If you're a staunch fan of the 3DS, then chances are you've dabbled in the Streetpass and Spotpass features over the years. The latter, of course, is no longer available since Nintendo shut down the online servers, but if you're out and about with your 3DS, then you can still benefit from the StreetPass function (that is, if you find anyone else with their own console).
One of the games that made use of the StreetPass function was Puzzle Swap, which allowed you to slowly reveal images via new tiles. Some of these were exclusive images offered via the Spotpass feature, and a group of fans is currently on the hunt for one last image.
Dubbed ANAでDS (All Nippon Airways), the image was made available exclusively in Japan from July to September in 2012. Naturally, of course, this means that the image is now only available via the Streetpass function. The online group, led by Benny Rochwerg, has recovered the data for all but 1 of the 63 Puzzle Swap panels available, and it needs your help to find the final image.
Once the final image is recovered via SteetPass, Benny aims to have master files available for all 63 Puzzle Swap panels, allowing anyone to download them onto their 3DS and thus preserving every Puzzle Swap image for the foreseeable future.
So, if you or someone you know has access to the ANAでDS Puzzle Swap image (you can see what it looks like via Nintendo Fandom), then leave a comment down below. In the meantime, be sure to check out the wonderful StreetPass documentary published by our very own Zion - it's a lengthy one, so get comfortable.
Comments 48
I miss Streetpass. Honestly Switch not having it is one of the few disappointments I have with that system. I doubt it'll be back for Switch 2, but I can dream.
Never heard of this one, but I did get a McDonald's one which I believe was US only.
Nope, definitely don't have it, wish good luck to those seeking this puzzle!
And yes, I'd love to see StreetPass back on Switch 2 as much as I doubt it will happen - now that I think about it, along with the system itself you could also use the NSO app for it, giving people one more reason to actually use that!
I mean, I'm still in Japan for another 2 months. I could try to pass someone with it. What's the name of the group? How do we contact them?
I remember when I completed all the panels I had on the go. Proper chuffed!
Then I started getting pieces for new ones, and now I've got at least half a dozen with just a few pieces. Gave up on this years ago though.
@RainbowGazelle How's your visit so far? What prompted the extended stay? What's street pass? What's a 3DS? Where's Waldo?
US so I didn't get this one, but if we had gotten it I would have it. I finished all the panels and got the gold medal back when McDonald's had relays set up at their stores. There were five of them on my commute so I'd pop into each one for a minute and fill up my passes. It goes quick when you can grab 100 passes a day.
I was in Japan for a month in November, all over the place Tokyo, Kyoto, Hiroshima, Osaka, even Nintendo World and I got 3 hits on my street pass. One from Mexico, one Swedish and one Australian.
Unfortunately Street Pass is dead in Japan.
But I still take my 3DS with me everywhere I go. Off to Latvia Lithuania and Estonia in October
I really miss a lot of the things that made 3DS such a wonderful handheld. Streetpass, themes and stickers, Flipnote... It just had so much creative apps that the Switch doesn't have at all...
@Ogbert I'd welcome it back as well, but preferably without the connectivity cap (aka only so many games you could enable thr feature for at a time) and without otherwise unobtainable content. Heck, this very article arguably rests my case in the latter regard. Be it SP or amiibos, there's only so much fun to a feature when its real world distribution geography is dwarfed by that of the actual userbase.
@Bunkerneath I still carry both of my 3DS units with me most of the time, but they're often either turned off to preserve battery charge...or already out of it.😅 That said, I had a bunch of hits here in Minsk as recently as December 2022, so in anime conventions we trust.
Tee hee I have it!!! 🤭 I got the puzzle when I stopped by Haneda Airport a few years back. I also have the McDonald's one.
@fox_mattcloud Japan also got the McDonald's one.
Will have to check, I was in Japan carrying one of those at the time.
Ahhh street pass was so much fun. Getting hits was always a nice surprise
I have really special memories of my two sons and I playing the games and collecting through street pass. I wish something like this would come back but I highly doubt it.
@DripDropCop146 I've been working here for almost 5 years! XD Mostly enjoyable. Streetpass was a cool feature on 3DS. 3DS was Nintendo's best handheld. Wally is usually hiding in the "Where's Wally" books. ;D
I would have to charge and fire up my 3ds. I travelled through Japan in 2014. Could it be on there? Should I check?
I remember getting over a hundred street passes at Disneyland Tokyo probably in March/April 2014. This was better than the birth of my child!!
It will be a few days before I can check this… I’ll keep you posted.
@JohnnyMind Yeah, this is a great idea! Build it into the NSO app, and your smartphone can just collect all of the connections. Then, it ties it to your Switch account, which you can of course access on your Switch.
