For the past few years, the eshop has not been able to stand up to influx of Christmas users. It’s already having issues now.
Here is Nintendo’s status:
[https://www.nintendo.com/consumer/network/en_na/network_status.jsp](https://www.nintendo.com/consumer/network/en_na/network_status.jsp)
At 5:30AM EST, the status is: “We are currently experiencing difficulties with our network services. Please try again later. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.”
Right now in the USA, I can’t enter the eshop. After I put in my password, it gives me an error. I’ve heard from some this morning who could buy games but can’t download them. At the moment, I can still download game updates. I expect updates to have issues later. I just tried the eshop again, and now I can’t even get to the password page!
edit: I have heard from one person that they got in the eshop and made a purchase, but that it charged them twice! I’ve heard from a couple others saying they’ve bought things like vbucks and the vbucks aren’t showing up.
I remember from previous years that people kept trying and failing. A few would say it worked after continuing to try. That seemed to frustrate others who kept trying and failing. Some would get a little way in a download, and then fail constantly. Different people had different issues, but everyone was having issues!
The only surefire solution is to wait till later. I remember there being issues even in the evening last year, but the next day things mostly worked. I know it’s a real frustration to deal with issues when you really want to play your new games. Thankfully, most physical games can still be played. The updates are good to do, but you usually can just skip the download and grab it later.
Good luck in getting your downloads and updates!
edit3: I see others saying it’s been working for them. I got into the eshop, and bought a game, and it downloaded. A Christmas miracle! Then I entered the eshop again and kept getting errors at checkout for a second game. It’s getting better, though!