Nintendo Admits 3DS Won't Beat Regular DS on Battery Life

[The Pi]

Better get used to seeing your 3DS sitting in its cradle, as Nintendo says it's going to be spending plenty of time there.

The 3DS's glasses-free, handheld 3D gaming comes at a price, and I don't just mean the couple of hundred dollars it's going to siphon out of your wallet. All that technical wizardry is going to drain the battery down pretty quickly, a fact that Nintendo isn't trying to hide.

Speaking to investors, Nintendo CEO Satoru Iwata said that it was inevitable that the 3DS would need more frequent charging than the older DS models, which was part of the reason that the 3DS came with a dedicated battery-charging cradle. The power drain involved in using the device would seem to be considerable, because Iwata said that he thought Nintendo might need to explicitly tell consumers to put their 3DS on charge as soon as they got it home.

It's not really a surprise that the 3DS battery isn't going to last for hours and hours; bigger screens and a more powerful processor are going to eat charge pretty quickly. Iwata's comments seem to imply that the battery life on the 3DS is significantly less than the regular DS, but presumably it will improve greatly by turning the 3D effect off.

Source

Price, autoupdates, bad battery life, the 3DS is becoming less and less attractive, I might wait for the "lite" version now

 

[monkat]

Meh, I can live. I charge the damn thing every day anyway. Just turn down the backlight, turn off the 3D when you get over it, and you'll be dandy.

 

[shaunj66]

Man I wish battery tech would hurry up and improve. All these new devices could really benefit from them. Imagine not having to charge something for months... I can't wait for the day.

 

[Range-TE]

noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

i hate low battery life.....


well at least give it 4~ hours of battery time..

 

[Bladexdsl]

it's bound to be better than the iphones battery at least

 

[ProtoKun7]

Man I wish battery tech would hurry up and improve. All these new devices could really benefit from them. Imagine not having to charge something for months... I can't wait for the day.

Yeah, I'm the same; the tech itself seems to improve while the batteries stay as they are.

Although there was that article posted here a while ago about a new type of energy storage technology. Might have a look for it.

 

[thegame07]

Man I wish battery tech would hurry up and improve. All these new devices could really benefit from them. Imagine not having to charge something for months... I can't wait for the day.

I'm sure I read recently something about devices being charged by wifi signals? http://www.engadget.com/2010/01/09/airnerg...to-exist-video/ think this is it.

 

[CrimzonEyed]

Wasn't there some talk about batteries that charged instantly?

 

[Wabsta]

Man I wish battery tech would hurry up and improve. All these new devices could really benefit from them. Imagine not having to charge something for months... I can't wait for the day.

I'm sure I read recently something about devices being charged by wifi signals? http://www.engadget.com/2010/01/09/airnerg...to-exist-video/ think this is it.

DO WANT!

Anyway, the battery of the DS, how long does it last? My DS only lasts for like 1,5hour, cause I think the battery broke..

 

[Bladexdsl]

Man I wish battery tech would hurry up and improve. All these new devices could really benefit from them. Imagine not having to charge something for months... I can't wait for the day.

Yeah, I'm the same; the tech itself seems to improve while the batteries stay as they are.

Although there was that article posted here a while ago about a new type of energy storage technology. Might have a look for it.

you mean this? http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/...91029160532.htm

Silicon gel batteries will be a long way off yet

 

[Cloak519]

3DS is progressively beginning to look more sucky. I get the feeling that the second revision will be much better.

 

[BlazerX]

i hope the 3ds will still do great with the tech but it will be fun to use

 

[SnAQ]

I miss my old Nokia N73, could use that mobile for 1½ week without charging it once and now with my iPhone 3G i have to charge the unit each night

 

[Juanmatron]

I miss my old Nokia N73, could use that mobile for 1½ week without charging it once and now with my iPhone 3G i have to charge the unit each night

They two doesn´t use much energy than 3DS.

I must buy an alternative battery.

 

[monkat]

I must buy an alternative battery.

That's what'll probably happen if it's that bad. I'm thinking that it'll still be able to run bare bone (again, no back-light, no 3D) for at least 6-8 hours, and that's more than good enough.

 

[_Chaz_]

The DS didn't have bad battery life at all. If alternative batteries are needed, they will become available.

 

[Clydefrosch]

shesh, of course its not going to last as long as the old ds, but whats the big deal? none of our great pocket computers work for a whole day do they?

as long as i still have a charger cable, ill be ok, always felt silly playing outside or in the train anyway


also about alternative batteries, by that you mean the batteries that dont exactly fit into the console? those that have like a bump twice the size of the normal battery?

 

[KuRensan]

doesn't matter for me -> just charge every night and also I think i'm not going to play my 3DS outside my house (or house of friend and familie)

 

[DiscostewSM]

Well, it's sad that it won't hold a charge as long as the regular DS, but in that case, I'd like to know how well it can hold a charge AFTER long-term use. I've gone through 2 batteries on my DSphat, and this 3rd one is barely giving me 2 hours worth of ON-time. If the battery in the 3DS can hold a charge longer after long-term use over my DS over that same period of time, then I'll be glad.

 

[KingAsix]

That's to be expected...a better battery would probably jack the already high price anyway. It's not a problem for me as I play my games at the house most times and if I'm out I don't play it that much (unless I'm bored)