The Christmas holiday put scores of new Nintendo consoles in the hands of eager gift-getters, which has put a huge amount of stress on the Wii U and 3DS digital marketplaces. Now, the company has announced the eShops will be taken down this afternoon for maintenance.
Since Wednesday, many Wii U and 3DS owners have reported issues connecting with the eShop, surely causing all manner of headache as people attempt to load their consoles with digital releases. To combat the issues, Nintendo will take them down for a 12-hour maintenance session at 4 PM EST today.
The company announced the repair via its Facebook page:
We sincerely apologize for the connection problems in the Nintendo eShop. We understand this is taking longer than expected, but we can assure you that providing a solution is our top priority. We are determined to make sure everyone can enjoy all that Wii U and Nintendo 3DS have to offer. In an effort to manage the high volume of traffic and ultimately improve your experience, we are temporarily taking the Nintendo eShop services offline between the hours of 4 p.m. – 4 a.m. ET. Thank you so much for your continued patience. We will keep you updated.
The connection issues haven’t been universal – plenty of users have reported being able to log in – but it’s a widespread enough issue that Nintendo felt the need to take major steps to fix the issue.
Have you been experiencing any issues with Nintendo’s virtual marketplaces? Let us know in the comments.