The Nintendo Network and eShop Are Back to Life After a Festive Mishap

3.3.17 and 12.25.17 were the most important days for the Switch eShop so far and they manged to mess up 50% of them.

Can't wait for the paid online service that may or may not now be delayed to fall 2018.

I didn't have any problem accessing the eshop last night.

It's Christmas, and in a perfect world, everything would have ran smoothly yesterday. But the eShop went down and the networks on PS4 and Xbox Live were so bogged down, people shared screenshots of their systems taking up to three hours to download updates just to play. It's unfortunate but it happens.

At least the eShop was back up and running in the late afternoon so the day wasn't a total bust.

I didn't notice anything, but I was only on the shop for a few minutes.

Ufff....
Mario is "angry" again.

@JHDK You're too dramatic. 3/3/2017 and 25/12/2017 were just fine considering the new systems connecting online at once.

I couldn't download Splatoon2 till late last night for my son... Good thing he had ARMS and Super Mario Odyssey to play all day! He has been playing Splatoon all day while I've been back at work, it's all good. Hope all new Switch owners are having a blast.

I figured it would get bogged down. Now that it seems to be running smoothly again, I'll probably get a game or two for my new 200 GB microSD!

Also I downloaded an update yesterday for No Man's Sky on PS4 (about 10 GB I think), and it took about 10 hours. Not sure how much of that is down to me having slow internet and how much is due to PSN being slow, but that was quite long...

I was saying in the forums that it wasn't a great introduction for those that are new to Nintendo. At least it's fixed now.

Sounds like they need more stability updates...

All things considered, it seems like they got it smoothed out pretty quickly. Patience is a lost virtue.

@Cosats I don't understand how not being able to connect for hours on Christmas day can in any way be considered "just fine".

All the more reason NoA sent a tweet to set up your switches 2 or 3 days ago and avoid the high traffic. How many people actually saw that is another story.

I'm a network engineer, these things happen, the load would have been extreme and only a skeleton staff around...
I was on in the morning and bought 2 games and then ARMS in the evening so it wasn't too bad.
Lets face it, who gets everything right 100% of the time, companies are no different..

Jumped on and grabbed the Xenoblade Japanese patch with no problems. Wasn't aware anything was going on.

I thought it was a little sluggish downloading Golf Story and Worms, but I didn’t twig that the eshop would be struggling.

At least the Mario Kart 8 servers were working fine, lol. U was able to play online with my brother in California.

@JHDK Every system is like that on Christmas day. PS4 downloads yesterday were a complete nightmare. Hell, Nintendo has been saying for years now you should unbox the system a few days before and run the appropriate updates and downloads before putting it under the tree.

There are literally millions of new Switch owners getting on for the first time and even more probably trying to go on and buy new games. Of course it's gonna buckle under all of that.

I couldn’t get into the eShop in the morning, but it worked when I tried around 6pm est.

Lots of good sales right now!

Yes, it was a true pain to access the eShop yesterday. My cousin got a Switch for Christmas and had to help him download Splatoon 2 since the eShop was all jank. XD

I went to friends house for xmas. He has a PS4+VR. He has been wanting for me to try it for ages, saying how good it is, and I was looking forward to trying it.
But because the GT servers went down, he couldn't save his GT file and was not willing to turn it off because he did want to lose the cars he had unlocked.
Having a game that is totally reliant on online is complete BS.

@MartyFlanMJFan - Glad he’s having fun and had a couple physical games to keep him busy while the network was down. That had to be a great feeling for you to hand him a Switch. When I was a kid, just waiting for my dad to figure out how to hook up a system was excruciating, can’t imagine how tough it would be for a kid waiting all day for the network to be repaired.

@JHDK I think I made myself clear. You and all those people whining about this issue are being hyperbolic. Simple as that.

People get a lot of gaming stuff over Xmas. Even if they're not buying anything digital, playing online and downloading dem patches is certainly going to add up to online servers.

@JHDK I think you overreacted. Yes, it was unfortunate, and Nintendo should have done better, but it's not a big deal to have to delay playing a game or spending money for one day. As some users pointed out, other systems had issues as well. As for the paid online service, it would be great for consumers if it was delayed.

My nephew had issues downloading games on his Xbox yesterday, too. Don't think it was just a Nintendo problem.

Had a bunch of issues trying to pick up overcooked yesterday, but eventually got it bought and downloaded. My fault for not doing it the night before taking it to my parents house to play with family lol.

