Power-hungry

Nintendo has just recently released some details on the battery life of their upcoming 3DS system at their Nintendo World 2011 event in Tokyo and the news might surprise (and disappoint) some fans of Nintendo's usual crop of handhelds.

Depending on the level of brightness being used and playing a 3DS-specific game, the 3DS system should last between three and five hours on a single charge. Of course if you're playing a regular DS title, that number jumps up to five to eight hours of play. Thankfully, the system only takes a mere three and a half hours to reach a full charge.

While these numbers aren't terrible, it does bring up the question as to just how long the system's battery life will last for those who like to play with the optimum brightness setting, not to mention how other features will affect it. At the very least it explains why the girls at E3 all wore large battery packs around their waists.