3DS Circle Pad battery life revealed

By Tom Phillips Published 8 December, 2011

AAAmazing.

Nintendo's much-derided 3DS Circle Pad Pro accessory has a beefy battery life of 480 hours, according to the device's manual (posted online by Andriasang).

That's about 100 times longer than the console itself.

The 3DS Circle Pad add-on bestows a second analogue slider and extra shoulder buttons on the handheld. It requires a single AAA battery to run.

Having 480 hours of battery life should placate gamers concerned at the need to use a screwdriver to access the device's battery compartment.

The 3DS Circle Pad Pro is available in Japan this weekend with Monster Hunter Tri G and launches on 27th January in Europe alongside Resident Evil: Revelations.

Picture of Tom.

About Tom Phillips

Tom joined Eurogamer in 2010 and has quickly made his mark writing news and columns and coming up with puntastic straplines. Questionable beard. @TomPhillips151 on Twitter.

Read more articles from Tom by visiting the Tom Phillips archive page.

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Comments (37) Latest comment 5 months ago

Comments for this article are now closed, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • jaywalker3010 Verified Mastering Manager, Square Enix #1 6 months ago

    why not just make it a rechargeable one then if its a screwed compartment?

  • elaniel #2 6 months ago

    Anybody seen the Resident Evil bundle available anywhere yet in the UK?

  • thesombrerokid #3 6 months ago

    Not quite as shit as you thought.

  • roz123 #4 6 months ago

    @jaywalker3010. If it included a charger it would be more expensive to make and for the user.

    480 hours doesn't surprise me as its basically the same set up as a TV remote.
    Edited by roz123 at 08/12/11 @ 09:46

  • jonbwfc #5 6 months ago

    which is 440 hours longer than anyone will actually use one for.

  • ryohazuki1983 #6 6 months ago

    This might make playing games (MK7) a bit more comfortable. Currently my hand aches after a short time off playing, making the console larger might solve this.

    Looking forward to resi, so will pick this up along with the game.

  • telboy007 #7 6 months ago

    I'm still playing Etrian Odyssey III on my DSi... I'm so behind the times.

  • mr_bez #8 6 months ago

    @thesombrerokid - they should use that quote in their ad campaign.

  • jaywalker3010 Verified Mastering Manager, Square Enix #9 6 months ago

    @roz123 surely the device connects to the 3ds therefore could use that as a passthru to charge when the 3ds is charging (sure lasting 480 hours is a shed load more then the deck itself will, but still)

  • kingcrowbar #10 6 months ago

    @jaywalker3010
    It uses infrared so there is no physical connection.

  • geox30 #11 6 months ago

    480 hours?!?This is a dream come true!

  • [TR] #12 6 months ago

    @kingcrowbar: For the communication between both devices, but that doesn't mean the add-on couldn't plug in to the 3DS somehow and receive its power that way while still communicating via IR. Then again, it seems perfectly OK as it is.

  • Steroyd #13 6 months ago

    Well that's going to be awkward when the battery eventually runs out on the thing while playing a game.

  • Cadence #14 6 months ago

    So when the battery runs out you do what? Unscrew the whole thing?

  • roz123 #15 6 months ago

    @cadance, look at the 4th picture above. Unscrew that one screw in the centre, replace battery, screw it back in. You could probably use a key instead of a screwdriver.

  • MrVengeance #16 6 months ago

    It still looks effing terrible, but maybe it will make games like Street Fighter IV more comfortable to play.

  • skowhegan Verified Staff Writer, Eurogamer Network #17 6 months ago

    @Cadence The screw is only for the battery compartment. You can just clip the thing on/off (you'll need to for swapping games).

  • Ryze #18 6 months ago

    Urgh.

    I'll just NOT buy a 3DS until they consider a redesign.

    Perhaps it's an ideal solution until then, though. I guess it's better than doing nothing...

  • Noxia #19 6 months ago

    Bet I can't use it as I bought the bigger 8 hour battery for it.

  • FuzzyDuck #20 6 months ago

    @Ryze

    This is the thing.

