Nintendo has decided to suspend the Swapnote service after receiving regular evidence that the 3DS feature was being used to exchange offensive material. The Swapnote and Special notes services were suspended at 7:00 PM EST on the 31st of October so over here in the UK you would've found that these features stopped working over the weekend.

Nintendo explained on its website that it wants to provide a positive experience for all and it was quite concerned to found that minors were receiving and sending inappropriate content via Spotpass.

“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.”

There must have been a lot of bad stuff going around for Nintendo to have to completely cut the features altogether. Back in April the Swapnote app was updated to allow photos and audio clips to be attached to messages and this seems to be where the problem has stemmed from. The company has stated that it will try and highlight the parental control features on its systems better in the future.

We don't know if the 3DS feature will make a return but if it does, expect it to have some limitations.

Kitguru Says: I never used the service on my 3DS but considering Nintendo's family friendly image I'm not surprised it nipped this in the bud. 

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