The rise and fall of video game helplines: how Nintendo, Sega and PC publishers helped players

Before Google, YouTube and online walkthroughs, getting stuck in a video game could leave you with one option: pick up the phone and ask for help. Nintendo, Sega and several major PC game publishers ran dedicated helplines where players could speak to someone who could explain a puzzle, point out a hidden item or offer advice on a difficult level. During the 1980s and 1990s, millions of people used these services. Some calls were free apart from telephone charges. Others came with a hefty price per minute. The internet eventually brought the business to an end. But for almost two decades, answering questions about video games kept hundreds of employees busy.

Nintendo’s game helpline answered thousands of calls every day

You’ve spent hours playing The Legend of Zelda on the NES. You’ve explored every room in a dungeon, collected a few items and reached a point where you can’t work out where to go next. You could buy a strategy guide. Or you could phone Nintendo.

Nintendo established its American gameplay helpline in the 1980s, employing specialist advisers called Game Play Counselors. Their job was to answer questions about Nintendo games, from Super Mario Bros. and Metroid to The Legend of Zelda.

The advisers worked in a call centre equipped with consoles, televisions, game maps and reference materials. They spent their working days helping players find hidden passages, defeat bosses and solve puzzles.

Sometimes a caller needed directions through a dungeon. Another might want to find a missing item or complete a difficult level. The advisers used printed guides and their own experience with the games to provide an answer. It was a busy operation.

Millions of players called Nintendo for help

By 1990, Nintendo’s American helpline was receiving approximately 7,000 calls a day. During the mid-1990s, the company reported handling almost 44 million calls for information and customer service since 1986.

The numbers continued to grow. In 1997, Nintendo’s dedicated gameplay helpline received around 50,000 calls every week. The service wasn’t limited to America. Nintendo launched a British helpline in 1991, which handled approximately 2,500 calls a day during busy periods in the early 1990s. Calling wasn’t necessarily cheap.

Nintendo initially provided gameplay advice through a conventional telephone number, leaving customers to pay their normal telephone charges. The company later introduced premium-rate numbers. By April 1997, American players paid $1.50 per minute for live gameplay assistance. A lengthy conversation about a difficult Zelda dungeon could turn into an expensive phone call.

Sega, Sierra and LucasArts offered similar services

Nintendo wasn’t the only company receiving telephone calls from confused players. Sega operated gameplay helplines for its Master System, Mega Drive and other consoles. American customers could call a premium-rate number for help with games, paying 95 cents per minute in 1996.

PC game publishers faced similar demand, particularly from players struggling with adventure games. Sierra On-Line, publisher of King’s Quest and Space Quest, received more than 60,000 hint requests during a busy period extending into early 1988. Its games featured puzzles requiring players to find objects, enter commands and complete tasks in a particular sequence.

Sierra introduced automated telephone systems offering recorded hints. Players selected the relevant game and question using their telephone keypad. LucasArts offered a comparable service for adventure games including The Secret of Monkey Island, Day of the Tentacle and Full Throttle. Its American hint line charged 75 cents per minute. Recorded answers reduced the need for employees to handle every individual question. Players could select a hint, listen to the instructions and return to their game.

How the internet brought video game helplines to an end

The decline began during the second half of the 1990s. GameFAQs, established in 1995, gave players access to written walkthroughs covering an increasing number of computer and console games. Other gaming websites published guides, maps and solutions to difficult puzzles.

Search engines made finding answers easier. Broadband connections eventually brought video demonstrations into the picture. Players no longer needed to pay premium telephone charges to discover the location of a hidden item or finish a difficult level. They could search for the answer and continue playing.

Nintendo discontinued its American live gameplay helpline in 2005. Other publishers had already moved to automated services, online documentation and conventional technical support. Telephone customer service continued to handle hardware faults, account problems and technical enquiries. Gameplay advice, once a busy part of the industry, increasingly moved online.

Today, publishers provide in-game tutorials, searchable support pages and digital guides. Video walkthroughs can demonstrate an entire level in minutes. The dedicated gameplay helpline disappeared as players gained easier access to the same information through the internet. What once required a paid telephone conversation became something anyone with an internet connection could find for themselves.

Spread the love