Remember those all-night Pokemon and Mario Cart marathons? Well if you want to continue that trend. Bring a charger! Nintendo’s just unveiled its best-case scenario figures for the 3DS’ battery life, and compared with its past models, we just don’t like it. The official numbers are three to five hours playing per game, or five to eight if playing an older DS title (and up to three hours 30 minutes to fully recharge). So… three to eight hours under the most ideal circumstances… awesome.
Now let’s compare to it’s predecessors: the DS is 10 to 14 hours, DS Lite 15 to 19 hours, DSi 9 to 14 hours, and DSi XL 13 to 17 hours (all figures also from Nintendo). Can’t say we’re entirely surprised; Haus of Mario Chief Satoru Iwata’s own words back in October were “it is inevitable that Nintendo 3DS will be a device which requires more frequent recharging than Nintendo DS.” Think of it as an extension of the warning label.
It really seems this device has become less of a “mobile” device and more of a stay at home device.
