Wondering just how quickly the new Wii U controller and its 6.2″ screen will suck down its battery before you need to recharge it?
Well, even though Nintendo didn’t reveal any specs about battery length, we did the next best thing to find out: we asked a booth babe.
Yeah, I know what you’re thinking: “Booth babe? Are you an idiot or something?” Well, I am, but I’m also willing to work them for any ounce of info that they might have. In this case, Nintendo had a few of their “representatives” walking the floor of their booth, attached to a powered-up WiiPad. While only the screen was on (that we know) we noticed that the cord attached to the device wasn’t a power cord, just a hefty strap — unlike the controllers that were running the demos with a power cord on the back — that deterred people from running away with it (or the girl).
We put 2 and 2 together and asked the obvious question: “So, uh, how long have you been standing here with the controller turned on?”
Booth Babe: “I’m actually only the ‘breaker’. The girl who this is attached to is on break for the lunch hour.”
Dali: “Oh, so you have the same one as her?”
BB: “Yeah. She gets it in the morning and they turn it on at 9:30AM.”
D: “Do they have to recharge it before the end of the day?”
BB: “No, I don’t think so. I didn’t have to charge it at all yesterday when I had it, and I turned it in at 6:30 PM with the screen still on.”
If her facts are true, and if this is indicative of the final design, then the battery life of the Wii U controller with the LCD screen on (and the brightness turned up) amounts to somewhere around 9-10 hours with the power and screen on. Remember: these were not power-wired to the girls, just locked to cords. We don’t know anything about the wireless running on the device, but I’m sure that would detract from the battery life as well.
Unless, of course, the representative was COMPLETELY LYING TO US, and in that case should be fired.
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