@JHDK This happens with almost every console or game launch in the internet age. It really isn't that big of a deal

@Cosats @NinNin Great, the other systems had issues too. We all know Nintendo prides themselves in being just like the other systems so I guess the eShop going down was actually a win for them!

@Indielink If someone is upset about something you disagree with they are automatically whining?

Had no problems accessing the NA eShop in the morning, couldn't even get on in the mid-afternoon (played some Salmon Run in the meantime with no issues on my end), and the eShop was back to normal by the evening so I could pick up Table Pack 1 for STERN's Pinball Arcade. Played Star Trek: Vengeance and rocked out on AC/DC for a couple hours. Good times!

@ThomasBW84 Will Paper Mario images still be used for Maintenance after the New Year?

@JHDK To be fair the way you worded your post does warrant those responses. The keyword here is "managed" which implies they somehow were able to mess up a seemingly simple task. But in reality this happens literally everywhere digital shopping takes place. So this isn't a situation that's standing out from the norm of the industry, nor will it have any impact moving forward.

@Nintendoforlife I hear ya. I'm not saying it was an easy task but I am saying it should have been expected and planned out. They knew exactly how many systems sold between Black Friday and 12.24 and must have known a majority of those systems would be Christmas gifts that would go online sometime on the 25th. So at a bare minimum they had a month to prepare and most likely much longer. I don't care if it happens to others, that doesn't make it any less wrong. Christmas is coming and you have the most popular gadget of 2017, buy some more servers or whatever you need to do to ensure steady service and that your new customers don't start off with a bad experience.

For awhile now, eshop has been chugging along pretty slowly. I'm not talking about just today - there have been many occasions over the last few months where it'd noticably lag regardless of where I looked or what inputs I used. Not that I mind. I only check the thing once a week, but it would be nice to get it smooth again.

@JHDK Yeah I'm with you, it's nowhere close to the ideal greeting for newcomers. But again when you have sites such as Steam crash during their mega sales, it's hard to believe Nintendo could have outclassed them. In steam's case they have the benefit of choosing the date the sale goes live, where as Nintnedo has to plan for a date they are not in control of. Either way I doubt this will have any affect on how the newcomers view Nintendo, especially considering people expect this to happen when they open and set up their kid's Switch a day ahead of time. A month from now people won't even remember this happened.

It’s Christmas people, so don’t feed the JDHK negativity, just ignore and move on

Well the positive side is, this means lots of new Switch owners and more support from third parties.

Lol I haven't logged onto the Eshop yet but I will say my Internet is rather Fast because it took me only about 10 minutes to download Rocket League and then that major boost update about 15 minutes max

I too had trouble for about a 4 hour window.
Finally got a Switch by the way! A friend of mine got me a download code for Blaster Master Zero and I couldn’t get on to redeem it. Otherwise all was good after I finally got in! Good thing I had Mario Odyssey to play.... and boy did I play it! Almost all day- it’s so good!

Here in NA I wasn't able to patch my new copy of Pokemon on the 3DS until later in the day. Fortunately it wasn't too long of a wait and my daughter had no problem with Fire Emblem Warriors!

That would explain the slow eShop and constant error messages I've been having this morning.

I don't mind too much there being no music.

From 10AM to 3PM on Christmas Day, it was basically impossible to stay connected long enough to actually purchase something, in NA.

Is that why I couldn't download Mario Kart 8 Deluxe to my micro SD card? Shantae: Half Genie Hero and Sonic Mania downloaded onto it just fine; I thought it was a first-party issue or something...

Bought Gunbird on the morning of the 25th with no known issues. Doom multiplayer didn’t down load automatically until later in the day; or overnight I really couldn’t tell.

@jhdk, you can be prepared and things can still happen. It is unpredictable. At least it didn't take days like what happened with ps4 and Xbox one.

Not surprised, at least the eShop didn't get hacked and in turn, put a bunch of people' cc info and paypal passwords at risk. The Switch was one of the hottest items this Christmas so this is actually good news for the system.

@flapjack-ashley If all of the parents who waited until Christmas to start using their new consoles just took their responsibilities and downloaded their stuff before Christmas then this wouldn't have been a problem.

This has gotta be great news for Switch sales. I was telling everyone how the Switch was going to dominate this Christmas with Mario Odyssey, looks like I assumed correctly.

@Cosats What's your problem dude?

@Timsworld True but I think a lot of parents are just kinda clueless about how modern games are purchased, or they just wanted to keep the console factory sealed so their kid can enjoy opening it up new from the box.

@JHDK Wait, where did you hear it might be delayed to fall???

