Nintendo's eShop Experienced Outages Over Christmas (Again)

I only tried to access the eShop out of curiosity to see if there were outages, and indeed there were. I wasn't actually planning on downloading anything. Just playing my offline singleplayer game with no issues.

Wait, Nintendo is using Amazon Web Services for their online services? Why are we buying subscriptions when they aren't even hosting their own servers? I could see Amazon charging Nintendo and then Nintendo charges us but surely Nintendo could host the servers themselves for far cheaper, no doubt Amazon is increasing the price.

I'd appreciate anyone willing to explain this because I might be misunderstanding.

My gaming Christmas gifts this year were physical games rather than eShop cards so no complaints from me!

I ordered another Kemco Exe Create game and Ocean R today because I was unable to yesterday ...guess Nintendo doesn't have the money to plan for this sort of thing.

Tonight I have bratwurst in the oven and mole on the stove.. figure that one out

It was fine when I checked it yesterday. But it was early dawn in the morning.

Service outage has been a Nintendo tradition since the Wii days.

Funny that one year Nintendo's brilliant solution was to close the Wii Shop during off-peak hours.
It SURE WOULDN'T helped that some of us were adults able to some days get up at like 2 in the morning to download our purchases to remove ourselves from the need to access the network further.

@Joe-b It's not a matter of not having the money. Every service gets hit hard with traffic this time of year every year. It's how it always goes. People are warned every year, but then they act shocked when it inevitably happens and act like it's only Nintendo who has this issue. Having one day where everyone with a Switch tries to log into the eShop on top of everyone who just got one trying to set up their system is inevitably going to overload the servers even if you work hard to combat it. Look at how Steam's impossible to navigate hours after every major sale for another example.

My JP account had no problems, I even checked a couple times during NA outages. It took me a few times to get into the NA eShop, but once I was in it worked normally. Even one of my 1GB downloads took me only like 5 minutes, and the notification startled me! I said, "already?!" Dare I say, it worked better than previous holidays? The only problem was getting in and it only took a few tries at the time I went in (around 1-2PM EST).

@Tourtus I'm not an expert with servers but Playstation runs some of their services on AWS (Amazon) and Azure (Microsoft). I'd love a better explanation as well but I know it's more complicated than just having a host. If I remember correctly Nintendo's servers still run on Windows XP

No issues here! The issue must be the bad Infrastructure. 😂

@SuperChris01 also not expert but I don’t think eshop runs on their net code network/software.

I had issues using the eShop during the afternoon on Christmas Day (UK servers), similar time also couldn't log into PSN. Xbox was fine but didn't really do much on there outside picking up Planet Coaster.

Everything online sucks over Christmas. Don't invest so much emotion into these things working during these times and you'll never be disappointed.

Christmas day, yes, eShop rejected me 3-4 times before it let me in. It did this twice on Christmas. Still downloaded the games ok, though.

@SuperChris01 Not surprised they're still on Windows XP, lots of older tech still uses it. That is worrying though since Microsoft stopped supporting XP years ago so it's not secure anymore. I could see using AWS for eShop downloads and hosting their website, it seems fine to use them for that, but to use those same servers for gaming just seems like a bad idea, it's probably why their service is so laggy...

Already got everything I wanted from the sales before Christmas.

Didn’t turn my switch on, but I did get bounced out on my PS4 and XBox Game Pass cloud.

works great. no problems.

We got more physical than digital games, so we've been good!

@Tourtus "Why are we buying subscriptions when they aren't even hosting their own servers?" So, which do you prefer, buying expensive servers, cooling systems and ups, installing all sorts of software to make them work, hiring and training people to manage those servers, maintaining those servers so that they can run cool at all times, and then having to expand when the current servers overload by buying more servers, or even having to buy more physical space, and repeating the above process all over again (and that's just the easy part)..... or just paying another company to do all of that for you? Nintendo made the obvious choice here.

@Savage_Joe spot on. No company worth their salt nowadays is not going to be utilizing the services of AWS, Azure, or Google.

Lol is this really that surprising? Even the 3ds eShop is always overwhelmed every Christmas and new years too for some reason.

@TheRedComet
I think the issues were mostly early dawn at night.

