Interesting Article from EGM regarding battery life.

[-Vice-]

The Battery(PSP): It's a Matter of Life and Death.

Aside from PlayStation Portable's price and launch date, the other big question surrounding the handheld has been its battery life. Sony Computer Entertainment President and CEO Ken Kutaragi confirmed that a fully charged battery will, on average, last four to six hours when playing games and four to five hours when watching movies. But there's a catch: He later admitted that those stats will fluctuate depending on the type of game being played. "A puzzle game will last longer [than six hours]," said kutaragi. "But [a game like] Ridge Racer will probably be shorter then [four hours]." Eventually, Kutaragi hopes that Sony can produce a battery for the machine that will last the length of a flight from Japan to New York City (which usually clocks in at 13 to 14 hours).

Bottom line is...14 hour battery life + great software + wi-fi = DS is in trouble

and lets not forget the price (185$ US in japan).

[alex]

do you know how big? or the price? of that new battery would cost.

that technology is out there but it comes at a price (not cheep) thats why its not in the ds or psp

[x999x]

You can't build a userbase on promises and half truths.

Show me 14 hours, great software (so far only 1 good game exists, and it takes 30 seconds to get into the game and start playing), and all this with wifi on and I'll happily ditch my DS.

Until then, I'll continue to rake in about 4+ hours of wifi gaming per charge on my DS.

Lastly, the DS and PSP are catering to different audiences. DS is about the games, PSP is about what it can do outside of gaming. If the PSP was built with gaming as it's only function, we'd not be reading about 1 1/2 hour battery lifes on RidgeRacers, because maximum uptime would have been their priority, not engineering new portable storage medium and then building a gaming machine around it.

[-Vice-]

Hence there hoping to create it.

[-Vice-]

Originally Posted by x999x

You can't build a userbase on promises and half truths.

Show me 14 hours, great software (so far only 1 good game exists, and it takes 30 seconds to get into the game and start playing), and all this with wifi on and I'll happily ditch my DS.

Until then, I'll continue to rake in about 4+ hours of wifi gaming per charge on my DS.

Lastly, the DS and PSP are catering to different audiences. DS is about the games, PSP is about what it can do outside of gaming. If the PSP was built with gaming as it's only function, we'd not be reading about 1 1/2 hour battery lifes on RidgeRacers, because maximum uptime would have been their priority, not engineering new portable storage medium and then building a gaming machine around it.

Wait until the US launch. And im not trying to say if this happens DS IS DOOMED im just saying thats a pretty big thought.

[alex]

well put it this way its not likely to happen that a new battery for the psp will be produced that will have that kind of power anyway.

[x999x]

Originally Posted by -Vice-

Hence there hoping to create it.

So is that supposed validate their reasons for settling with a subpar battery life for a handheld by today's standards?

That CEO could have said, "I hope we can have the PSP run on Energon Cubes to provide a near limitless power source. Once we can secure our factory from Megatron, I'm hoping we can create them in the future."

[-Vice-]

No comment.

[alex]

good argument there :roll:

[x999x]

Originally Posted by -Vice-

Wait until the US launch. And im not trying to say if this happens DS IS DOOMED im just saying thats a pretty big thought.

Well, I see your point, but just to help realize that pretty big thought, Sony has to make something happen, and happen in a big way. They need to flood the market with over 2 million WORKING PSPs in order to capture a stake in the gaming market which the DS has had no problem overtaking.

Considering WarioWare DS is outselling RidgeRacers by nearly 3:1, Nintendo is having no problem making a profit on software, the most lucrative aspect of this market. The reason they're selling software at such high volumes is directly attributed to the userbase of each handheld. Having barely pushed 200k in it's first week, Sony has had inadvertenly shot themselves in the foot, and now have to have thier pinkie toe amputated. This doesn't settle well with developers as well, who have been assured platinum sales off the PSP's namesake alone...

I'm crossing my fingers for Sony, because if their US launch is anywhere as dismal as the Japan launch, I'm afraid for their financial future. Not every company is Microsoft and actually projects to lose 1 billion in it's first year as a Console Manufacturer...