Nintendo announces the "3DS" with no need for glasses

Blind_Evil wrote:

suspects the always-on WiFi capabilities.

That will hammer the battery and seems like an odd hardware design choice. 3-5 hours is probably ok for me I mostly use my DS for my commute and it's never much more than 35mins.

That said I have never once got 15-19 hours out of my DS Lite and I always run it on the lowest brightness, so I have no idea where that number comes from.

DanB wrote:
Blind_Evil wrote:

suspects the always-on WiFi capabilities.

That will hammer the battery and seems like an odd hardware design choice. 3-5 hours is probably ok for me I mostly use my DS for my commute and it's never much more than 35mins.

That said I have never once got 15-19 hours out of my DS Lite and I always run it on the lowest brightness, so I have no idea where that number comes from.

There will most likely be an option to turn Streetpass or Tag Mode or whatever off, so you can probably squeeze more than the claimed 3-5 hour battery life from it.

Those numbers are what the manufacturers claim for each device. We all have different anecdotal beliefs on that kind of stuff, so that's kind of the only reliable method of comparison. It says 10 hours of video time on an iPhone, but as I said my 3gs is dying after an hour or so of gaming (Aralon, Infinity Blade, more resource intensive games) or 2 hours of 3G internet browsing.

Blind_Evil wrote:

There will most likely be an option to turn Streetpass or Tag Mode or whatever off, so you can probably squeeze more than the claimed 3-5 hour battery life from it.

Like say... via a physical switch?

IMAGE(http://media.tested.com/uploads/0/5408/18714-3ds_wireless_super.png)

Does anybody know anything (anecdotal or otherwise) about Nintendo's history when it comes to claimed battery life vs. actual battery life in real-world situations? 'Cause in general, when I see a battery life claim by a product manufacturer, I take the low end of the range, subtract 25%, and that tends to give me something close to the actual real-world battery life. Typically even when they're not being flat-out dishonest, they're quoting you battery life under absolutely ideal conditions (all optional features such as wifi and sound turned off, all screen brightnesses set to the lowest setting, doing the least processor-intensive task possible in a walk-in freezer).

There's also the fact that battery life in rechargeable batteries degrades the more you use it. Nintendo claims 19 hours on one charge for the DS Lite, and maybe when mine was brand new I was getting near that, but nowadays I'm lucky to get half that. Now, getting "only" ten hours to a charge in ideal conditions-- say five in real-world conditions where maybe I turn the brightness up a little and use the wifi and the sound-- might not be much different from nineteen for all practical purposes. But if the QUOTED battery life is 3-5 hours, and that degrades to 1.5-2.5 hours after a year or two of regular use, well, that's something different altogether, isn't it?

It's pretty shocking. Battery life was one of the reasons the original Game Boy crushed the Game Gear despite the graphics.

And likewise the DS destroyed the PSP in battery life.

Seems odd for Nintendo to take a step back in this area.

Maybe the life is a good thing, given the affect it has on some people. I know with the Virtual Boy, after marathons of Red Alert and Galactic Pinball, my eyes would be weird for 10 or 15 minutes before they re-adjusted (although the technology of the 3DS is obviously more advanced.) But, the battery life for it was actually quite good.

Stele wrote:

It's pretty shocking. Battery life was one of the reasons the original Game Boy crushed the Game Gear despite the graphics.

And likewise the DS destroyed the PSP in battery life.

Seems odd for Nintendo to take a step back in this area.

I think that only effected those races so heavily because without a third party doohicky you had to shell out for double-A's every time the batteries gave out.

Thing I'm too filthy a skimmer to have noticed if it was already mentioned and too lazy to look up: does anyone know if the 3DS' battery will be user-swappable? Because the battery life might not be as big a deal to me if I can pony up a little extra for a better battery down the line, or pick up a spare for use on long trips.

hbi2k wrote:

Thing I'm too filthy a skimmer to have noticed if it was already mentioned and too lazy to look up: does anyone know if the 3DS' battery will be user-swappable? Because the battery life might not be as big a deal to me if I can pony up a little extra for a better battery down the line, or pick up a spare for use on long trips.

I don't think that's been disclosed, but you've been able to change out every Nintendo handheld's battery since they started using them in the SP.

MaxShrek wrote:

Maybe the life is a good thing, given the affect it has on some people. I know with the Virtual Boy, after marathons of Red Alert and Galactic Pinball, my eyes would be weird for 10 or 15 minutes before they re-adjusted (although the technology of the 3DS is obviously more advanced.) But, the battery life for it was actually quite good.

I agree. Nintendo might just be accepting risk here. I don't see marathon sessions happening in 3D mode.

8-4 Play podcast (8-4 is a localization company based in Japan headed by Mark Macdonald and John Ricciardi of EGM fame) has a new episode up that is entirely about their hands-on experiences with the 3DS at Nintendo World 2011. It's a five person podcast and has moved into my rotation, if you're wondering about the general quality.

I'm about 40 minutes into the 135 minute podcast and they were extremely high on the "circle pad" control nub. John said he had issues seeing the 3D effect, and someone else said he was the only person he knew that did. He also had issues with Avatar in 3D.

It's worth a listen if you want respectable opinions from a hands-on experience.

Blind_Evil wrote:

has a new episode up that is entirely about their hands-on experiences with the 3DS at Nintendo World 2011.

Good to know! I've been getting behind on some of my podcasts, this included. The top quality isn't there yet, but they do offer a perspective that's rare in the medium. Good to hear positive things about the 3DS after some not-so-great news.

I like 8-4, mostly because they have a different perspective on things. It's definitely not as polished and fun, interesting, etc. as others. Of course, I just discovered Idle Thumbs two weeks ago and have been going through old podcasts of theirs.