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Forums - Gaming Discussion - Switch battery life: 2h 48m when playing Zelda

mizzou_guy on 23 February 2017

How can we expect the industry giants to push for better battery lives when the community is so complacent with existing performances? Personally, I think 3 hours is too short. I've been on four hour flights before, and I wouldn't be able to play Zelda for the entire trip if I wanted to. Nevermind adding the time it takes to taxi from the airport to wherever you're going.

I do believe battery life should be well beyond three hours, but we'll never get there if we're just going to be apologists for issues rather than considering more could be better.



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Train wreck on 23 February 2017
mizzou_guy said:
How can we expect the industry giants to push for better battery lives when the community is so complacent with existing performances? Personally, I think 3 hours is too short. I've been on four hour flights before, and I wouldn't be able to play Zelda for the entire trip if I wanted to. Nevermind adding the time it takes to taxi from the airport to wherever you're going.

I do believe battery life should be well beyond three hours, but we'll never get there if we're just going to be apologists for issues rather than considering more could be better.

battery lives matter



Azhraell on 23 February 2017
monocle_layton said:
Who plays for more than three hours straight? That's just unhealthy...

Probably 50% or more people from vgc, yes I just made up that number. 3 hours is nothing, sometimes I play 8-10 on weekends



Train wreck on 23 February 2017
d21lewis said:
Conina said:

Still doubting that the Switch can be used as a portable console? With that logic, the 3DS ain't a portable either, it also had a battery life of 3 - 5 hours, depending on the games fidelity: https://www.nintendo.co.uk/Support/Nintendo-3DS-2DS/FAQ/Hardware/How-long-does-the-battery-last-/How-long-does-the-battery-last--242771.html

Less demanding games (f.e. the next Ace Attorney, Prof. Layton, Animal Crossing, Pokemon, visual novels...) will probably have a better battery life than similar games on a 3DS XL.

 

 

 

Nailed it.

The Switch isn't flawless but people are complaining about things that are standard at this point. Costs in the range of a Vita/3DS at launch, has similar battery life to PSP/3DS, is near the size of other mobile devices, etc. But suddenly these things are unacceptable. 

PSP's battery was removable, that was not the standard.  You had the choice of buying higher captacity batteries or can switch out one if you have a spare.



Helloplite on 23 February 2017
mizzou_guy said:
How can we expect the industry giants to push for better battery lives when the community is so complacent with existing performances? Personally, I think 3 hours is too short. I've been on four hour flights before, and I wouldn't be able to play Zelda for the entire trip if I wanted to. Nevermind adding the time it takes to taxi from the airport to wherever you're going.

I do believe battery life should be well beyond three hours, but we'll never get there if we're just going to be apologists for issues rather than considering more could be better.

You realize you can plug any portable battery USB-C pack onto your Switch, right? Do you have any other device that lets you play intensive 3D games for 4 hours straight? 



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mizzou_guy on 23 February 2017
Helloplite said:
mizzou_guy said:
How can we expect the industry giants to push for better battery lives when the community is so complacent with existing performances? Personally, I think 3 hours is too short. I've been on four hour flights before, and I wouldn't be able to play Zelda for the entire trip if I wanted to. Nevermind adding the time it takes to taxi from the airport to wherever you're going.

I do believe battery life should be well beyond three hours, but we'll never get there if we're just going to be apologists for issues rather than considering more could be better.

You realize you can plug any portable battery USB-C pack onto your Switch, right? Do you have any other device that lets you play intensive 3D games for 4 hours straight? 

I know what my options are, but what I'm saying is that it is something that can be improved, but the companies won't improve it unless the customers demand it.  You shouldn't have to care around extra parts to get basic functionality away from an outlet for a portable device.



specialk on 23 February 2017
mizzou_guy said:
I do believe battery life should be well beyond three hours, but we'll never get there if we're just going to be apologists for issues rather than considering more could be better.

Nintendo apologists are not the problem here.

The problem is that it is a tiny device and the battery has to compete for space with a 720p display and hardware capable of running PS3.5 caliber games.

I would estimate that the Switch + a USBC cable will cover 95% of likely use-cases for gaming on the go.

Maybe this is America-centric of me, but I've been on over 20 flights in the past two years. Every airport waiting area has had outlets to plug in and charge. I think pretty much every American Airlines flight has USB or power outlets in every seat. Many Delta and United flights have them too from what I've heard. The Switch will handle most airport/airplane scenarios just fine.

