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High Nintendo Network Traffic Causes Pokemon Bank Delays

by Becky Hollada - December 27, 2013, 10:48 am EST
Total comments: 16 Source: (Nintendo), http://en-americas-support.nintendo.com/app/answer...

Popularity proves too much for Nintendo.

The December 27 launch of the Pokémon Bank and Poké Transporter applications has officially been postponed by Nintendo and The Pokémon Company according to a support message citing high volumes of traffic on the Nintendo Network as the cause. Both applications have also been pulled from Japan’s eShop for similar reasons and no new launch date for the software has been provided as of yet.

High Nintendo Network traffic has also been causing users to have trouble creating Nintendo Network IDs and downloading eShop content on both the 3DS and Wii U.

The Pokémon Bank and Poké Transporter will eventually allow players to store up to 3,000 Pokémon from older titles and transfer them over to Pokémon X and Y, in place of older transfer systems like the Pal Park. The service was originally supposed to be available until January 31st as a free trial, before paid service began for $4.99 a year. However, it also hasn’t been confirmed whether or not this will be extended due to the delays.

Talkback

Ian SaneDecember 27, 2013

On one hand this suggests Nintendo not having their online infrastructure up to snuff but on the other hand this happens to pretty much everybody.  So maybe Nintendo is actually pretty up to date by being in a situation where their network is crashed by a launch.

I hope they extend the deadline though.  It's only fair.

AdrockDecember 27, 2013

On the bright side, at least people are using Nintendo Network. This is exactly the time of year when a network should see high volume activity. I've read comments that updating Xbox One took hours on Christmas. Even Steam got hit hard when Valve was giving Left 4 Dead 2 away for free. A four year old game that Valve has put on sale for $5 in the past was choking their servers.

Updating Wii U last year was a pain in the ass, so much so that I'm avoiding launch and Christmas updating from now on.

rlse9December 27, 2013

It seems like all of the major companies have network problems (didn't the free Left For Dead 2 deal break Steam for a while a couple days ago?) when hit by heavy traffic so it's not that surprising.  However, did they really think that it was a good idea to be releasing the Pokemon Bank during the week of Christmas when they had to know that traffic was going to be very high already with all of the people connecting their 3DSes and Wii Us that they got for Christmas?  They could have saved themselves some of the headache by just moving the release a week in either direction.  At the very least if they still had issues, they wouldn't have been the first experience for all of the new system owners.

EnnerDecember 27, 2013

The two-day-plus outage of Nintendo's online services during Christmas couldn't have been more poorly timed. A sad event for everyone.


With the recent outages, this makes me more curious on how these things happen. A part of me thinks it can't be as simple as a traffic jam due to a sudden and unexpected influx. But maybe it is that simple? Also, I am assuming solving or preempting these problems isn't as easy as throwing more money and servers at it.

MiyamotoDecember 27, 2013

It's pretty typical of the current state of Nintendo. They're greedy and lazy and appear to cut corners at every opportunity to save a few bucks. Why invest in a reliable online system when it's cheaper and easier to offer up the bare minimum and just shrug your shoulders when it collapses. It's pretty shameful to happen at Christmas time and for over three days no less. I really can't see any positive end for Nintendo until they look over the fence and start taking notes on how their competitors approach the business, because the current cynical and arrogant method that Nintendo has adopted is certainly not working.
This is the perfect cap to what has been an absolutely diabolical year for Nintendo. And the worst of it is, a lot of Nintendo's problems can be fixed with the right focus and mentality. At least 2014 can't be any worse... right?


pokepal148Spencer Johnson, Contributing WriterDecember 27, 2013

at least they opted to fix the issue instead of going ahead with the release

yoshi1001December 28, 2013

I think it was still possible to download firmware updates-I updated the firmware on my Mom's 3DS on Christmas and it seemed to work. Given the choice, I'd probably prioritize that over the eShop.

Leo13December 29, 2013

I'm glad I downloaded NES Remix on Christmas Eve

UncleBobRichard Cook, Guest ContributorDecember 29, 2013

Nintendo does online?  Who knew?

Xero!December 30, 2013

Quote from: Miyamoto

It's pretty typical of the current state of Nintendo. They're greedy and lazy and appear to cut corners at every opportunity to save a few bucks. Why invest in a reliable online system when it's cheaper and easier to offer up the bare minimum and just shrug your shoulders when it collapses. It's pretty shameful to happen at Christmas time and for over three days no less. I really can't see any positive end for Nintendo until they look over the fence and start taking notes on how their competitors approach the business, because the current cynical and arrogant method that Nintendo has adopted is certainly not working.
This is the perfect cap to what has been an absolutely diabolical year for Nintendo. And the worst of it is, a lot of Nintendo's problems can be fixed with the right focus and mentality. At least 2014 can't be any worse... right?



Yeah... buddy? SCREW YOU!
How is Nintendo doing the bare minimum in online infrastructure when this EXACT thing happened to PS4, the Xbox One and STEAM? All of which for DAMN sure have the resources to create the very best online structures. When retailers have a sale (Black Friday for example) their websites are PLAGUED with slowdowns and outages. This sort of thing happens everywhere but NO, attack Nintendo. Horrible year? Maybe so... but with sales picking up to the point where network outages ARE occuring, things are looking better. However, I doubt you'd see the positive when it happens. Now go find some other article to put some sensationalist spin on.

CericDecember 30, 2013

To be fair I got on PSN on Christmas Day and Downloaded Sonic All Star Racing for Vita.  I couldn't do even that on the eShop.

Pixelated PixiesDecember 30, 2013

What the hell is Pokémon?

broodwarsDecember 30, 2013

Quote from: UncleBob

Nintendo does online?  Who knew?

apparently not Nintendo.

UncleBobRichard Cook, Guest ContributorDecember 30, 2013

+1

pokepal148Spencer Johnson, Contributing WriterDecember 31, 2013

Quote from: UncleBob

Nintendo does online?  Who knew?

It's just a thing they do every other Tuesday I believe

Quote from: Xero!

Yeah... buddy? SCREW YOU!

Woah woah...chill, bro, chill.


The eShop outage was bad. People get frustrated. Nintendo exposed themselves to the anger of their fans with their past ambivalence to online services. Releasing a Pokemon product (which was bound to draw a lot of traffic) in the post-Christmas window, where lots of people would be redeeming download codes that came with their consoles, was probably not a solid plan. And their event response - taking the eShop down for 12 hours a day - seems pretty tone deaf - especially since they opted to take it down in the afternoon, before most people would be getting home from work, and reactivating it while they're asleep.

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