i can see people sitting on their couches shaking the remote like they are "cough, cough" to bring up the number of steps and unlock stuff, lol.

You could easily cheap swinging a 3DS on a bit of string?

Pretty sure the ease of cheating is why their is a cap on the amount you can earn in a day.

It's easily achievable to reach 1,000 steps a day - even for people with sedentary jobs or lifestyles.  So those that cheat really aren't gaining much over those that don't.

At least, they get to "exercise" with their hands.

Tie a $250 bit of tech to a "bit of string" and then swing it around? This is why you can't have nice things!

I can have nice things thanks! and you can do it on your bed, or, make it a secure hammock. If you care enough that is ...

If the sensors are anything good like a good real pedometer, you need to have a rather constant sinusoidal movement (the behavior of your pocket relative to the ground as the Y axis) for it to be "considered" a step.

That being said, you'll need a jumpy washing machine to fool a 3DS maybe, a string ain't gonna work unless you keep moving it too.

More practical, is to put the damn thing in your pocket.

Cheating at walking is probably the worst thing I have ever heard =P

1000 steps are nothing. That's like 500 meters or so (for the metric impaired: a little more than a quarter of a mile).

Its not about walking around with your 3DS to gain coins but having the coins to persuade you to take the system with you. It helps get people to see the system in the wild and also helps with streetpass because the more people out with there 3DS the more interaction that can occur.

This then makes people want to take their system out more often amd thus the circle continues and Nintendo profits. It's actually quite ingenious.