It will handle a day a 2 hour round-trip work commute of public transit just fine.

If you're like Karen, it will handle being brought to a party for party games just fine.

It will handle being brought to a gaming convention or simmilar setting just fine.

The only thing i can really think of where battery would be a problem is a long road trip in a car without USB. A simple adapter will fix that though. 

If it were 1993, the battery life might be an issue. But it's 2017 and we live in a world that is pretty accomodating to people using power consuming mobile devices.



mizzou_guy on 23 February 2017
specialk said:
mizzou_guy said:
I do believe battery life should be well beyond three hours, but we'll never get there if we're just going to be apologists for issues rather than considering more could be better.

Nintendo apologists are not the problem here.

The problem is that it is a tiny device and the battery has to compete for space with a 720p display and hardware capable of running PS3.5 caliber games.

I would estimate that the Switch + a USBC cable will cover 95% of likely use-cases for gaming on the go.

Maybe this is America-centric of me, but I've been on over 20 flights in the past two years. Every airport waiting area has had outlets to plug in and charge. I think pretty much every American Airlines flight has USB or power outlets in every seat. Many Delta and United flights have them too from what I've heard. The Switch will handle most airport/airplane scenarios just fine.

It will handle a day a 2 hour round-trip work commute of public transit just fine.

If you're like Karen, it will handle being brought to a party for party games just fine.

It will handle being brought to a gaming convention or simmilar setting just fine.

The only thing i can really think of where battery would be a problem is a long road trip in a car without USB. A simple adapter will fix that though. 

If it were 1993, the battery life might be an issue. But it's 2017 and we live in a world that is pretty accomodating to people using power consuming mobile devices.

Yes, there are outlets, but that makes the device no longer portable.  It turns into a device that tethers you to a wall.  Checkout this link and scroll down to the shot of the Switch and WiiU thickness comparisons:

http://kotaku.com/nintendo-switch-the-size-comparison-1791177092

The solution also lies in convincing companies (in this case Nintendo) that device thinness shouldn't be prioritized over battery life.  Functionality vs aesthetics.



Goodnightmoon on 23 February 2017
mizzou_guy said:
specialk said:

Nintendo apologists are not the problem here.

The problem is that it is a tiny device and the battery has to compete for space with a 720p display and hardware capable of running PS3.5 caliber games.

I would estimate that the Switch + a USBC cable will cover 95% of likely use-cases for gaming on the go.

Maybe this is America-centric of me, but I've been on over 20 flights in the past two years. Every airport waiting area has had outlets to plug in and charge. I think pretty much every American Airlines flight has USB or power outlets in every seat. Many Delta and United flights have them too from what I've heard. The Switch will handle most airport/airplane scenarios just fine.

It will handle a day a 2 hour round-trip work commute of public transit just fine.

If you're like Karen, it will handle being brought to a party for party games just fine.

It will handle being brought to a gaming convention or simmilar setting just fine.

The only thing i can really think of where battery would be a problem is a long road trip in a car without USB. A simple adapter will fix that though. 

If it were 1993, the battery life might be an issue. But it's 2017 and we live in a world that is pretty accomodating to people using power consuming mobile devices.

Yes, there are outlets, but that makes the device no longer portable.  It turns into a device that tethers you to a wall.  Checkout this link and scroll down to the shot of the Switch and WiiU thickness comparisons:

http://kotaku.com/nintendo-switch-the-size-comparison-1791177092

The solution also lies in convincing companies (in this case Nintendo) that device thinness shouldn't be prioritized over battery life.  Functionality vs aesthetics.

Is thin to be functional as a handheld not because aesthetics, you are contradivting yourself.



mizzou_guy on 23 February 2017
Goodnightmoon said:
mizzou_guy said:

Yes, there are outlets, but that makes the device no longer portable.  It turns into a device that tethers you to a wall.  Checkout this link and scroll down to the shot of the Switch and WiiU thickness comparisons:

http://kotaku.com/nintendo-switch-the-size-comparison-1791177092

The solution also lies in convincing companies (in this case Nintendo) that device thinness shouldn't be prioritized over battery life.  Functionality vs aesthetics.

Is thin to be functional as a handheld not because aesthetics, you are contradivting yourself.

How is that?  Home console controllers are much thicker than the Switch, and yet people aren't fumbling around desperately trying not to drop them while playing a game.  What is the functional advantage of the Switch being so thin?