Pokemon Bank US Release Officially Delayed

[Steven Bogos]

Pokemon Bank US Release Officially Delayed

Those of you who were hoping to use Poke Transporter to move old Pokemon to X and Y tomorrow will have to wait a little longer.

Who would have thought that many children would be opening a Wii U on Christmas day, subsequently hammering Nintendo's servers when they connect to the internet to update? Apparently, not the Big N itself, as it has now officially announced that the Pokemon Bank and Poke Transporter apps, previously scheduled for US release on 27 December, have been officially delayed due to the strain on its network. The delay at this point is indefinite, as Nintendo did not offer an alternative release date.

"Nintendo and The Pokemon Company International have postponed the launch of Pokemon Bank and Poke Transporter - two software applications that were originally scheduled to launch for Nintendo 3DS on Dec. 27 - due to a large volume of traffic to the Nintendo Network service. Due to the high traffic, players are having trouble setting up Nintendo Network IDs and downloading content in the Nintendo eShop on both Wii U and Nintendo 3DS. We truly regret the inconvenience, and wish to reassure everyone that providing a solution is our top priority. We apologize for the delay and thank you for your continued patience."

The Pokemon Bank, an app which allows you to store Pokemon in online cloud storage, and the Poke Transporter, its companion app which allows transfer of Pokemon from Black/White and Black 2/White 2 to X and Y, were released in Japan on Christmas day, but have subsequently been pulled from the Japanese Nintendo eShop [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/130840-Nintendo-Removes-Pokemon-Bank-From-Japan-3DS-eShop].

The Nintendo Network is still experiencing some technical difficulties [http://www.nintendo.com/consumer/network/en_na/network_status.jsp], most likely due to the high influx of new accounts created on Christmas, as well as the large proportion of Pokemon fans clamoring to access the Pokemon Bank and Poke Transporter.

The apps require a yearly subscription fee of $5, but there is a 30-day free trial period that will start as soon as they goes live.

Source: Nintendo [http://en-americas-support.nintendo.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/2393/p/430]

Permalink

 

[Tentaquil]

I WANT MY CELEBI DAMMIT!

Also maybe the other pokemon from gen 5. and 4. and 3. and 2

 

[SD-Fiend]

I really hope that it doesn't end up like Flipnote 3D.

 

[CriticalMiss]

I suspect that they might be using that as an excuse to push back release to polish it more, because the worst possible thing for the name would be to have Pokemon Bank shit the bed and delete dozens, if not hundreds, even thousands of pokemon from each player that the player spent hours hatching and training individually. I have no real evidence for it, but just a hunch.

It certainly seems odd that they couldn't solve the problem sooner by adding more servers if high traffic is the problem. There wouldn't be much shame in them just admitting it's not finished/polished enough, but that's not how businesses work I suppose. Everything has to be someone else's fault.

 

[ClockworkUniverse]

I suspect that they might be using that as an excuse to push back release to polish it more, because the worst possible thing for the name would be to have Pokemon Bank shit the bed and delete dozens, if not hundreds, even thousands of pokemon from each player that the player spent hours hatching and training individually. I have no real evidence for it, but just a hunch.

Given that it was actually out for two days in Japan and had no problems, I doubt it.

And if you've been on the Wii U or 3DS eShops, it's pretty obvious that this is the legitimate reason. They're basically unusable right now from the traffic.

 

[Texas Joker 52]

A shame, though I honestly don't mind. My only questions regarding Pokemon Bank are: Can I use this to transfer caught Pokemon between save's, so that way I can give myself a newly hatched, nicknamed Torchic to my next trainer, and will this event Celebi be able to be nicknamed, or will it be like the event Torchic, in that it's considered traded and thus cannot be renamed?

 

[Aiddon_v1legacy]

And if you've been on the Wii U or 3DS eShops, it's pretty obvious that this is the legitimate reason. They're basically unusable right now from the traffic.