With PS5 and Xbox Series X hard to find in the UK a lot of people defaulted to Switch and Nintendo got stock in everywhere including the OLED model so more stress on the servers were expected BUT nintendo have the funds to have decent servers to cope with this or pay companies before Christmas to stress test them.

I got my nephew a switch but set it up and downloded the games for him before Christmas to avoid this situation incase it happened.

Again, nintendo did a great job securing plenty of stock for Christmas just upgrade the servers and also the eshop needs a better overhaul.

@RubyDevilNine there’s hundreds of good games

@Tourtus Because that is what cloud infrastructure is all about. Not having to worry about setting up servers, maintaining them, etc. Also these services usually provide some sort of contingency (make another instance available when the primary one isn't available), so far more continuity than maintaining an array of servers at the Nintendo data centre. There's nothing wrong with this practice in the current business/IT ecosystem.

Yeh it was down for me on christmas day. Lets be honest though due to the high demand and creation of new accounts it was expected.

@Tourtus Probably not worth the effort, because they don't have servers for their games either, it's all P2P.

P.S. didn’t Nintendo warn us about this over Twitter?

@Tourtus it is actually quite common to host services and also for big players. AWS is not only provider for servers (which you need for storage and computing itself), but provides also know-how for other parts (load balancing, back-up, etc.).

About Win XP: doubt it, because servers like that usually uses custom OSes, probably Unix based because of easier control over system resources.

@Total_Weirdo,

The Series X was in stock for pretty much two day on Amazon U.K, bundles and single consoles, for a big chunk of the first day you could even get one before Christmas day, with a lot arriving just after.

Not so sure everyone defaulted to buying a Switch, the console has been in great demand since launch, with no signs of slowing and has component shortages to contend with as well, plus the new OLED model is going to drive sales even more, but this model does seem to be impacted by the components more than the regular model.

Also it's been pretty easy to buy a PS5 and Xbox Series X in the U.K for not all that much over retail on E-bay, listings between the retail price of £449.00 to £520 have not been all that uncommon for the past year, I got a series X just the week before the Amazon stock surge, and only paid £480.00.

@johnvboy

It’s still a bit of a nightmare in the US to get either of them.

I’ve had my PS5 since launch. Glad I got it then. I have yet to see one in a store in my area of the country. Saw one Series X at a GameStop on Black Friday. Well saw it in the sense that a guy was paying for it.

@VIIIAxel the money part was a joke. I know how it works. It just one of those, it is what it is deals.

@johnvboy I live on the "other side of the pond" in EU and here getting a PS5 is true hell.

Last stocks were around *2 months ago here, and what was sold are forced bundles with stuff and games that easily hike up the price to €900+.

Then there are scalpers, they are "cheaper" now but €800+ for a console only is still a thing.

Not to mention Amazon UK "magically" refuse to ship any PS5 to here the moment they had stock, XSX shipping was fine.

Talking about XSX, it is not always in stock but when there is stock you have mostly few hours to 2 or 3 days time to get one for a normal price without any bundles.

And XSS is always in stock at normal price, just like any non OLED Switch.

(but getting OLED Switch is easier from Amazon than buying one here directly)

*not counting that useless attempt of Sony to sell them on their own site...

Tried to access the eShop on Christmas morning and it was fine, later in the afternoon my daughter had trouble but shortly after that it seemed grand. Setting up her new account was no problem. I know a lot of other people who got a new Switch and they didn’t seem to have any troubles. My cousin’s nephew got a PS5 and there was a lot of tears on Christmas Day when they couldn’t get up and running, all is well now though. Guess what he’s playing on it… the same thing he’s been playing on his Switch and PS4 for years, Fortnite 🙈

@TheRedComet,

Surprised it's still so tough in he U.S as you would have thought that market was a priority for them, and on the one hand you have people saying the PS5 is tough to get hold of, then on the other you have Sony claiming they have sold more units than the PS4 within the same time frame, and the PS4 did not have these chip shortage issues, something just does not add up here.

Rookie parent mistake. If you buy anything electrical as a present, make sure to set it up before wrapping it for Christmas so everything is ready to go on Christmas morning or you have to suffer everyone trying to do it at the same time and the kids get upset.

