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

[Logan Westbrook]

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

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.

The 3DS is scheduled to be launched in the West next March.

Source: Kotaku [http://kotaku.com/5658712/the-3ds-battery-wont-last-as-long-as-the-ds]




Permalink

 

[Zeromaeus]

Mega Man Legends 3 renders all flaws invalid.

 

[Onyx Oblivion]

As long as I can turn the 3D off to save battery life, I'm fine with that.

I mostly use my DS at home, anyway.

 

[Roander]

That's a little disappointing. One of my favorite things about the ds is not having to charge it every few hours. I hope it at least doesn't run the battery down while it's switched off like the psp seems to do.

 

[JediMB]

I hope it at least doesn't run the battery down while it's switched off like the psp seems to do.

The 3DS is going to slowly drain the battery even while "turned off", since it puts itself in a low-energy sleep mode with limited network communication that allows it to exchange data with other 3DS units in the area.

There was some focus on this feature in a recent Super Street Fighter IV 3D trailer.

 

[Quad08]

I usually leave my DS charged in my room anyways, and I doubt I'd change habits if I ever get the 3DS.

Still, for those who use a DS more outside the home, I can see how this could be a big deal

 

[BlueHighwind]

Lol. You can play your game for more than 10 minutes, but only if you don't have the 3D effect on. Kinda defeats the purpose of a 3DS huh?

Does it beat the PSP though? I notice that the PSP has the magically ability to run out of batteries while its OFF. That had to take some technical wizardry to get feature.

 

[Plurralbles]

That's... not at all surprising

 

[AceDiamond]

Lol. You can play your game for more than 10 minutes, but only if you don't have the 3D effect on. Kinda defeats the purpose of a 3DS huh?

Yes because 10 minutes is totally how long they said it'd last. Hyperbole is one thing, being misleading is another.

Anyway this is a company that has never been beaten on battery life for its handhelds so I have a feeling the battery life will still be decent enough anyway.

EDIT: And at least they're making an effort to be honest unlike some companies I can think of in regards to their tech specs.

 

[neoontime]

Darn, every week the 3DS gets less appealing.

 

[ssgt splatter]

Why am I not surprised?

 

[AzrealMaximillion]

Does it beat the PSP though? I notice that the PSP has the magically ability to run out of batteries while its OFF. That had to take some technical wizardry to get feature.

Yeah there's a difference between putting your PSP in sleep mode and actually turning it off. Sleep mode still uses a bit of energy. If you're trying to be funny I suggest knowing the features of the products first.

 

[The Rockerfly]

There better be an off function otherwise I probably won't be investing in one. I mean it looks good but I don't want to have to communicate with other players

Can't be that hard to implement

Have the same switch as the DS except like this

on
off
low power mode

Most people will just turn it to low power mode while people who are energy concious will make an effort to turn it off completely

 

[V8 Ninja]

So much for the StreetPass feature. :\

 

[Swaki]

well to be fair the old ds (the 3ds isn't out yet and i still think of the DS as old junk) had an amazing battery life, my old one survived being played on non stop from Florida to Denmark and the train ride home.

if it can survive 6-8 hours it wont make any difference for me since im never going to be on a plain for that long ever again.

 

[mad825]

news flash? do they seriously think that we are that stupid??

why do people think I'm ranting about the damn battery life...oh but wait there were sceptics, I guess this piece of news appeals to them.

 

[Logic Sword]

Last time I checked the iPod Touch and iPhone have still sold really well despite a pathetic battery life.

To beat them, all it needs to do is let me play a game for more than 3 hours without deciding to die, which I'm pretty certain it will, even in full 3D.

 

[BlueHighwind]

Does it beat the PSP though? I notice that the PSP has the magically ability to run out of batteries while its OFF. That had to take some technical wizardry to get feature.

Yeah there's a difference between putting your PSP in sleep mode and actually turning it off. Sleep mode still uses a bit of energy. If you're trying to be funny I suggest knowing the features of the products first.

Because doing tons of research, being fair, and avoiding exaggeration is ALWAYS funny, right? No, the PSP runs out of juice even when off. Don't play it for a month and it won't turn on. Don't play your DS for a month (or even leave it in sleep mode for a whole week) and it does.

 

[The Infinite]

Heh this was rather obvious, a powerful machine like the 3DS won't be lasting forever. Regardless I remember a time when I had to use bloody 4 AAs that wouldn't last me more than like a day or something on my original GB. Talk about freaking costly man.

Also:

Mega Man Legends 3 renders all flaws invalid.

Indeed it does my friend. Indeed it does. Been waiting 10 years and now it's almost here.

 

[JoJo]

I hope it at least doesn't run the battery down while it's switched off like the psp seems to do.

The 3DS is going to slowly drain the battery even while "turned off", since it puts itself in a low-energy sleep mode with limited network communication that allows it to exchange data with other 3DS units in the area.

There was some focus on this feature in a recent Super Street Fighter IV 3D trailer.

There's likely to be a way that the sleep mode could be turned off if you don't want to use it, privacy/ child safety concerns alone should ensure that.