SourceQUOTE said:Turns out you can squeeze a lot more juice out of the 3DS. You just have to not care about any of its features.
One of the earliest questions we had about the 3DS was its battery life; with a revolutionary glasses-free 3D technology along with a much stronger processor than the DS, many had speculated just how long the battery would last? We finally got that answer during Nintendo’s Japan conference last week, which revealed that the handheld had a typical battery life of three to five hours on the brightest setting. While not as draining as Sony’s PSP handheld, it’s still a bit of a disappointment for gamers on the go, especially when it takes three hours to re-charge it.
Well, here’s some good news: during a Q&A with Nintendo, Kotaku got some additional details regarding the upcoming machine. It turns out that you’ll actually be able to squeeze out a whopping eight hours out of the 3DS…provided you don’t care about 3D. It seems the theories regarding the toll that the new tech gives on the 3DS has been confirmed, considering the massive difference in play-time. For those truly committed to gaming, the maximum playtime can be extended even further by shutting off all features completely, including brightness and wireless settings.
In addition, Nintendo also answered questions regarding the 3DS’ friend list feature. It turns out that you’ll be able to add a total of one hundred friends per handheld. For casuals, this may be more than enough space; for hardcores raised on Xbox Live, this number may be far too short. On the question of sending messages to each other, Nintendo was a bit more vague with their response, merely confirming that there will be messaging features of some kind, but did not elaborate further.
Finally, those who may have panicked over the 3DS’ unusually short power cord, worry not as it was confirmed to be a mock-up image. Not only will the real cord be much longer, you can also charge the 3DS with a DS/DSi power cable.
So 8 hours without 3D and that can be further extended lowering brightness, switching off wireless. Yes this is good news!