No kidding; with all the new accounts being made (for both 3DS and Wii U) it's REALLY giving the network a workout. So since the Wii U/3DS shops take priority they're having to delay the Bank. And to think this was only with JAPAN; Buddha only knows what'll happen when the overseas releases happen

 

[loa]

So maybe tying a vital feature to a cloud service for no reason which isn't just not ready on launch or months later but now also gets postponed till whenever wasn't a good idea.

 

[Something Amyss]

Well, I suppose this gives me time to track down my other carts.

I really hope that it doesn't end up like Flipnote 3D.

Was that the one that was shut down? I don't remember.

 

[Roxas1359]

Not surprised by the delay given how badly it crashed in Japan. You'd think that Nintendo would have planned better for this and put up some contingencies when knowing how many people had Pokemon. I'm reminded of when the Obamacare website launched.
But this also gives me time to find my missing Pokemon White card that has my Ponemon in it and seems to have gone missing.

 

[SD-Fiend]

Well, I suppose this gives me time to track down my other carts.

I really hope that it doesn't end up like Flipnote 3D.

Was that the one that was shut down? I don't remember.

Well the original flipnote for DSi was the one that got shut down. Flipnote 3D for the 3DSBwent live in japan sometime in the summer but had it's western release postponed due to server overload similar to pokemon bank. It still hasn't been announced when it will be released if it ever does get released.

 

[BunnyKillBot]

Of far greater concern for somebody who got a 3DS and Wii(not U) for christmas, it amuses me greatly that the store on both devices is totally down anyway because of server overload. Really embarrassing handling by Nintendo :/

 

[Scarim Coral]

So it's abit like Diablo error 42 problem all over again? Honestly the people who make it should anticipated the volume of people demand by at least three times the initial outcome!

 

[CrazyCapnMorgan]

So it's abit like Diablo error 42 problem all over again? Honestly the people who make it should anticipated the volume of people demand by at least three times the initial outcome!

The same thing happened with the beta for Final Fantasy 14: A Realm Reborn, and that went on to break records!

OT: Was really looking forward to transferring the multitude of shiny Dragon-type Pokemon from Black/White and Black 2/White 2. Oh well, I guess I can wait.

 

[Yopaz]

So maybe tying a vital feature to a cloud service for no reason which isn't just not ready on launch or months later but now also gets postponed till whenever wasn't a good idea.

It's not really a vital feature... it's just something that gives you the opportunity to transfer Pokemon from previous games (and other games of the same generation). You can still complete the game, trade with people (omline) and battle people (online),

The old solution to trade Pokemon between games required the use of two systems now it's a $5 dollar yearly subscription and a software. Poor planning and poor execution doesn't mean it was a bad idea.

Of far greater concern for somebody who got a 3DS and Wii(not U) for christmas, it amuses me greatly that the store on both devices is totally down anyway because of server overload. Really embarrassing handling by Nintendo :/

The 3DS is a great system and with the games that have been coming out this fall along with the cheaper 2DS (which also causes strain on the 3DS store) so it's no wonder that a lot of people got that over Wii U which even I as a fan of it have difficulties recommending. Why people are getting Wiis for Christmas may be due to confusion over the name. There are two Wii bundles, once with a controller one with 2(?) games. If someone doesn't know the difference the one that comes with games at a lower price is a good choice because you can always buy the controller later... right? Poor marketing, bad name and few games isn't the best way to sell a console it seems...

OT: It's a shame, I was looking forward to this. Also this goes for the European release too. I checked... nothing.

 

[List]

My question is why would they schedule the release in Xmas to begin with? Did no one even think of the xmas traffic to their servers or wishful thinking that their servers can handle both new users and pokemon fans at the same time?

 

[BanicRhys]

I was already prepared to wait a while after this released so I didn't lose all my Pokemon when a bug inevitably wipes everyone else's data, so I'm not too fussed about this.

