3DS sports 3- to 5-hour battery life for 3D games

ill wait for the 3DS Lite.

I'd wait for a revision or at least till enough gamers try it out in real life. 3-5 hours seems like a lot but the details that go into that calculation are unknown to us. For the DS models that's okay, but just from watching the video attached to this article I get the feeling they're moving the 3DS into an always on always connecting type of device. Smartphones are like that and if you weren't careful you got one that ran out of power just over the drive from home to work.

They'll eventually fix the battery life issue. That will be the time for me to get one. By that time there will be probably a good library of games to choose from. The $250 price is okay for a debut but it'll eventually come down at some point.

I agree with most people. Just it lasting 3 - 5 hours shouldn't make people think it sucks. Hell, My PSP, After Fully Charging gets about 4 Hours 30 Min. Give it time after the 3DS comes out and I'm sure they will make a longer lasting battery.

Unless you live out of a suitcase, that's plenty of time.

In this time and age, is the battery life of a handheld a problem anymore? Hardly no one plays a handheld for more than 3 hours anyways and nobody is wasting big bucks to buy expensive batteries either when there are battery chargers everywhere nowadays.

@IRoxxorUrSoxxor Whats wrong, cant afford to pay your hydro. Or your fat fingers cant quite get the plug into place? Did it take you long to come to the conclusion that its portable too?? Maybe you fail to comprehend that only a small % of the people who actually buy it are going to be away from an outlet for 3-5 hours at a time. If that. 3-5 hours isnt much shorter then any other product on the market, not to mention theres this new concept out there called, say it with me now 'recharging your battery'. Most means of transport have outlets of some sort. You can get an adapter for just about any power source, so unless your out in the middle of nowhere replaying Deliverance with Uncle Tom, then getting 5 hours of use on the minimum light settings is nothing to complain about one bit. Try sitting on your cellphone for 5 hours and see if its battery lasts, or your laptop or even and older ds or psp.

@BigAl519 - It's a portable gaming system you numbnuts. 3-5 hours of battery life isn't a total deal breaker, but if you don't consider it a negative, you're a moron.

So its only 60 dollars more then the dsi xl, full 3d gaming without glasses which is still new tech, does everything the original ds does and just because its battery life is 3-5 hours its garbage to so many people. Is it really that hard for people to just plug it in.

Sure it's kinda short but you gotta keep in mind that this technology is powerful and will require a lot of "juice" to make it work!

@Dejanji - I didn't realize a 7-year-old PSP could do 3D without glasses. Apparently, the whole world missed that memo. Considering the tech, battery size and price, the battery life seems about right. A longer-life battery of that size would most likely set the 3DS into a price point that wouldn't be competitive, even with glasses-free 3D.

300 dollars for a handheld with the specs of a psp (7 years old) stop drinking the kool aid already...

I'd like to see a longer battery life, but this is still acceptable to me. On long airplane flights, I always fly a premium class anyway, and their seats have electrical outlets. Even on some airlines, some rows in coach are equipped with outlets too. If some 3rd party could make a USB charger, then almost any airline that has long-haul flights could be taken care of.

Just another reason to wait for the inevitable price drop/redesign...

This is why I refuse to buy the 3DS and stick with my DS Lite. 3 to 5 hours of battery life? No way. Nintendo shouldn't have rushed on this system. Besides, DS Lite is the best DS so far. Why are people still buying the DSi?

lol! Pathetic battery life. Maybe nintendo shouldn't rush this... Oh, who am I kidding, they'll release an "improved" version in a few months, that'll work like it should have worked from the very beginning, and the "intelligent" consumers will rush to buy that one, as well.

That's nowhere near long enough for OoT Water Temple virgins to figure out the dungeon - unless of course, like the PSP the 3DS will save your game state before switching itself off. This, I doubt though.

Well i have no interest in anything nintendo anymore except the WII. as a matter of fact a traded in my DS lite. so i dont see this in my future at all

I'm pretty sure Nintendo will complement some accessories along with the standard 3DS. For instance, a plug-in charger that can be removed and popped into the machine while the tired one charges. So for the gamers *looks into monitor* that can't play ONLY 3 hours of 3DS, you can remove the tired battery, place it inside the charger, and pop the good one inside and continue playing. If they are already doing this, then excuse me, I'm just running ideas through my head.

