Sony Says PSP Battery Life is Shorter than Quoted

SetupWeasel writes "Gamesindustry.biz is reporting that "Sony Computer Entertainment boss Ken Kutaragi has admitted that graphically intensive games will drain the PSP's battery more rapidly than the quoted figures." Sony also said that this would be corrected in future revisions of the hardware, but we know how well that plan worked for Nokia."

Comments

won't even last 1 trip

[fireduck]

so a portable with batteries that will last 2 hours. that's less than just about any air travel time. no thank you. the GBA, with its 10 hour battery life, has spoiled me.

future revisions?

[Jane_the_Great]

Corrected in future revisions of the hardware? Come on - why would someone buy the PSP with a statement like that? And what is Sony going to do for early adopters who purchase a PSP that drains radpily.

I'm all for people being honest BUT if you think you can correct the problem in later revisions of the hardware, why not make that later revision the first release and only bring to market a product that meets the specs?

Re:future revisions?

[mausmalone]

It'll be corrected in a later version because as the cost of the lcd and other internals goes down, they'll be able to afford a better built-in battery. For now, though, I'm sure early adopters will be happy with a shitty battery and probably a battery extender that plugs in to the dc power port.

Re:future revisions?

[EddieBurkett]

Nintendo didn't announce the GBA SP until well after the original had been out and sold quite nicely. Although there's no timeframe given on when this future revision of the PSP will come out, I don't see how this won't make people postpone their purchase. Especially at the higher price. Why waste $200 + dollars on something you're going to replace so quickly anyway?

Re:future revisions?

[Guppy06]

"why would someone buy the PSP with a statement like that?"

Look at all the things Sony fixed on the PS2 with "future revisions of the hardware." Oh, you want a progressive-scan DVD player? Want to be able to turn off the PS2 with a remote? Go buy yourself a second PS2.

And yet..

[mrseigen]

It will become one of the most popular game consoles on earth. Why is it that Sony can make crappy console hardware, release sub-par sequels and treat their developers like garbage and still be the company on top?

Battery life won't matter to the Sony devoted

[dgrgich]

The initial adopters of this platform will be available to afford extra batteries ($45 each) and therefore, the initial crowd of people buying these will not care that the battery will only give them two-three hours of time in graphically intense games. I base this on the early reports that the purchase price for one of these is going to be in the $199 range - this will make the comfortable price of entry for portable Playstation goodness at $300 once a game and extra battery is purchased. Having said this, I certainly hope that Sony is not looking to replace Nintendo at the top of the handheld game machine pile - I can't see a great deal of average parents giving little Johnny or Belinda a $250 toy that wouldn't survive a drop to the floor!!! I'd guess that Apple has more to worry about than the Mario Bros.

Re:stop complaining

[mausmalone]

You'd be surprised how little time 2 hours can be when you're on a long trip. You can easily burn through that when you're on a plane or stuck waiting in line somewhere. It's also nice to have a long battery time when you forget to recharge.

Re:I think sony made the right choice

[KevinKnSC]

For everything they offer in the psp the battery life is sufficient for release. Yes the DS will have about 5x longer playtime... for now. If Nintendo made something with the same size screen/processing power then they would run into the same problem as would any company.

That's just it, though. Nintendo isn't making something with the same screen size and processing power precisely because it would drain the battery so fast. Nintendo has owned this market for so long because they realize that, when you get right down to it, a good that lasts for a long time beats really good that lasts for a short time. It looks like the next round will play out the same way the others have.

I'm not surprised

[xenocide2]

Sony has a reputation of not being straight with developers. If you believe Sony's numbers (or don't look at them too hardly), the PS2 is four times superior to the gamecube. Sony's marketing seems more in touch with their consumers. They know how closely these things are compared and publish specs with the consumer in mind, rather than the developer. So when Sony says 4 hours of portable ps2 power, every game developer friend I know did a little Sony math to figure out the REAL number. Given that 4 hours was already a wanting number, the psp will naturally come up shorter.

I'm not sure I want Nintendo to come up and engage in the same detrimental practices telling me their stuff can move 8 times more polygons than it ever will in a commercial game, or reinforcing gender stereotypes in gaming. Making Zelda cel-shaded turned off many consumers, but it beats selling GTA and MGS to preteens.

Not a fatal problem to me

[Teppy]

I'm sure that 3rd party spare batteries will be popular early on, just as add-on lights were popular with early GameBoy Advances. If Sony sells a spare battery for $45, the 3rd parties will probably sell for $15; I'd be the first to pick up a couple for trips.

stop complaining about complaints

[raygundan]

My favorite thing about the GBA SP is that it lasts longer than any flight I've had to take for work. I'm sure if I took a nonstop to australia, I could run it down-- but I'd probably need to sleep before I cashed the battery. It lasts long enough that even if you're not at a save point, you can just turn off the backlight and leave it running for most of a day until you finally arrive somewhere with an outlet you can use.

Somehow, I don't think your suggestion of a home console is likely to do me much good on an 8-hour flight.

Are you listening to yourselves?!?

[kingsmedley]

I can't believe some of the comments I am hearing here.

"early adopters can afford extra batteries"
"the battery life is sufficient"
"simply buy extra battery packs"

Dang, people. You're living in denial. I said similair things back when I thought the Jaguar would be Atari's second coming.

"Just wait for the next game!"
"There are over 250 developers making games right now!"
"Club Drive is gonna be AWESOME!"

Yeah, you might eventually get a better battery life. Someday. Just don't hold your breath like I did - it's real embarassing when you pass out.

BTW, how many people remember the big horkin' D-cell power pack for the Lynx? Woohoo! 10 hours of full color backlit gaming goodness, on just $25 worth of batteries!