Uh oh, this isn’t going to lead anywhere good…
Around a year ago Nintendo released Swapnote, a messaging app for the 3DS that was about as Nintendo as a thing could be. It was presided over by a cute little character named Nikki and let you send 3D doodles and photos to people on your 3DS friend list. Swapnote was fun, whimsical annnd kids were using it to trade naked pictures and pervy adults were using it to lure children to hotel rooms, because the world sucks.
A few days ago Nintendo shut down the Swapnote service without warning, saying only that it was being axed because users were transmitting “offensive material”. Unfortunately the bad behavior went beyond teenagers sending each other 3D dick and butt shots — according to a Japanese newspaper a 44-year-old man has been charged with child pornography after receiving nude photos from two girls aged 11 and 12. There are also murky reports of two middle-aged Japanese men luring a 12-year-old girl to a hotel room through Swapnote.
So yeah, I guess this is it — Nintendo is never doing anything online ever again.
To end things on a somewhat more upbeat note, Swapnote’s mascot Nikki has at least found a new home. A fan is playing as Nikki in the latest version of Animal Crossing, and started a Tumblr detailing her adventures…