SpotZone would be a custom Nintendo Zone program that allows you to easily host a Nintendo Zone hotspot without needing a console to host it on. It would do this using an emulated version or custom reimplementation of the 3DS local wireless protocol (instead of using a custom Wi-Fi network), allowing unmodded 3DS consoles to connect.
Important
Turns out it's impossible to make this work on unmodded consoles (unless there's a Root CA data breach).
You would be able to easily create your own Nintendo Zone with a mix of official and custom content using a Nintendo Zone template (which I've already created, check out this repo) and a built-in toolbox to help modify and customize the template.
During setup, the user would be asked if they want to enable StreetPass Relay (SPR). If they choose to enable it, then their SpotZone hotspot will have SPR functionality. It would have a few extra features, such as automatically filtering out cheated Warrior's Way scores and banning users by adding their console to a blacklist. It could also have a "whitelist mode" that only allows whitelisted users to use SPR at your hotspot.
Note
I don't know if this would be possible to do, but it would be a great feature to have.
This feature would allow users to set up and distribute SpotPass content, including:
The SpotZone distribution app (that runs on a computer and hosts the SpotZone hotspot) would make it easy to do this with a bunch of built-in presets and item generators.
If the user provides the ROMs and imports them into the SpotZone desktop app, then it would make the SpotZone location double as a DS Download Station.
Included poster templates and generators would allow you to easily print posters that say stuff like "Nintendo Zone available here" or have instructions on how to connect.
All the archived content from SatellaZone would be included, so you can easily have the official trailers and screenshots available.
Note
The project probably won't start with this, but I have some ideas about the Nintendo Zone pages and their functionality.
The home page (index.html) would be the same (with a custom logo/banner on the enter button), but the main menu page (menu.html) would be different. It would use the standard table layout (with 2 buttons on the top and 3 buttons on the bottom), but the content would be customized.
The following buttons would be available for including in the top row (you can choose 2):
Note
An official asset exists for this button. It can be found in the template I created: menu-promo/Promo_demos.jpg
This would open a page explaining how to access the game demos through DS Download Play.
Note
Official assets exist for this button. Find them in the template repo.
This would open the Nintendo Zone details page for a chosen game.
This button can be used twice on the main menu.
This button would open a page that shows upcoming events that are happening at or near the SpotZone location.
This button would open a page about a SpotZone gift that can be received from within a game. It could also open a page where you can get SwapNote stationery.
The bottom row of the main menu would have these 3 buttons:
Note
This button might use a custom asset, but it could also use the official "Explore Games" button.
This would open the games/menu.html menu, which would have the following options:
This would open a page that has a similar layout to the 3DS notifications menu. It would have a bunch of "task list"-style articles like "Learn about SpotZone", "Learn about Pretendo Network", "Get extra SwapNote stationery", and others. The desktop app would make it easy to create your own entries, which could be written articles, links to pages in the Special Content section, or your own custom pages.
This is where the SpotPass content (and in-game gifts) would be. It would show a list of games that have available content, and clicking on one would tell you how to receive the content (e.g. "open the game and choose the Mystery Gift option on the title screen). SwapNote stationery/postcards would be sent to your console when you initiate a download from somewhere in this section.
Eventually (if it's possible), there could be a feature that allows people to share Miis (like CMOC but on a local server). This would work by using QR codes. The loading.html page would be replaced with a "select a service" page. There would be 2 options: SpotZone (which would go to the main menu) and Mii Exchange.
To post a Mii, you would export it as a QR code and then upload the QR code (from your 3DS photo library) to the submission page (which would still be in the Nintendo Zone app (not the Internet Browser)). The desktop app (which runs the local server) would do some checks to make sure the image is valid (e.g. make sure the image contains a QR code, make sure the image doesn't contain anything other than the QR code (such as someone holding a printed QR code), make sure the QR code's data is Mii data (and not something else), make sure the Mii is valid, run the Mii's name through a list of blocked words, etc.) before rendering the Mii (using arainkordi's Mii rendering tools) and storing the QR code and rendered preview in its database.
If the Mii contains birthday and creator information, a warning page would be displayed to ask the user if they're fine with sharing that info.
After selecting the Mii you want, a details page would open, which would contain a bigger preview image and some details about the Mii (this would appear on the top screen). There would be a 6-digit code on the bottom screen. To download the Mii, you would go to a certain website on your phone (I guess it would be hosted on the SpotZone computer) and enter the code from your 3DS. This would display the Mii's QR code on your screen, which you would then scan with the Mii Maker app on your 3DS.
Important
Because this involves serving websites to phones, it would only work if the host computer has an internet connection. The Wi-Fi card would be busy dealing with local wireless, so you would need a LAN cable or a second Wi-Fi card.
