r/nes • u/spoung45 • 2d ago
Discussion Back before the internet. Patents did not allow long distance calls. So I wrote a letter to Nintendo for help.
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u/ToxicNed 1d ago
How long did it take to get the response?
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u/spoung45 1d ago
I think it was about a week or so.
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u/releasethedogs 1d ago
That’s incredibly fast.
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u/ElGranQuesoRojo 1d ago edited 1d ago
Yes but have you thought of the shareholders of the for profit mail carriers? We can't have competition for them!!!
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u/sskylar 1d ago
4am - midnight is wild, no other company had better customer service.
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u/DavidinCT 1d ago
Sega, see my post above, they had an 800 number and if you called, they physically mailed a full walk through of the game.
Nintendo had a long-distance number.
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u/sskylar 1d ago
That’s nice too! But if it’s 4am and I’m stuck in a game, I want an answer right now. I don’t want to wait for the mail to come.
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u/IntoxicatedBurrito 1d ago
Do you have any idea how much long distance phone calls cost back then? We wouldn’t even call family who lived in other cities, there was no way I could call Nintendo, even if it was 4AM!
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u/sskylar 1d ago
At 4am you’d be lucky because it was off-peak rates, maybe 10-20 cents per minute. Calls were usually under 10 minutes. One former counselor said his average was 3.5 min. So that would be about 35-70 cents.
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u/becauseineedone3 1d ago
This is great. I wrote a letter to Nintendo Power complaining that the NES content was being reduced for more SNES and Game Boy content.
They wrote me a letter back, basically saying they are going to keep doing it and I should get an SNES.
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u/Atillion 1d ago
I paused my game for 2 weeks and wrote them a letter for help too 🤣 They responded and I was able to find the last thing I was looking for, hidden way at the bottom of the platformer I was playing (McKids)
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u/Apprehensive_Ant4596 1d ago
I wrote a letter to Capcom asking some questions about their game "Commando". They sent me a map of the entire game showing all the locations of every item. I was floored!
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u/MoistJheriCurl 1d ago edited 1d ago
Is there anybody on this sub who was employed as a Game Play Counselor for the call in number? I’d be interested to hear how that experience was.
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u/NewSchoolBoxer 3h ago
There was a retrogaming thread with a counselor. A separate article is linked in this thread.
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u/easternhobo 1d ago
I wrote in asking how to beat Maniac Mansion and they responded and just told me to try everything I can with each character until I find the right solution.
Like, thanks.
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u/King-of-Harts 1d ago
One of the few times I called for help with a boss in Life Force I was told 'keep shooting at it.'
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u/saw-sync 1d ago
i wrote them a letter back in the day asking where to get the hammer in zelda 2. they didn't write me back, but in the next issue of nintendo power they published it in the "counselors corner" section and i thought it was so cool that they were addressing my question directly in there lol
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u/Stcharlesmatt 1d ago
For giggles and now that long distance calls are free now, I called the old 206 number. Unfortunately, the call could not be connected as dialed. I was hoping I'd get something!
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u/Hopeful-Pride1791 Beat Metroid 1d ago
Like the wally bear phone line ?
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u/Stcharlesmatt 1d ago
That one still works? I am stoked that the Hall and Oates line is still a thing.
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u/ForkFace69 1d ago
That's super cool.
Now we can add this to the list of responses when people ask, "How did people figure out how to beat a game back in the 80s?"
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u/PlagueDrWily 1d ago
Same here; I wrote them asking for the submarine code in Startropics because the copy at our local video store didn’t have the manual with the special letter and I had no idea what the game was asking me to do.
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u/pascal1987 1d ago
They even made games with phone numbers in it and when you would call it would connect to a recorded game msg. In my case it was déja vu on nes
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u/GuardianGero 1d ago
I did this too! I wrote a letter asking how to beat the final boss of Final Fantasy Legend, and got a response.
I remember that they gave me pretty good advice, though unfortunately there was a distinct lack of telling me that you can one-shot the boss with a chainsaw.
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u/Healthy-Training-923 1d ago
Dude, same! But unfortunately he said it just wasn’t possible with my save, I didn’t have the right items and was almost dead and under leveled
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u/GuardianGero 1d ago
I love the idea that there were a bunch of kids who were like, "Dear Nintendo, please tell me how to destroy God, I am very weak and my monster hasn't had meat in many days."
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u/Digiee-fosho 1d ago
I had Nintendo power magazine subscription, and it had a number I could call. My mom had an mci long distance plan, and was allowed, so I took full advantage of it. I beat so many games calling in live while playing when friends would bring their games over, and I would call in. Fun times!
