Why does Nintendo bother with StreetPass outside of Japan?

[CM30]

Seriously, the only people who care for it are Japanese gamers and the odd hipster. They might as well not bother with the concept in Europe or most of America...

So why do Nintendo keep pushing this anyway?

 

[SurrealBrain]

Eh, I bumped into quite a few who use StreetPass in malls and such, so it must not be that unpopular outside of Japan. I don't know how it is in Europe, though.

 

[JoeKarta]

I get atleast 3 a week and I live in the Netherlands. I take it with me in the bus and when I go to the city.

 

[Bubba]

Maybe Nintendo thinks people will buy their Streetpass games. Does anyone care there are new ones? Does anyone excessively get Streetpasses? Not me. I guess it's needed to complete challenges that require it though like Kid Icarus Uprising and Smash 3DS. Guess Nintendo thinks it's cool enough at Nintendo themed events to get many Streetpasses.

 

[Glowsquid]

So why do Nintendo keep pushing this anyway?

Ever since the Gamecube, Nintendo's had problems with thinking from a global perspective instead of designing stuff around the Japanese market with no thought to how appealing or pratical a given thing might be outside it. Quite a few of the Wii U's problems can be traced back to this mentality, infact...

 

[Crescent-Moon Villager]

I don't think it's really unpopular outside of Japan, so much as it's just impractical. The Japanese don't seem to realize how population-sparse the rest of the world is compared to themselves. Me and most of my online friends live in middle-of-nowhere towns in the United States where meeting another Nintendo fan (let alone one who happens to have their 3ds with them at the time) is a very rare occurrence.