@AussieMcBucket Genuinely came to my mind only after reading this article but yeah, that would be a great option to have on board also those not carrying the system around (of course straight up using just the system should still be an option) other than giving a much needed additional use to the NSO app!
I take my 3ds to work and i get coins for walking, i hope to find street pass.
@Tsuchinoko Hi, I’m part of the team trying to recover the puzzle! Would you be able to reach out to us at puzzleswapana@gmail(dot)com or @PuzzleSwapANA on Twitter/X?
also please note that the archival process does not require or use any modding
Thank you!
Hi - this is Benny - if anyone has the puzzle, please reach out to us using the contact info provided by @CrotonTalks
Thank you so much for your help!
@timp29 Yes that would be great, thank you! If you have the ANA DS puzzle, please contact us using the info from the comment by CrotonTalks
@CrotonTalks
Couldn't you just keep using play coins to get it?
@fox_mattcloud It wasn’t.
I remember how I deleted some file on my SD card and evaded Spotpass for a few weeks just to get rid of it.
I didn’t want that horrible mascot on my system.
@PersianZSR Sounds like it’s a pink one.
Oh yeahhhh I have that one, why didn't you ask sooner?
Joking, of course. StreetPass was great, I'm not sure it would ever come back with the Switch or whatever is next (it's still quite a size to lug about, so wouldn't be nearly as big a thing as the 3DS one) but I'm shocked Nintendo, or another company, has never utilised the massive potential for a similar game on smartphones. Everyone has one, there's bluetooth functionality in every device. Seems an absolute no-brainer with Nintendo venturing into the mobile market.
@Olliemar28 Is that video thumbnail made by GetMadz ? It looks like his artstyle...!
@PersianZSR this, and the McDonald’s one were only obtainable through specific Nintendo Zone spot passes (airports and McDoanld’s locations in Japan) so even if you street passed someone who had the pieces there, if you never got the spotpass data, then you unfortunately wouldn’t be able to get the puzzle pieces. On the plus side, it was only blue pieces so you could even complete it by yourself if you did have it.
@PersianZSR There were some puzzles with panels that you couldn't unlock via coins (I think they were colored pink), you could only copy those from other people who also had it. I'm guessing this is one of those.
@H_Hog Hi - this is Benny, this panel is actually not made of pink pieces. Rather, you can't unlock the ANA panel using Play Coins because you first need to have the ANA SpotPass data on your 3DS. This SpotPass data was distributed in Japan in 2012, so we would need someone with the ANA panel on their 3DS to complete some extremely simple steps (10 minutes max) to help us recover the ANA panel data. From there, anyone would be able to install the ANA panel on their 3DS!
@benscene Oh! That at least makes it easier, then. Crazy to think that an entire puzzle is this elusive!
@H_Hog Agreed - thanks for your interest!
Oh, I misread the article, I thought there was only a piece missing.
No I hadn’t heard of this one before. Last year my memory card became faulty so I ended up losing all my numerous puzzles without enough time to get more, which was really frustrating.
Oh wow, that's a throwback. I forgot all about that. There were some nice neat additions back then. Not mad they're gone, just surprised that some of that didn't find its way into the Switch. But there's always the next system.
@Pillowpants I like my Switch, but it'll never topple 3DS as my favorite Nintendo handheld.
It's just so cozy, and has a ton of character and unique games.
Can’t we use the online streetpas mod to work together in recovering this (netpass)
@romanista Unfortunately not - we need someone who has the ANA puzzle on their 3DS to send us an email at [email protected] so we can guide them through some simple steps to recover the puzzle data (10 minutes max).
-Benny
@benscene thank for the update. I just charged my 3ds to check.
@romanista Thank you for checking!
-Benny
Awesome article! Thank you so much.
@benscene you’re welcome. But alas…
@romanista No luck?
Hi everyone,
IGN also published an article about our search! It's available here: https://www.ign.com/articles/meet-the-nintendo-3ds-fans-hoping-to-finally-beat-puzzle-swap-by-tracking-down-its-rarest-puzzle
If someone has the ANAでDS puzzle, they can contact us by email at [email protected] , send us a Twitter/X direct message at @PuzzleSwapANA , or join our Discord server at https://discord.gg/JTAJF3DgxY and we will guide them through completing the simple steps needed to recover the puzzle data (it should only take at most 10 minutes). Thank you so much for your help!
Best wishes,
Benny
@benscene sorry, checked both my 3ds from my 2014 Japan trip. Never got any tiles from the ANA puzzle. Sorry 😞
@timp29 No problem, thank you for checking!
@Tsuchinoko Hi, just wondering: Did you reach out to these guys?
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