Nintendo Network 'emergency maintenance' through tomorrow

The Nintendo Network will undergo "emergency maintenance" beginning today at noon Pacific time, resulting in intermittent availability for a range of games and services, Nintendo has announced.

The first maintenance period will begin today at 12:00 p.m. and last through 5:00 p.m. Affected services include the Wii U eShop, the Nintendo 3DS eShop, the Wii shopping channel, and the Nintendo DSi shop.

The next portion of the emergency maintenance begins at 5:00 p.m. today when Wii U matchmaking, ranking, and other online-enabled features for Warriors Orochi 3 Hyper will be subject to intermittent availability. This maintenance is expected to take one hour, ending at 6:00 p.m.

Lastly, network services for Nintendo DS titles Pokemon Black and White and Pokemon Black and White 2 will be affected beginning this evening at 11:00 p.m. through Tuesday, January 29, at 5:00 p.m.

Nintendo did not provide any details on why the maintenance is necessary. A company representative told GameSpot, “The work being done on the Nintendo Network is part of our normal maintenance activities. Most of the maintenance affects only a few games, and includes a slightly extended scheduled maintenance of our Nintendo eShop services.”