RETRO GAMING Hotline heroes who revealed the secrets of video games to people

How did the lifeline work?

Being a consultant was a dream job for avid gamers. Candidates had to go through rigorous training that consisted exclusively of playing. They had to complete a list of games within the given time, among which there were regular hits like the first two Zelda games, in order to prove their skills and knowledge of the subject. Only then would they be ready to accept the calls of dire games.

Nintendo’s consulting office, located in Redmond, Washington, was a far cry from today’s technologically advanced call centers. Their main tools were thick binders, paper with squares and colored pencils. When a new game was released, one advisor would be tasked with playing it, drawing a detailed map and writing a document with all the secrets that would then be photocopied for everyone else. At the height of its popularity, in the early nineties, the team numbered up to five hundred advisors who received around 140,000 calls per week.

The period after Christmas was internally called “hell week”, because millions of children would get new games and call for help en masse. The most recent queries were about games like The Legend of Zelda, Metroid and Super Mario Bros. 3. Patient counselors guided the players step by step through the most difficult parts, and the moments when a child’s exclamation “I did it!” would come from the other side of the line. they were the greatest reward. The service was initially free, but later a line was introduced with a special rate of about $1.50 per minute.

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The idyll of hand-drawn maps and collegiality was disrupted by the arrival of the ELMO computer system. The administration tried to standardize the answers and create a central database, but the advisers mostly scorned it. The textual database without maps often did not contain all the necessary information, and many veterans preferred to use their verified diaries until the very end.

The system was a symbol of the change that engulfed the company. The spirit of community and passion was slowly replaced by corporate efficiency. The final blow to Nintendo’s phone line was dealt by the Internet. With the appearance of pages with guides, help life has become too expensive and outdated. The service was shut down in 2005, quietly marking the end of a legendary gaming era.

*with the use of AI