I remember watching E3 and seeing the cradle and wondering why exactly we were going to be charging with a cradle. I thought at the time that the cradle would be the only way to charge the 3DS. But upon getting my 3DS I realized I could plug it into the wall just like I did with my DSi. The cradle was just an add on accessory to the plug.

So again I was thinking where is the point in the cradle. I then picked the console up with the cradle and realized it was still playable. I then looked at the input and thought to myself couldn't other devices be attached here. Right aways I thought that MadCatz could release a back up battery to extend the consoles battery life.

Then it hit me, Nintendo must have already thought of this. Infact I can't see much of a reason for the cradle if not for a future accessory. The fact is a battery accessory released maybe in line with NGP would give Nintendo's 3DS a longer battery life then the NGP (Most likely). Also another thing confirming it in my mind is the fact that the current internal battery could be much more powerful, 3 hours battery life (What I get) is not enough to satisfy most gamers.

So Nintendo could release a battery pack for say 60$ that offers an aditional 5 hours. Blamo they can sell it for a profit and make even more money. And if Nintendo doesn't what are the chances third parties won't?

It does make it easy for 3rd parties to create a strap-on batteries and that's a good thing.

They just need to come up with an appealing and comfortable one and we're set.

Well, I guess one should never doubt the persistence with which Nintendo can pump out accessories.

Still, as soon as I got my 3DS and actually started using the cradle, I immediately thought it was an improvement over plugging in a cord every time, just for simple convenience. I wouldn't be surprised if it is currently completely fulfilling the role that Nintendo had envisioned for attaching things to the bottom of the 3DS.

Also, since we are expecting Nintendo to start releasing 3D video/movie content at some point, I assumed that they wanted a cradle both for ease of viewing and so we don't have to worry about the battery running down in the middle of a movie. 

http://www.amazon.com/Nintendo-3DS-Charging-Rechargeable-Internal-Battery/dp/B004REJZLA/

http://nintendo3dsblog.com/double-your-3ds-battery-life-with-the-power-pak

So third parties already have recharging doc's. I wonder if Nintendo will release an official battery pack, that would be awsome.

it makes me cry a little inside that you would be excited for $60 solution to an obvious deficiency.

but a bit more OT -- i wouldn't be surprised to learn that nintendo is planning to release a add-on or two for the 3DS but i question if it will be as sucessful.  my wii add-ons take up a lot of space,...not something i'd consider ideal for a system that is suppose to be portable.

If anything, it seems like an acknowledgement that the battery life is short and that the unit was designed to be charged on a daily basis if used regularly. The 3DS itself was designed as an "always on" device as well with features such as step tracking, Mii Plaza, Street Pass, Play Coins, etc. Nintendo clearly wants 3DS owners taking them whever they go. 

The cradle doesn't offer anything other than "permanent" base in which to plug in your 3DS for recharging every day.

And while it's a pretty cheap attachment (hollow plastic shell, simple AC adapter plug to wire contact prongs for power), I see Nintendo dropping the cradle from future revisions in the interest of reducing packaging and materials. It literally doesn't do anything beyond taking up designated "3DS charging space."

If anyone, Nintendo included, wanted to add more battery power, a battery pack with a higher mAh rating would be better than any sort of clip on power device.

My understanding is you can use a regular DSi power supply with the 3DS WHILE playing it.  What the cradle does is provide a place to doc the 3DS when not in use.  Due to the motion sensor in the 3DS, one may want to have it so you have your 3DS not plugged in, and free of wires.  The cradle is a way to provide a charger solution for the 3DS when it isn't in use.

I don't know if they changed the plug on the AC adapter between the DSl and the DSi, but the DSl adapter isn't compatible. It doesn't matter though since every handheld ships with its own AC adapter. And yes, you can plug the 3DS AC adapter directly into the 3DS and play as it's charging, same as any other handheld.

The cradle itself isn't needed for anything.

Id say they made it to add On anything not just power.

Its Nintendo. Thats what they do.

I like the Dock to be honest. It reminds me to put it back at the same spot.

Iv already saved 24 houres of looking for my DS. =) lol