Nintendo’s new concierge service is definitely not meant for someone like me – but I really wanted to try it anyway. Fortunately, after trying it out, it seems to offer great service, no matter who you are.
A quick look at the site makes it clear that their free customer service program with scheduling is for people who are new or at least less familiar with the Nintendo Switch. You can, for example, set up a 30-minute meeting to talk to a Nintendo representative about topics like Games (First Steps), Security and Privacy or even Nintendo Switch 101.
So it’s not for, say, someone who reviewed the Switch hardware when it came out and has 500 hours in Animal Crossing: New Horizons. I do not.
But although I informed Nintendo in advance that I was a game reporter who probably already knew an irritating amount about the Switch, Nintendo representative Adonis greeted me warmly during my session last week and was fully prepared to take me on a journey through my chosen topic: “Games (what to play next).”
Adonis knew I was already here with a fairly full Switch library, but I also told him that my visit was sincere. I wanted to know what that process was like and see how far Nintendo’s recommendations would cut. Would he simply recommend some Mario games and say he is there? Has your work been limited to explaining how to access the eShop? Was that just to make money for Nintendo and would he try to encourage me to buy several full-price titles? How good would the recommendations really be?
Fortunately, Adonis was patient with my unusual situation and invited me to tell him a little bit about what I was playing recently or what I was interested in to give him an idea of where to start. I told him that I was playing Animal Crossing and the indie puzzle title Carto recently, and I was looking forward to Bravely Default 2 in a few weeks and wanted something to fill the time in the meantime.
So, Adonis did the best thing he could have done: he recommended that I play a lot of game demos.
As we were in a video call, he offered to share his screen with me and showed me his Nintendo Switch, where he guided me during the process of navigating to the eShop and searching for games by available demo and genre (we continue with RPGs). He then started to slowly roll through the games, giving some recommendations as he did, like Trials of Mana, Octopath Traveler and Cat Quest.
I admit – I really learned something during this session. As someone who writes about games for a living, I rarely have reason to browse the eShop casually. I already know that most of the games I want to play will be released soon, so I never stopped to consider the wide variety of games with free demos that are available now. There are a lot! Much more than I previously thought, actually. I quickly started scribbling headlines on an adhesive note.
I was even more impressed by the fact that Adonis seemed more than willing to leave the original catalog and recommend games from partners, large and small. In addition to Cat Quest, other indies he mentioned included Grindstone and Wonderful 101, which he was delighted to get to Switch after being lost by so many on Wii U. He also threw away Dragon Quest Builders (after I told him that it wasn’t huge in Dragon Quest itself), Pokémon Mystery Dungeon (because I said I loved Sword and Shield and Let’s Go!), and the next Monster Hunter Rise demo, as I mentioned my long-distance partner and was looking for games to play together in co-op.
Oh, and he ended up recommending the new Mario game, but at that point I had a list that would leave me aimless for weeks after Bravely Default 2.
Although he cited some games that I had already played, I left the conversation with a long list of titles that I had known for some time, but had not given a fair answer for any reason. Several, like Grindstone and Octopath, were games that I wanted to play for a while and for which I just didn’t have time. I spent the weekend getting in and out of game demos and, with the exception of Monster Hunter (for which the demo unfortunately ended for now), at least I got involved in everything that Adonis recommended.
Nintendo’s interest in making its system understandable to people with less knowledge of games is neither new nor surprising, but this latest effort has legitimately impressed me. I was hoping that they would send me to buy some $ 60 games that I had already played or that I wasn’t particularly interested in. Instead, someone who clearly loved games and knew a lot about them spoke to me with enthusiasm and passion about them and helped me navigate a system where I hadn’t spent much time finding some new games that I could enjoy. If that was my experience as someone very comfortable with your Switch, I can imagine that it could be even more enlightening for newcomers who really have no idea where to start.
The concierge service is, for now, a pilot program that Nintendo says is only available in January and February, but I hope it will be successful and useful enough to keep you open longer and spread the word to new people. Switch owners. If you have a friend or family member who is new to games or the Switch system and wants help, I can’t recommend it highly enough.
Also, Adonis, if you are reading this: these recommendations have prevailed and today, after work, I will play more Dragon Quest Builders. Thanks!
Rebekah Valentine is an IGN reporter. You can find her on Twitter @duckvalentine.