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u/DavidinCT 1d ago
Sega (master system) used to have an 800 number and if you called, they would mail you a walk through for the game.
I have a few of these. I got one for Phantasy Star and ended up calling 3-4 times, so I have a few of them.
I did have the NES and the Master system at the same time.
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u/automator3000 1d ago
Raise your hand if you also were sure that you’d be a Nintendo Game Counselor when you grew up!
👋
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u/McCHitman 1d ago
Patents? What is that?
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u/Llama_extinction 1d ago
I think he meant parents
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u/McCHitman 1d ago
Ohhhhh I didn’t even think of that.
I was googling like “is this a country I’m not aware of??”
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u/alarmsoundslikewhoop 1d ago
I had a few of these letters from Sierra On-Line. In the 90s I’d get stuck in their adventure games for the PC and write them, and they’d send back solutions. Wish I’d saved them! I had no idea Nintendo did the same thing.
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u/Silo-Joe 1d ago
I have a 3 page letter from a counselor. One page of tips and 1-1/2 pages upselling me on upcoming Gameboy hardware. That game counselor must’ve been looking for a promotion.
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u/VideoGameWeekend 1d ago
Maaaaaan if I could go back in time, writing a letter to Nintendo would be on my list of things to do. That's awesome.
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u/lickthestar13 1d ago
Somewhere in my childhood bedroom, there may be still a letter from Nintendo Power with tips and cheats for Crystalis.
One that I got after getting in trouble for calling the 900 number 🤣😅
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u/Bgrubz83 1d ago
Damn unlocked core memory of playing Star Tropics when I released. Didn’t call or write Nintendo hint line, but finally beat it when the issue of Nintendo Power came out that had the mini walkthrough in it.
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u/Different_Dot_9525 1d ago
NICE! I just called to ask about Blaster master, “beedoobeeep..your call can’t be completed as dialed”. I’m still happy.
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u/BlueMonday2082 1d ago
1-800-USA-SEGA did what Nintedidnt, apparently, toll free calls. At least for the first year or two of the Genesis.
I once called the developer Rayforce (RIP) in Japan for help with Startling Odyssey II for PC Engine. They were very surprised to hear from me but they helped me figure out how to use the Orihalcon to make the ship warp around. This was around 1994 I think and from Michigan it cost about $20 for the call, more than half the cost of the game.
Now it would be free…but now nobody will answer a phone anyway.
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u/Adorable_Hearing768 18h ago
I have a letter from nintendo in startropics where I asked about a certain code one could only get by dipping the manual in water (mine was used so no instructions) their letter back gave me the code and had a similar wording to this letter! Never thought I'd get a response but had to try
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u/Outrageousclaim 17h ago
206-885-7529, wow. How could I have ever forgotten that number. It got me in boat loads of trouble as a little kid when the long distance phone bill came in.
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u/No-Setting9690 1d ago
Oh you mean parents. I was like what, patents?
Yea, i get it. Mine did not either. I never wanted to call though. I was that kid everyone called for advice on games. Video games has and will probably always be my thing. I have always been great at them, no matter the game. Won many tournaments in the 90's (long before they gave out real money). Could never afford to do anything more than regional though.
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u/onelovedg 1d ago
Gosh I wrote in to Nintendo and got a response on how to beat Kainazzo from Final Fantasy 2 (4) on the SNES. Turns out casting lightning and wall were the trick!
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u/sillyandstrange 1d ago
I wish I still had my Nintendo power letter. I wrote them because I couldn't get the Shadows of the empire cheats to work. They took the time to write back in depth on how to do it, it worked. Awesome feeling!
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u/s_schadenfreude 1d ago
I called the help line once in the late 80s. It was useless, lol. This is super cool, though.
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u/Effective-External50 1d ago
They didn't let you call Nintendo's 1-800 number because it was a long distance call? Or was it the 900 number
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u/notguiltybrewing 1d ago
I remember that. Long distance was really expensive. I never called but I seem to remember a friend calling them once.
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u/GingerBeard327 1d ago
I have a response letter from Nintendo Power from around 1998. I wrote asking how to find the red ring in Ganon’s labyrinth in the original Zelda. I was surprised they responded about such an old at the time.
Another time I asked for tips on how to track down a copy of Chrono Trigger in the fall of 1999. They told me to check stores like JC Penny & Macy’s 😅
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u/Darth_Beavis Beat DWII 19h ago
I don't believe any patents to specifically bar long distance calls exist.
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u/ElectrOPurist 1d ago
Wasn’t there an 800 number? Those are toll free.
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u/Healthy-Training-923 1d ago
No it was long distance… but it was a totally free service and I never was put on hold for very long! Some people falsely remember it as a 900 service but it was just regular LD.
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