@Giygas_95 10 hours for 10GB?! Good lord! That sounds like 2007 download speeds!

What I don't get is why was there not a Christmas Day sale this year? There's been one the past couple of years, at least covering Christmas time frame. Was looking forward to some good online sales on games. Just seems like its the normal sales.

That could have been avoided if Super Mario Odyssey was a physical copy, not a digital download.

@bimmy-lee it was brilliant, such a good day. He got the Splatoon 2 hardware bundle & at first he thought it was just Splatoon 2, so after opening his last present he thought he'd got three Switch games but no Switch lol. We told him to check Splatoon 2 again & then he realised. I got on to the eShop late last night & redeemed the code. I checked this morning before I went to work & the download had completed so I knew he'd be absolutely delighted when he got up, almost like getting another present! Two of his cousins also got Nintendo Switch & we were all together today for Boxing Day at my sister in laws, it was fantastic.

@JayJ I've done that in the past, but this was gonna be my sons first console and I just couldn't bring myself to open it before him. I figured if the worst comes to the worst and we can't get on to the eShop to download Splatoon 2, ARMS and Super Mario Odyssey will be more than enough to get on with.

@Heavyarms55 It just about is. I live out in the country so maybe that has something to do with it, or maybe my internet is just garbage. Beyond that, I'm fairly certain PSN is just slow, but I could be wrong.

@JHDK It's not but apparently, this was, interestingly enough, a console wide issue.

Both Microsoft and Sony had similar issues. I guess none of the 3 really care in particular.

EDIT: What are people going to do, switch to PC? I don't think most of these new console owners would find it worth it to do so.

@MartyFlanMJFan - That’s hilarious! And then to spend the day with family, playing together and having a blast; it’s what the holidays are all about. Well done. I’m sure it’s a day he won’t soon forget.

@Giygas_95 I don't think PSN is just slow, I downloaded Fallout 4 in about 4 hours and that was a good bit larger than 10 gigs.

I'd guess if you are really remote then your internet service probably is 10 years old.

I was too busy playing Xenoblade Chronicles 2 to notice. But I want to get Slain while it is on discount so bonus that it is back up.

Well system updates aren't required to use it, but those who live in the fantasy of digital downloads being games you own, control, and can get access to at any time got a nice reality check. Can't say I feel much pity as there's no plus to a download at all other than lazy factor not having to swap a game. If it even made just a few people realize if they value what they pay for or wish to, they get the real deal.

@Heavyarms55 My PS4 is also pretty far from the router.

@tanookisuit And what exactly is your response to those who wanted to download Rocket League aka the second most bought game on the Eshop aka a digital only game.

@Nintendoforlife Too bad, be patient? Also start writing Nintendo or any developer and demand physical media.

I did actually have a bit of a hiccup and had to reconnect this afternoon when I went to spend my eShop card. I thought it was a problem on my end though as it worked just fine the second time. I guess Nintendo are beating their poor sysadmins almost hard enough this year.

Meh it happens, no big deal if you know what to expect from any online service under load.

The fact that the service is free still gives them some good grace with people, if it's a paid service then it's a little more of an annoyance , but hey ho.

To anyone who recently joined the Switch family - Welcome!

Welcome to the holidays! It's happened to Sony, Microsoft and now Nintendo! It's bad for the people that buy the systems and get them on that day, but it should be taken into account that it's always usually like that around the holidays...especially Christmas at the most! I only had problems connecting, and for the E-Shop loading (took more time than usual). Playstation's store was about the same. No big deal though, had other things to do anyway!

Tbh i couldn't give a toss e-shop was down, there are more important matters in life for me to even let something like that bother me. Can't understand why some ppl are still whining about the past, it's up and running now, suck it up cry babies and get in the real world, S#+T happens

@Heavyarms55 On the Italian Nintendo website (I think, I know it was some non English version of the site) they posted that the online service was coming in "Autumn 2018". Once people noticed they took it down so it could have been a total mistake or they might have posted the delay news before they were supposed to.

Are you complaining about people "whining"? Doesn't that also make you a "whiner"?

@WhistleFish
"Tbh i couldn't give a toss e-shop was down, there are more important matters in life for me to even let something like that bother me. Can't understand why some ppl are still whining about the past, it's up and running now, suck it up cry babies and get in the real world, S#+T happens"

@JHDK Could have been a leak, but on something as low priority as the Italian language version of the website, I think it's more likely a mistake by one of the translators. No offense to Italians, but compared to the English or Spanish sites, and of course the Japanese site, the Italian site is going to get much, much less traffic.