Nintendo’s new StreetPass games are polished, but come at a cost

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http://media.edge-online.com/wp-content/uploads/edgeonline/2013/06/StreetPass-Plaza.jpg (http://media.edge-online.com/wp-content/uploads/edgeonline/2013/06/StreetPass-Plaza.jpg)3DS owners woke up to a pleasant surprise this morning in their StreetPass Mii Plaza. One system update later, and the app has been transformed, offering access to four new games that are a little deeper and more involving than StreetPass Quest and Puzzle Swap, but delivered with similar levels of polish, charm and beautifully judged writing.They come at a cost, however – £4.49 each, to be precise, or £13.49 for a bundle containing all four. With little but a brief description to go off – delivered, as is the Nintendo way, by a rabbit holding a tablet – it seems a little steep, particularly given that Japanese players get the same deal for around ten pounds. That said, all four demonstrate plenty of potential, and their value can only really be judged when their content has been exhausted. Perhaps more significantly, the games represent a step forward for Nintendo in terms of premium content: it has already dabbled in microtransactions for the likes of New Super Mario Bros. 2 (http://www.edge-online.com/review/new-super-mario-bros-2-review/) and Fire Emblem: Awakening (http://www.edge-online.com/review/fire-emblem-awakening-review/), while its first major slice of DLC arrives later this week in the form of New Super Luigi U. But this is an unprecedented expansion to in-built software, and anyone who isn’t prepared to pay will be left with four barren spaces in the app’s Play menu.

http://www.edge-online.com/features/nintendos-new-streetpass-games-are-polished-but-come-at-a-cost/