The 3DS' SpotPass feature will enable users to automatically get access to the latest system updates and other extra features while at the same time serving as a countermeasure against piracy.

 

The inclusion of automatic updating will no doubt benefit users who don't bother to follow the manual update procedures in place in the current Nintendo DS.

 

Nintendo president, Satoru Iwata elaborated on the planned feature in a meeting with investors recently saying, “countermeasures against piracy are not the only purpose, of course. For example, so far, when we try to offer some new attractive function, our consumers first have to turn on the subject game system and go through a manual procedure in order to download and install the system update.

 

"As a result, not so many people were willing to update their hardware. So, we want to make it so that Nintendo 3DS hardware shall be (automatically) updated through the network ... for as many consumers as possible to be able to make use of the new functions that we propose."

 

Iwata let slip another new piece of news regarding the 3D hand-held, saying that the Nintendo 3DS will have a function so that when new software is purchased, that software's ROM card will be able to start new system updates automatically.

 

Adding additional firmware of course means losing space for game data, with the 3DS carts only holding 2 GB of data at the last count. Iwata also expressed concern regarding this saying, “we expect a significant increase in the ROM memory capacity for Nintendo 3DS software, so much so that such programs can be added. With that, we can offer some new proposals to users and, at the same time, it can be used to prevent piracy.”

 

The Nintendo 3DS may be just about finished technically, but it seems a lot more is planned on the software side. We can't wait to get our hands on Nintendo's next hand-held gold mine when it launches in the West sometime in the fall of 2011.