Nintendo’s CEO is being quoted as saying handhelds with a battery life of under 10 hours are “absolutely meaningless,” after his company just announced the 3DS only has a 3 hour battery life.
Nintendo CEO Iwata was previously quoted rubbishing the PSP for having a short battery life:
“For games, it is absolutely meaningless if your console doesn’t have a battery life of 10-20 hours.”
The 3DS has a battery life of “3-5 hours” in normal 3DS games, and a 3.5 hour charge time.
He is however true to his word in another 2004 interview:
“I actually don’t think you can’t use the DS for things other than gaming.
However, to make it do all kinds of things, and to give it all kinds of functionality, you end up pushing up the price, making it bigger, and reducing the battery life – this is a mistake, I think.”
Most notably, Nintendo is saying the device’s batteries will only last for 3-5 hours in normal gameplay (5-8 with DS titles), and take 3.5 hours to recharge. By way of comparison, the PSP is rated at some 4-6 hours.
This, coupled with the various dire warnings about the 3D screen causing blindness and eye cancer in little children, has served to take some of the lustre off the otherwise outstanding hardware on offer.
The 3DS itself is due on the 26th of February, for ¥25,000 – other regions get it slightly later, in March and at about $300.
The (Japanese) release line-up is also attracting opprobrium – only 8 titles are on offer, retailing around the ¥5,000-¥6,000 mark:
only 8 titles for launch date..
