, and it makes me take my 3DS with me all the time as a result. Without it it would be just like my DSi, sitting on my nightstand waiting for late-night gaming sessions.

The pedometer and coins (with StreetPass) are THE reason my 3DS rarely leaves my side if I leave my house.

1) Do you like the pedometer feature of the 3DS?I'm not sure if it's entirely accurate, but it's nice to have I guess.

2) Is the 10 coin limit too restrictive?Nah. Both games I own aside from the built-in software that use them (SSFIV3D and LEGO Star Wars III) don't require too many, so just carrying it around from day to day earns all of the coins that I need.

3) And on another note: What have you been using your coins on so far? Are you accumulating them in the hopes of picking up a game that will use the feature?I've used them on Find Mii a couple of times, but mostly buying new characters in LEGO Star Wars and some FP in SSFIV3D.

4) How would you like to see Play Coins implemented in games? Just for optional bonus content?I don't think they should ever be required, so yeah. Bonus content works for me, or something that isn't essential to play the game.

I love the coins, and they're genius marketing. My only quibble is that you should be able to adjust the step per coin ratio. Then you could 'raise the difficulty level' yourself, just like in a game. 1000 steps is a joke.

Since I STILL haven't StreetPassed anyone, I unlocked a puzzle, which took a lot of coins, since the pieces are random. I don't have a new panel, so the remainder have been used on Find Mii, which is surprisingly enjoyable. I really like the feature. It would be cool in retail games, too, because it would keep games feeling fresh and vital longer. Something like a time-unlock in an arcade cabinet. Yep.

@VofEscaflowne

In a way, I agree that a sort of firmware update to change the coin limit is a good idea so that the whole coin system can adapt to the way the general population is using the 3DS.

Maybe once the May online update comes, Nintendo will be able to gather data automatically from our 3DS to determine how many steps the average person takes! (Similar to the Nintendo Channel on Wii tracking your game time and such). That would be a nice data point to look at, and compare to the rest of the world.

On the other hand, by keeping the limit at 10 coins, the system forces game developers to keep this standard going forward such that all the bonus content really doesn't cost too much. If the limit were to change, older 3DS games will end up broken by making it too easy to get everything.

@anandxxx

Oh, I see. 1000 steps = 10 coins could be the "Easy" setting, and from there you could crank it up to hard so that you would need, oh.... maybe 10,000 steps to get those same 10 coins! I'm exaggerating, but that could be great for someone who is actually trying to walk more everyday anyway just for their health. It would provide a bigger incentive.

@roykoopa64
Right, and I don't even think 10,000 is that extreme. I mean, it would be for ME. But Personal Trainer Walking had the feature. Nintendo should really add it in an update. It would make the feature more rewarding AND maybe rehabilitate a few of us along the way.

@anandxxx

Not a bad idea. I walked close to 4,000 the other day on a walk with my wife and dog. THAT should be my benchmark, not 1,000. I get that from walking to and from the bathroom at work most days.

Haha, do you go to a bathroom on a different floor to extend your breaks, as I do?

I mostly carry the 3DS around for the streetpass, not the pedometer/coins. As others mentioned, I'm not sure how accurate the pedometer is, and I find reaching the 10 coins for the day way too easy.

Those features combined are cool, though. I'm still carrying the 3DS everywhere, which is a good thing, I guess. It's what Nintendo wanted.

I never used to carry any portable around, before.

@anandxxx I miss having a bathroom that was nowhere near where I work. Now the only bathroom is like 20 feet away from my bosses' office. And I still sneak in books and stuff and stay in there much, much longer than I need to be.

1) Do you like the pedometer feature of the 3DS?

It's nice 'cause it gives pieces and with StreetPass, I now have two Miis on my Plaza (the last one was from my town and I meet him at 9pm:30, in an almost desert train station !

2) Is the 10 coin limit too restrictive?

It's a bit annoying in the little RPG and the 3D Puzzle when : the mercenaries miss their attacks or when you get a puzzle part you already own !

3) And on another note: What have you been using your coins on so far? Are you accumulating them in the hopes of picking up a game that will use the feature?

The Mii RPG (Mii en péril in french) & the 3D Puzzle. What are the other games that uses the coins ?

4) How would you like to see Play Coins implemented in games? Just for optional bonus content?

Achievements could give players more coins to unlock features / game modes / cheats (like Perfect Dark"/Goldeneye) or free DLC. Or maybe new challenges !

Bonus : Did you know that by holding "R" in Mii Plaza, you make the whole game faster, and you can even see your mercenary cats fall when you buy them ?

I didn't know that tip. As for Play Coins, I think a bunch of games use them. Not that I have any of those. Lego Star Wars was referenced in this thread.

@Zero
Dirty books?

anandxxx said:

I didn't know that tip. As for Play Coins, I think a bunch of games use them. Not that I have any of those. Lego Star Wars was referenced in this thread.

Hmm, I didn't found any "Play coins" (you speak about the Coins gained by using the podometer, right ?) feature in LEGO Star Wars III on 3DS (I have the game and SSF IV too).

Oh I see, it's to unlock the last six characters, right ?

Haha, I guess. I don't know, personally. But there's a list somewhere of which games use which features. Puzzle Bobble uses the LEAST. Only 3D. Not even wireless mutliplayer.