Nintendo Co. is warning buyers of its Wii U not to turn off the console while downloading a mandatory firmware update after some customers complained their devices were damaged during the process.
"It may take an hour or more to perform the system update," the company said in an email Tuesday. "Powering off the console during the update may damage your system."
The update is necessary because Nintendo, to get the machine into U.S. stores for the holiday shopping season, didn't include a new TV-viewing service.
Pressure is mounting on President Satoru Iwata to repeat the success of the Wii home console after the hand-held 3DS player failed to meet sales expectations in overseas markets, prompting Nintendo to cut its profit goal 70 percent last month.
The company introduced the Wii U in the U.S. weeks before Europe and Japan to take advantage of the holiday shopping season that starts Friday, said Reggie Fils-Aime, Nintendo's North America president.
The console, Nintendo's first new home unit since 2006, is selling well, and the company will have enough supply for the Black Friday kickoff to the shopping season.
Nintendo also said Amazon.com's Instant Video and Hulu LLC's download services will eventually be available.