DS or PSP

[thop]

New words from Itawa:

The fact that companies such as Nokia and Sony, with their new PSP multimedia device, are entering the hand-held games arena doesn't worry Iwata.

"For Nintendo's part, our mission is to try to provide customers with a machine that lets players play unique and unprecedented games," he says.

Iwata says rival companies appear to see things differently.

"They seem to believe that their machine can sell only if they can add to the functionality . . . it can do this and it can do that. We have to make great and unprecedented games if we are going to sell new gaming devices to customers. If people want to listen to music on the go, then they should purchase (an) iPod. That's my own opinion. The final decision has to be made by consumers."

 

[London Geezer]

^ ^ And many customers don't want an Ipod in one pocket, a mobile phone in the other, a DS in another, Mr Iwata.

 

[thop]

Houston we have confirmation on the PSP battery life!

Game Informer: One thing I was a little confused about in the presentation was the battery life. At first you said ten hours and then you seemed to say it could be as short as two and I just wanted to clarify...

Kaz: Battery life is one of these things where if you state a number then everybody's satisfied. The only problem, of course, is it never matches what you state. But if you don't state a number then it's like, "What's the battery life?" So it's a continuous Catch-22. And that's especially prevalent with the PlayStation Portable because it plays various entertainment content. Again, if you're just listening to music with no visuals at all then it should last, as I said yesterday, about eight to ten hours just like an iPod would. If you are playing a game that is consistently cycling through and putting the CPU to good use, yeah, battery life is going to be shorter. Maybe about two and a half, three hours.

IPod battery life is said to be 8h-9h, under real conditions it's closer to 6h-7h though. I wouldn't be too suprised if PSP turns out to be 2h :? But maybe it's all just a PR stunt and SONY will shock everyone with 20h battery life

 

[GHost]

6-7h is way too little for a music player. Nowadays minidiscs last at least 30h on a single AA, anything below 10h is laughable. I guess Apple just lost me as an iPod customer (which I was seriously considering).

Back on topic: sadly Sony doesn't seem to deliver the so much hyped "21st century walkman" :? If they can't fix the battery issue it will kill the otherwise exceptional PSP IMO.

 

[Paul]

There is nothing they can do to fix it really, could they put a more powerful battery in? Sure, but that would increase cost, size and weight...

Again there are so many variables with PSP battery life, WIFI, screen brightness, UMD streaming.

Maybe he was talking full blast?

At any rate, I find 3 hours acceptable for my uses anyway. I really don't have time to play games for hours anymore, though I CAN SEE how some people could be disapointed with the battery life.

 

[Phil]

2.5 to 3 hours? I'd hope this is "full blast", but even then, I'd expect at least 4 to 4.5 hours. Perhaps the optional batterypack is a must, but IMO, I'd rather wait for future revisions with better power management.

Hmm.. bummer :-/

6-7h is way too little for a music player. Nowadays minidiscs last at least 30h on a single AA, anything below 10h is laughable. I guess Apple just lost me as an iPod customer (which I was seriously considering).

Get an iRiver! ;-) Mine lasts around 8 hours on continuous play (and I listen to it quite loud and usually skip tracks every now and then which is more power consuming). It should do 12 to 16 hours if I am not mistaken (that's probably continuous play without skipping tracks with reasonable volume level). And it sounds much better than the iPod!

EDIT: spelling. ..again... again... again.

 

[GHost]

I was referring to the overall battery performance (music/video/games), especially the music playback part - it's just not right, you're supposed to be able to play it almost continuously several days IMO, to stay competitive....

I have to agree 3h gameplay would probably find it's audience (not me).

 

[GHost]

Phil
Thanks for the advise, I'll check it out.

 

[Paul]

Get an iRiver! Mine lasts around 8 hours on continuous play (and I listen to it quite loud and usually skip tracks every now and then which is more power consuming). It should do 12 to 16 hours if I am not mistaken (that's probably continuous play without skipping tracks with reasonable volume level). And it sounds much better than the iPod!