    I'm so close to buying a 3DS (Mario Land 3D, OoT and Mario Kart are calling), but i've this gut feeling there'll be an improved unit launched next year and i don't want to get stung.

  • madeinbeats #21 6 months ago

    480 hours? What's in it? Plutonium? I think we've been too hasty over this add-on :lol:

  • J.C #22 6 months ago

    I'll buy one. If it works and it feels ok in my hands then im sold. Im not buying a new model next year, i cant afford it.

  • Sharzam #23 6 months ago

    I wont be buying one till i actually try it out properly. Say like use a friends for a week.

    The 3DS is already large when compared to mobile phones the last thing i want to do is increase this. Also the fact need to remove it to change games as i like to change games strangly enourgh when on the move so i dont want to be fiddling around when could just pop a game in.

    Regards to battery life althourgh say 480 ours how much is it really and is there a actual hard power switch or does it 'turn off' automatically? Does this account for standby time or actual use. In short ignore any numbers like this companys give as it is absoulte best case scenario not the real world. It is also pretty stupid it requires a physical battery yet also requires a screwdriver to replace which is fine in something like a watch which you replacce only every 5 years but having to do every week, no chance.

    It is a bad idea and an after thought.

  • BabyWuigi #24 6 months ago

    @ryohazuki1983

    I also have this problem and I keep pressing the L and R buttons by mistake. I also find that because there are no indents like in all other Nintendo analogue sticks, games such as Mario 3D Land are much harder to control and I frequently fall to my death because of it.

  • J.C #25 6 months ago

    I'll buy one. If it works and it feels ok in my hands then im sold. Im not buying a new model next year, i cant afford it.

  • Hog-lumps #26 6 months ago

    \waits for inevitable 3DS'i' that will have built in second stick.

  • Donaldthescotishtwin #27 6 months ago

    Shame the actual 3DS battery life is shite

  • Popzeus #28 6 months ago

    Good to hear there'll be at least one AAA release for the 3DS next year.

  • Toothball #29 6 months ago

    @Sharzam

    It presumably doesn't need a power switch. Since it uses the IR port on the 3DS it probably works in the same way as a TV remote, only using power when you press buttons on it.

    I don't think it was an afterthought though. I think Capcom insisted on the second circle pad before they brought Monster Hunter over. Previous MH games worked wonders for PSP sales, and I expect Nintendo are hoping to catch up on those. At the moment it only seems that Capcom have games on the way for it. Other developers are probably waiting to see what happens with it before they include it in games. After all, there wouldn't be much point including support if no one buys it.
    Edited by Toothball at 08/12/11 @ 14:35

  • ubergine #30 6 months ago

    Some recent games started to make 3DS look more tempting than zero but luckily we already knew about this. Maybe a unified redesign will get me to look seriously at 3DS but since sales jumped from the price cut and game releases, I doubt Nintendo will fix it for years yet.

  • digitalash #31 6 months ago

    @jaywalker3010 Nintendo like to cut corners, and this is cheaper.

  • globalisateur #32 6 months ago

    But why not an second circle pad integrated in the console at launch? They didn't learn from the ds neither from the PSP complaints? There is even room for an second circle pad on the 3ds...
    I am so disappointed by Nintendo. They now have to steal ideas from Sony for their controllers... and badly implement them?
    Edited by globalisateur at 08/12/11 @ 17:45

  • Phishfood #33 6 months ago

    I didn't even think it needed batteries, I thought it worked like the nunchuck attachment for the wiimote.

  • KanePaws #34 6 months ago

    So it may be ugly, it may seem like a last-minute add-on, it may be obsolete in six months, and it may negate some of the portability of the handheld console, but you'll only need to replace its batteries once.

    G-great...! >_>

  • sourc0r #35 6 months ago

    @thesombrerokid sure as hell still looks like shit though.

    mobile at its finest

  • OJSlaughter #36 6 months ago

    Why didn't it just draw power from the unit? Surely it wouldn't shorten the battery life that much :S

  • bemaniac #37 5 months ago

    Cleveland: 'oh.... that's nasty'