So it's abit like Diablo error 42 problem all over again?

Except Nintendo isn't perceived to be anywhere near as evil [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-VeoOCegLn8] as Blizzard, so all will be forgiven within the week.

 

[loa]

It's not really a vital feature... it's just something that gives you the opportunity to transfer Pokemon from previous games (and other games of the same generation). You can still complete the game, trade with people (omline) and battle people (online),

The old solution to trade Pokemon between games required the use of two systems now it's a $5 dollar yearly subscription and a software. Poor planning and poor execution doesn't mean it was a bad idea.

I don't know any other game with only 1 save file that deletes your entire progress of which you can make a LOT when you dare to think of restarting your game so you can play the story again.
Just because all the other games had shitty game design and now they finally added the possibility of playing your game over again without deleting everything or buying more of their stuff (and of course that is behind a paywall) doesn't make that feature any less vital to me.

There is no reason for this to be that way too, just don't touch the PC data when resetting the save. It's a really archaic "tradition" with no purpose but to make things inconvenient and maybe give people an "incentive" to buy more games than they normally would which is kind of disgusting since pokemon prints money anyway.

There's also no reason to make transferring old pokemon cloud based, it goes through the 3ds memory anyway you can make that local easily but of course, they want to promote their subscription service and force everyone who made any sort of meaningful progress on the previous game and would like to preserve that to go through the pokebank at least once so they may probably have to jump through a million hoops to unsubscribe if nintendo has their card number.
Been there, done that.
Subscription services are pretty much always abusive, clingy bastards.

Transferring old pokemon has been a staple of the franchise since the beginning and it has always been free and not dependent on their (terrible!) servers.
If you don't think it's a vital feature, try getting milotic or jellicient right now. I'm waiting.

 

[Yopaz]

It's not really a vital feature... it's just something that gives you the opportunity to transfer Pokemon from previous games (and other games of the same generation). You can still complete the game, trade with people (omline) and battle people (online),

The old solution to trade Pokemon between games required the use of two systems now it's a $5 dollar yearly subscription and a software. Poor planning and poor execution doesn't mean it was a bad idea.

I don't know any other game with only 1 save file that deletes your entire progress of which you can make a LOT when you dare to think of restarting your game so you can play the story again.
Just because all the other games had shitty game design and now they finally added the possibility of playing your game over again without deleting everything or buying more of their stuff (and of course that is behind a paywall) doesn't make that feature any less vital to me.

There is no reason for this to be that way too, just don't touch the PC data when resetting the save. It's a really archaic "tradition" with no purpose but to make things inconvenient and maybe give people an "incentive" to buy more games than they normally would which is kind of disgusting since pokemon prints money anyway.

There's also no reason to make transferring old pokemon cloud based, it goes through the 3ds memory anyway you can make that local easily but of course, they want to promote their subscription service and force everyone who made any sort of meaningful progress on the previous game and would like to preserve that to go through the pokebank at least once so they may probably have to jump through a million hoops to unsubscribe if nintendo has their card number.
Been there, done that.
Subscription services are pretty much always abusive, clingy bastards.

Transferring old pokemon has been a staple of the franchise since the beginning and it has always been free and not dependent on their (terrible!) servers.
If you don't think it's a vital feature, try getting milotic or jellicient right now. I'm waiting.

You can't get any Pokemon from generation 3 so it hasn't always been possible. Now they are hiding this feature behind a paywall of 5 dollars... Before they hid it behind an even higher paywall since you needed to buy multiple systems to transfer. Now I don't remember what the old Game Boys cost, but I am fairly certain they cost more than 5 dollars.


Also despite what you think it's not a vital feature. A vital feature is something you NEED to play the game. So answer me this: is it possible to play the game without this feature? If so then it's not vital for any known definition of vital. Nor is it essential. it was advertised as a selling point of the new generation so it should have been out by now, but it's not vital. Stop making over reacting the new default reaction.