This won't affect me much since I'm not getting this until the first revision comes out.

The dsi lasts about this as well, no big surprise here. This is with brightness settings at max. Turn them down some, and you're likely to last closer to 15 hours.

Guess I'm buying another side battery to use when the first runs out...

A lot of you are failing to read this correctly and are optimistically assuming that the 3-5 hour estimate is ONLY at the highest brightness, blissfully thinking that surely it's longer if you simply turn down the brightness. Wrong. Read again: "According to Nintendo, those times are all dependent on screen brightness levels." It's stated clearly above that these times are dependent on screen brightness settings. So approximately 3 hours at the highest brightness, 5 at the lowest for 3DS games, 5 to 8 for DS games. Again: About 5 hours max for 3DS games with screen brightness set at the lowest.

boo-urns.

Hmmm, I don't really foresee any situation where I'll be playing my 3DS for more than 3 hours without access to an outlet....maybe a really long car trip, if I don't have any sort of adapter...actually, why don't they make a car charger for DS systems?

@mariokart64fan "5to 8 hours is good compared to psp which lol averages 3 hours max , gameplay remember thats on its brightest settings and with 3d on" That was on launch, PSP now lasts more, 5 to 6 I believe, Nintendo can also improve this but it can;t be done much due to 3d tech...Anyway, it's NOT the brightest setting and it isn't with the 3d on. Where did you get that idea? It IS 3 to 5 hours[it says on the headline] and with the soft[medium] bright setting.

I had a Game Gear. What was it, like 6 AA batteries for 2hrs of gameplay? Something like that. And it weighed 10lbs. So yeah, this isn't so bad.

considering the warnings playing a 3ds for hours produces, anything over 1 1/2 hours is enough.

Remember, guys, 3-5 hours on the brightest setting with 3D on. I normally use the lowest brightness just because I'm a battery-life whore myself. And without 3D... anywhere from 6-8 1/2 hours, I'd say. So calm down.

Oh and by then it will have a better line up of games too.

You people forget just how little you really do take car trips. That's not that bad. Though admittedly I am going to wait for the inevitable LITE version or whatever they decide to call it a year from launch, cuz you know it's coming people.

I'm going to totally replace the power supply and soup up this beetch.

Hopefully there'll be a 3DS-Lite with better battery life in a year or so. I wasn't planning on getting the 3DS on release day anyway.

Those will be 3-5 of your best gaming hours. Please make Ninja Gaiden on the 3DS. I wanna see blood fly out the screen

5to 8 hours is good compared to psp which lol averages 3 hours max , gameplay remember thats on its brightest settings and with 3d on

The battery life really isn't that bad. Most likely at highest brightness. Plus, why are you going to be playing it for 3-5 hours straight out of your home? I'm just worried about the battery life for when it's closed, I hate it when my DS dies because I left it on paused, and closed.

Well, considering how many times people actually play out in public versus indoors where outlets are, I say why not? You've got two screens, a 3D effect, and a high quality screen, so of course it will use up fuel in a few hours.

the battery life is just terrible, they might be chinese batteries lol.

As someone who owned Sega's AA battery chomping Game Gear, I just say thank God for rechargable batteries at least.

thats pretty awful

That's what plugs are for!

No worry, you can always bring one of these generators with you : [url]http://jritchie.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/IMG_0723.JPG[/url]

Well my psp 3001 currently lasts about 3-4 hours so this won't be a big deal imo.

The battery life is a bit short, but I'll most likely still get the system if the price is less them $300. I've sure there will be other battery option and as long as it has an adapter so I can play at home without draining the battery, I'm fine with that.

Although that's pretty short, I am still getting the 3DS. :D This is a handheld, after all. 3D effects on a handheld will definitely consume a lot of power. Doesn't matter, we can change the settings around to make the battery last longer. Can't wait until more news on the 3DS!

@mario-nin-freak Because even if you don't play more then 3-4 hours on the go you might very well end up having the game paused for much longer.

@BubbenMan Oh, but why is that important?

@mario-nin-freak I mean when you close the lid with the game still running.

@BubbenMan You mean when playing music?

I'd say the battery life when in sleep (or whatever) mode is a bigger question.