Now that we have a confirmed release date and price for the Japanese 3DS — and a estimated April release for North America — gamers can now make their final plans to purchase the new unit. With the announcement of the Japanese release however, also comes the final specs of the handheld, and the 3DS seems to be lacking in the battery department with only three-to-five hours of estimated battery life. This new information will no doubt have some gamers thinking twice about buying the new handheld on launch day.
When the 3DS was revealed at E3 2010, we were given a lot of information on the unit sans the battery life. It’s understandable why Nintendo wouldn’t divulge this info right at the unveiling of their new handheld, though it looks like we now know the real reason why this vital bit of info was left out. The official Japanese website for the 3DS says the unit has three-to-five hours of battery life during normal play with 3DS games. The life is extended to five to eight hours when playing DS games.
This will come as a disappointment to many gamers who were used to the longer battery life of the NDS. Portable gaming is the perfect time waster on morning commutes, long road trips and long flights. The DS more than met the needs of a person flying from Boston to San Fransisco, but flying with the 3DS will cut gaming time a little short. When gamers head out this Spring to pick up their 3DS and accessories they may also want to consider a third party battery option.
We always knew Nintendo was packing a lot of innovative technology into the 3DS however, it looks like more emphasis was put into creating the 3D tech than into actually powering it. The higher price of the unit and software have already turned off many, and this news of diminished battery life doesn’t bode well for Nintendo in conjunction with the 3DS’ high price point, especially with the legacy the DS left behind.
Does this new bit of information change your mind about purchasing a 3DS? Let us know in the comments.
Source: Nintendo Japan
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Meh. Doesn’t bother me. That’s still a reasonable amount of time for playing. A bummer, but definitely not a deal-breaker.
Not surprising. I predict the life will be extended with each hardware redesign that is released. First run Nintendo handhelds are never the best on battery life.
its all well and good bringing out a new version of the ds but its pointless when 90% of the games are garbage. there has not been a decent game on the ds for a very long time. very bored of all the mario this and mario that titles so unless nintendo up the quality of titles, the 3ds will be a waste of time and money.
What rock do you live under? The DS probably has the best game library of any current system, especially if you like RPGs at all.
hmm battery life sure concerns me a little bit but it’s still more than psp (i own one) so it’s not that bad. They are bringing Shin Megami Tensei games and Kingdom Hearts which is good enouh reason for me to buy it