doesnt the 3ds have that other message thing going on now?
you can still draw and make pictures and pass them to people that are so close you might as well just talk to them :3
but at least its a funny way to share pictures sometimes
also, pictochat did have a few fans. people actually did art on that thing. some even made little animations and comics and posted those online. it was funny and things drawn on the ds always looked a little better than they should have looked too.
obviously though, in the west, those things were unneeded. people with consoles often dont live near one another. its a whole other thing in japan, where you'd have all 4 chatrooms filled if you checked at a trainstation or during a break in some schools