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Something that surprised me when I went to work in Xataka is the community. Not only that of comments, where you can discuss the subject in the article, but specific issues that, if we can, we try to solve. No one was born, and if we move that to video game worldthat’s why there are guides. What would never occur to me is that the company that develops a game could be called on the phone to help me with that impossible phase.
But, precisely, that is what Nintendo did in the early 90s: I had a group of video game experts that helped you when you needed it. Were the ‘Nintendo games counselors‘, And it seems to me something as magical as unrepeatable in the current video game sector.
Nintendo Power. In the summer of 1988, two heavyweights of Nintendo of America founded Nintendo Power. It was a magazine that focused on games analysis, advances of new titles and ‘fan’ content of some of its most popular sagas. And one of its pillars were video game guides.
Complicated. The titles of the time They were difficultwith unfair mechanics in some cases (I’m looking at you, game of ‘The Lion King’) and with extremely obtuse designs in others, which made it difficult for many users to advance. The vast majority of games lasted a sigh, so that difficulty was a way that they were not completed in a couple of hours, but in the case of games of SNESmore complex than those of previous consoles, the guides were essential in some cases.
The hot nintendo line. If you were a juggon in the Time of Spanish magazines Preinternetyou will remember that you could write and, if you were lucky, their editors would give you a hand. However, Nintendo Power came up with a masterful (and demential) idea: to train experts in certain Nintendo games to help players who need it.
They were the ‘Nintendo Games Directors’ and their work material is as you are imagining it: desktop with a TV, a console, files with the maps and tips of the most important games of their consoles and a cable -free hands to be able to play or manipulate the documents while solving the ballot.
‘Powerline to the pros’. A few years ago, the medium Nintendolife He interviewed Erich Waas, a heavyweight of Zenimax online Studios, but in his youth he needed part -time job and took him to be one of these directors.
Basically, it seems that the work was a “fans for fans”, since the interview consisted of questions about three specific games: ‘Metroid’, ‘Zelda’ and ‘Dragon Quest’. They gave him a week to prepare the three games (very little time, the truth) and in the interview they asked him about issues related to how to level up.
Popularity. When he joined the team in 1990, Game boy I was already on sale and Snes was falling, so the most popular games they asked were the ‘Zelda’ (logical), ‘Dragon Quest’ and the Point & Click ‘Shadowgate’ adventure. And, at that time, there were 250 people among game counselors and customer service.
The brain of the beast. Thus the Super Nintendo was known, but I would say rather than the beast’s brain was the file that these game counselors had. Waas commented in the interview that, during the first month, all they did was play popular games at that time and receive training to help those who called looking for answers. That training was not only technical, but also communication.
“We could not say” kill “, but” win “when we talked to the players,” he says. Nintendo is a company with an ‘Family Friendly’ approach, and that has been so for decades. They also had to show enthusiasm for the game they were talking about.
Get asking. With the games that passed they gained experience to reply Questions, but also, they had a huge file with folders in which there were screenshots, maps of frequent levels and questions. That allowed, although the counselor in question would not have ended ‘Final Fantasy VI‘, for example, as there were certain recurring questions of the players whose answer was noted, I simply went for the corresponding folder when I received the call and … ready. Happy player.
Beyond video games. This Reddit thread It is very fun because we can see testimonies of people who called this service. And there are anecdotes of all kinds: who called to get the invisibility layer of ‘A link to the past‘, who did it to pass to the King Dede de’Kirby’s Dream Land‘, who said that the friends called him to tell them how to complete a phase, who states that they responded reluctantly and who says they burst one of the best moments of the aforementioned’ Final Fantasy VI ‘.
And it is possible that this line was more than an aid to pass levels. Waas says that “there were some different calls sometimes, especially on Fridays and Saturday nights. Also during Christmas holidays, with lonely players with whom I stayed to talk most of the time. And something curious is that, sometimes, they did not give him the answer directly.” They trained us to take the player on the right track thanks to different tracks until they discovered the answer for themselves. “
Subtleties. Because there are times that, for example, we do not know that we have to use a mechanic to defeat an enemy and, in that case, the directors would tell us things like “hey, why you think you have a skill that allows you to eat enemies and then expel them…” so that we get to the answer. Other times … Well, you had to help directly. Waas comments a funny anecdote:
“Once, someone called for ‘The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past’. The player asked what he had to do when the uncle who tells you at the beginning of the game that” you wait “leaves home. He stayed there waiting, without knowing that everything he had to do was leave the house to start the adventure.” That it may seem like a drawer and today we would experience, but we talk about the “beginnings” of the video game and yes, it is funny, but it can be understood.
Ah, capitalism. In its beginnings, Nintendo Power Line was a free phone, something surprising if we take into account the video game tendency (and we have very recent the case of Nintendo Switch 2 and Your games), But the thing fell apart. Rick Thompson was one of these Nintendo Game Counselor and commented that there was a moment that had 20,000 calls per day. It is an absolute barbarity and may exaggerate, but of course there should be no few calls they received.
It was something, therefore, extremely juicy to make profitable, beyond the income of the magazine itself. The first minute and 4.5 the additional minute (finally) went to a payment number of 2 dollars, but the advantage is that, if you were from Washington (state in which the magazine was), the call was free. In fact, in the aforementioned Reddit thread there are comments from users who claim that it was impossible for their parents to let them call them, as well as others commenting that good bronchs were taken by the bulky telephone bill at the end of the month.
And internet arrived. But the fat cows did not always last and, with the arrival of the Internet, the guide service by phone stopped making so much sense. At a time when the monthly magazines were the ones that carried guides, and not all the hot games for physical space, something like that had all the meaning of the world.
However, when online media appeared and the Internet became more accessible, anyone could consult what I needed about their favorite game, or speak for forums, without having to pay those bulky rates. Thus, in 2005 the number of directors left reducing and those most frequent questions were answered by recordings. Everything ended in 2010, when the line already lacked every sense (and the curious thing is to last so long).
Nostalgic revival. But if we know something well in this video game, it is that nostalgia is very powerful, and Nintendo gave us two espuertas with the launch of its Nes classic mini There in 2016. From November 11 to 13 of that year, Nintendo revived the line with pre -recorded messages that honored that nostalgic past for many.
I have to admit that I never sent a letter to The hobbybut I do keep some fantastic memories commenting on the courtyard of the play with friends who were playing the same game as me. Now, with a couple of clicks on the Internet we already have it, and although it is better way to obtain the information, it does not have a pinch of charm to ask in recess, friends or forums.
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