Sony is urging fans to show some patience during the first hours of its U.S. and Canadian launch of the PlayStation 4. The PlayStation Network has been experiencing issues following the big launch.

According to IGN, which has seen a number of new PlayStation 4 users call in with complaints, many users are encountering the error numbers "NW-31453-6" or "NP-3500-8." Each is accompanied by some text that reads: "The network connection has been lost."

Sony responded to the issue on its support site telling people that "the PlayStation Network is currently experiencing extremely high volume, some gamers may experience some difficulty connecting. We ask for your patience." - That response has since been removed. It appears the system shut down due to the high number of people trying to download firmware 1.50 for their new console.

Whenever the new PlayStation 4 is connected to the internet it automatically connects to the PlayStation Network to download the new firmware in the background. According to IGN, a hiccup like this is always likely with such a high-profile launch. While Sony has confirmed that it is working to resolve the issue, the number of people purchasing the console is expected to increase during normal business hours throughout the day today. This means it may take a few days before the problem is completely resolved.

If you're having trouble downloading the patch you can simply get it from PlayStation.com on your computer, put it on a flashdrive and plug that into your console. If this doesn't work for you, Sony can provide you with a Blu-ray disc with the patch on it, however, its likely the PSN will be completely functional again by the time this Blu-ray arrives at your door.

Have you experienced this issue when trying to download the patch on your new PlayStation 4? If so, comment and share your experience with us below, we'd love to hear about that or any other startup issues people have had with their new next-gen console.