My Clie TH55 goes 25 hours playing MP3's with the screen off.

 

[j^aws]

2.5 to 3 hours? I'd hope this is "full blast", but even then, I'd expect at least 4 to 4.5 hours. Perhaps the optional batterypack is a must, but IMO, I'd rather wait for future revisions with better power management.

Hmm.. bummer :-/

I'm going to wait for the new portable XBOX...

 

[Phil]

Paul:

My iRiver has space for 20 GB... Oh and damn you with your Clié! I want one too!!!

Jaws:

nice...! I must get that one too...

 

[thop]

Jaws, the die hard XBOX freaks would probably argue that graphics is everything and still buy that thing

 

[DeanoC]

Jaws, the die hard XBOX freaks would probably argue that graphics is everything and still buy that thing

Could equally apply to PSP freaks as well...

Just kidding Just a joke

 

[marconelly!]

2.5 to 3 hours? I'd hope this is "full blast", but even then, I'd expect at least 4 to 4.5 hours.

If you had any experience with modern PDAs, you would know that Sony would need some magic dust powered battery to get such life out of a device that does so much

One point that I have, though, which I'm not sure will ring true to everyone - Today's users are pretty much used to devices with short battery lives, and buy them regardless, just because they know they can conviniently put them into some cradle to recharge and leave them there every night, overnight. Ipods, Cameras, Laptops, PDAs, even cellphones, hell almost everything has short battery life, yet people buy them in droves, perhaps now more than ever.

 

[Fox5]

There is nothing they can do to fix it really, could they put a more powerful battery in? Sure, but that would increase cost, size and weight...

Again there are so many variables with PSP battery life, WIFI, screen brightness, UMD streaming.

Maybe he was talking full blast?

At any rate, I find 3 hours acceptable for my uses anyway. I really don't have time to play games for hours anymore, though I CAN SEE how some people could be disapointed with the battery life.

Gamegear claimed 4 hours battey life, and it was more like 2 on normal batteries. Not sure how well the rechargable battery did, I don't htink it was much better.
Nomad got like a bit over an hour on batteries. It did like around 2 hours with its rechargable battery pack, which was NIMH by this time, kind of expensive, and like twice the twice of 6AA batteries(which is what it took) Not quite enough for a two way trip. If psp's battery pack isn't external and doesn't generate a lot of heat, it will impress me.

 

[Almasy]

Well, to tell the truth I hope Sony really does adress this issue concerning battery life. I was looking into PSP, since it´s the first handheld to pique my interest, but such a dumb mistake by Sony IMO, could represent a big obstacle for the kind of success Sony wants from PSP.

I suppose getting a second rechargable battery would "solve" this issue, but it´s a hassle I´m sure many consumers will hold against it.

 

[Teasy]

So we can expect 2.5 hours for games on PSP, that's far too short IMO. The battery life would always be playing on my mind.

I wonder what sort battery life we'll see out of DS? Its more powerful then GBA-SP and has two screens rather then one. But also there's a lot more room for a bigger battery then was in GBA. Any guesses?

 

[marconelly!]

Any guesses?

It's hard to guess anything when you have devices of such versatility. What if WiFi works all the time? What if it doesn't? (that goes for both DS and PSP) What if the game streams data from the most of the time? From my experience with PDAs, WiFi for example, significantly shortens battery life.

In any case, I'm always willing to give up on the battery life (as long as they are rechargeable, of course) for more power, versatility, and a nice form factor.

 

[thop]

Nintendo said it's gonna be around the same as the GBA SP, which is 10h/18h (light on/off). So i'd say 8h is a safe bet.

 

[thop]

Not really a surprise but a Zelda for DS was confirmed. No word yet if it will be a remake of OOT or not, but i'd rather think/hope not. I'm curious about the controls.