@Rayquaza2510,

Could be issues with shipping and logistics, pretty sure in the U.K both Sony and Microsoft were getting smaller air freighted deliveries to the retailers, and these were pretty much selling out instantly, a couple of times since launch stock of both consoles hung around for a few hours, but mostly sold out within minutes.

Now of course all the information you have to go on is the newspaper websites stock trackers and various social media sites, all trying to help the average person and of course scalpers buy stock, and sometimes suggesting big shipments, but mot convinced myself, as you say bundles do help deter scalpers, I could have bought a PS5 a few weeks ago with a headset, extra controller, and two games for around £680, good deal if you want the extras, but suicide for a scalper in the U.K as you make a loss on all the extra stuff, this particular bundle was available for around four hours or so.

But with the latest Amazon Series X surge, and considering the base console was available as was the one game bundle, make me think a big shipping container arrived just before Christmas, you can bet there will be a similar situation in the U.S just waiting to clear the docks, at least I hope so.

@Rayquaza2510,

https://www.game.co.uk/en/hardware/playstation-5/825gb?sortBy=PRICE_DESC&inStockOnly=false

PS5 bundles and the solo console have been available for 22 hours or so at Game in the U.K, the bundles are all still available, but the console on it's own has sold out, pretty sure most would have been bundles, as we say this deters the scalpers.

I am sticking with the Switch and Series X, has all the stuff I need, plus the console is just so much more cabinet shelf friendly, not too worried about missing those Sony exclusives, and Now with Bethesda Microsoft will have lots of their own.

I also have messages when playing smash online.

@Joe-b Ah, sorry about that. I've seen a lot of people not understanding how this works and didn't catch that you were just joking.

@VIIIAxel no prob. Merry Christmas and happy new year.

every Chirstmas since the Wii era, Nintendo online shops always went overload, for Arceus sake Nintendo buy better servers.

No wonder Nintendo tries to tell people to "prep" consoles before giving them as gifts. I'd be ticked if someone opened my new console before giving it to me, but I'd also be ticked to not be able to download Mario Kart in my holiday bundle. haha

@johnvboy

I’m gonna try to pick up a Series S at some point. I’ve given up on starting my PC build; the prices are just all over the place on everything.

Only reason I wanna go for the S is because it’ll be my secondary console, where I will exclusively use Gamepass. I don’t need 4K/60 for that. 1080P/60 fits my needs fine, since it’ll be in my bedroom with a 1080P screen.

@TheRedComet,

The Series S sounds like the best option for you, they have been in stock for ages in the U.K, must be bad in the U.S if you can't get hold of a Series S.

@Giancarlothomaz,

Not worth it for one time a year, when it's easy for people to just work around the issue with a little forward planning.

@Giancarlothomaz more servers would not help absolutely no company will ever be ready for people logging on during the holiday season, no matter how good their servers are

@johnvboy but they dont ship it to my country.

So in short again, I can buy a XSX from UK and they just ship it to me, but it's useless because you can buy XSX pretty easily in my country.

PS5 is near impossible to get, unless from scalpers but these store from UK that normally ship stuff to my country, refuse to ship a PS5.

I did ask few stores back then in the UK why, only Game bothered to answer and they said it is due to "them not being allowed to ship it outside of UK because of low stock"

No idea why, that's why I heard back then.

So for me PS5 stocks in the UK are useless.

@Rayquaza2510,

Pretty sure the PS5 will get easier just like it has in the U.K, fingers crossed you get one at retail, or the scalpers saturate their own market, just like E-bay U.K.

@Giancarlothomaz even Microsoft with their army of Azure servers got overloaded when the Series consoles came out. Imagine how many servers would Nintendo need just to be used for Christmas. Not worth the money

And this is the same company that wants to charge us $50 a year for online services when they can't even use the money towards improving the servers

The company who discovered the Internet yesterday having server problems? I wouldn't be surprised if that server was running on a game cube with a 56k modem.

I can say that their online will forever and always be behind other game companies. Most of my games for Switch are downloaded buy man, it's 2021. How do they still have issues and online has been around for awhile now? Amazing.

@johnvboy If Sony finally gets competent and starts treating Europe as a whole and not only the UK, then yes I think you are right.