Nintendo’s new concierge service is definitely not meant for anyone like me – but I wanted to give it a try anyway. Fortunately, it offers an excellent service, no matter who you are, after trying it.
A quick look at the website makes it clear that the free customer service program is by appointment based on people who are unfamiliar with Nintendo Switch, or at least less familiar with them. For example, you can set up a 30-minute appointment to talk to a Nintendo representative about topics such as games (Getting Started), security and privacy, or even just Nintendo Switch 101.
So not for someone who reviewed the Switch hardware when it came out and had 500 hours in Animal Crossing: New Horizons. Not me.
But even though I let Nintendo know in advance that I was a game reporter who probably already knew an annoying amount about the Switch, Nintendo’s representative Adonis greeted me warmly during my session last week and was willing to take me on a journey by my chosen topic: “Games (what to play further).”
Adonis knew I was already here with a fairly complete Switch library, but I also told him that my visit was sincere. I wanted to know what this process looked like there, and I wanted to see how deeply Nintendo’s recommendations would diminish. Would he just recommend some Mario games and name it there? Was his work limited to explaining access to the eShop? Was it just a Nintendo cash grab and would he try to encourage me to buy several full priced titles? How good would the recommendations actually be?
Luckily, Adonis was patient with my unusual situation and invited me to tell him a little bit about what I played recently or what I was interested in to give him an idea of where to start. I told him I’ve been playing Animal Crossing and the indie puzzle title Carto lately, and I’m looking forward to Bravely Default 2 in a few weeks and would like something to fill in time.
Then Adonis did the best he could possibly do: he recommended that I play a bunch of game demos.
Since we had a video call, he offered to share his screen with me and show me my Nintendo Switch, where he guided me through the process of navigating to the eShop and to games in search of available demo and then genre (we it with RPGs). After that, he slowly starts flipping through the games and calling out some recommendations while going like Trials of Mana, Octopath Traveler and Cat Quest.
I will admit it – I actually learned something during this session. As someone who writes about games to make money, I rarely have reason to browse the eShop casually. I already know that most of the games I want to play will be coming soon, which is why I have never taken the time to consider the huge variety of games with free demos that are out there right now. There are many! In fact, much more than I previously thought. I quickly started scraping titles down on a notebook.
I was further impressed by the fact that Adonis was more than willing to jump out of the first party catalog and recommend games from big and small partners. Apart from Cat Quest, there were also other Indies he mentioned, Grindstone and Wonderful 101, which he was delighted to have penetrated to the Switch after being missed by so many on the Wii U. He also threw out Dragon Quest Builders (after I told him I’m not big on Dragon Quest), Pokémon Mystery Dungeon (because I said I like Sword and Shield and Let’s Go!), And the upcoming Monster Hunter Rise -demo, as I mentioned my long distance partner and I was looking for games to play together in cooperative.
Oh, and he finally recommended the new Mario game, but at that point I had a list that could easily overwhelm me for weeks after Bravely Default 2.
Although he did mention a few games I had played before, I walked away from the conversation with a long list of titles I had known for a while, but for whatever reason did not give a good shake. Several, like Grindstone and Octopath, were games I wanted to play for a while and just did not have time for. I spent the weekend in and out of the game demos and, with the exception of Monster Hunter (for which the demo unfortunately ended so far), at least dived into everything Adonis recommended.
Nintendo’s interest in making its system understandable to people with less gaming knowledge is not new, nor surprising, but this latest attempt has legally impressed me. I said in anticipation that I would buy some $ 60 games that I had already played for or that I was not really interested in. Instead, someone who clearly likes games and knew a lot about them, talked to me enthusiastically and passionately about it, navigating me through a system that I did not spend much time finding new games that I might enjoy. If it was my experience as someone who was very comfortable with her Switch, I can imagine it could be even more informative for newbies who really have no idea where to start.
The concierge service is for the time being a pilot program that, according to Nintendo, will only be available in January and February, but I hope it is successful enough and useful enough that they keep it open longer and succeed in spreading the news to new Switch owners. If you have a friend or family member who is new to the game or the Switch system and wants help, I can not recommend it enough.
Adonis, if you are reading this: these recommendations have definitely and after work today I am going to play more Dragon Quest Builders. Thank you!
Rebekah Valentine is a news reporter for IGN. You can find her on Twitter @duckvalentine.