Battery is around 3-5 hours of gameplay or 5 hours of video playback. Charging time is 2 hours, 40 minutes.
 
Also...THE MEMORY CARDS ARE CRAZY EXPENSIVE.
 
Memory card 4GB , 2011 ¥2,200 = $28
Memory card 8GB , 2011 ¥3,200 = $41
Memory card 16GB , 2011 ¥5,500 = $71
Memory card 32GB , 2011 ¥9,500 = $123
 
Shiiiit! Now we know why the Vita is so cheap.
 
The rest of the info:  
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=444821

Not really crazy expensive, seems about right for any branded memory card or drive. (Xbox 360 USB drives anyone?)

I'm sure cheaper alternatives that function exactly the same will be out, if it uses a form of memory sticks then you can already get them crazy cheap.

The price will probably be lower in the US, but that is still super expensive so I'm gonna have to buy all retail games until the prices drop later. As long as no must have PSN-only titles are released it probably won't matter for me since saves and DLC are stored in the game carts.

Let me just take this moment as a Nintendo fangirl and say:
 
ONLY 3-5 HOURS? HAHAHA SONY IS GONNA FAIL LOL 
 
You sods had it coming.

Wouldn't mind a better battery life. Same with the 3DS; after all, it's supposed to be portable.

@coakroach said:

@TaliciaDragonsong: Yes, but its 3-5 Hours of actual games In all seriousness though this is a let down, its less a handheld more a cheap mini PS3.

Which is funny because the Vita and the PS3 are at the same price right now.

Expect handhelds are doomed, all hail smartphones article from Patrick tomorrow.

So it's just like the PSP.

@TaliciaDragonsong: I think battery life is the least of 3DS's worries.

pathetic battery life

@Scrumdidlyumptious said:

Expect handhelds are doomed, all hail smartphones article from Patrick tomorrow.

Gaming on phones is a painful and shallow experience, in my opinion anyway. I'll never be able to get behind it in its current form. Its slightly better on a bigger device like an iPad but then I'm back to carrying a large secondary device. In that case I might as well carry around a device, like the Vita, that offers up an experience, in terms of games and controls, that is far superior.

@Toms115 said:

pathetic battery life

Hardly.

Your typical entry level laptop will not last 2 hours when playing games, nor will it provide anywhere near the same graphical fidelity as this thing is going to.

Now think of how big a laptop battery usually is, then compare that to the size of the Vita. Then think how small the battery will be.

Yeah that's pretty impressive if you ask me. Also smartphones don't last that long either when doing nothing but gaming for hours. (and again, with far inferior visuals to this thing)

Not sure what people were expecting at this price point really, the Vita is a powerful piece of hardware, releasing these specs along with an uber high capacity battery would make them sell at a huge loss.

I'll wait for more details but I hope the vita has some internal/on-board memory. The PSPGO had 16GB of internal flash memory. Hopefully the vita has something similar.

@devilzrule27 said:

@Scrumdidlyumptious said:

Expect handhelds are doomed, all hail smartphones article from Patrick tomorrow.

Gaming on phones is a painful and shallow experience, in my opinion anyway. I'll never be able to get behind it in its current form. Its slightly better on a bigger device like an iPad but then I'm back to carrying a large secondary device. In that case I might as well carry around a device, like the Vita, that offers up an experience, in terms of games and controls, that is far superior.

Indeed. But game journalists are always looking for an excuse to write another smartphone worship article. Shallow is in!

I just hope it has some internal storage for add ons down the road, like a netflix or other media type application.

@Sooty said:

@Toms115 said:

pathetic battery life

Hardly.

Your typical entry level laptop will not last 2 hours when playing games, nor will it provide anywhere near the same graphical fidelity as this thing is going to.

Now think of how big a laptop battery usually is, then compare that to the size of the Vita. Then think how small the battery will be.

Yeah that's pretty impressive if you ask me. Also smartphones don't last that long either when doing nothing but gaming for hours. (and again, with far inferior visuals to this thing)

Not sure what people were expecting really at this price point really, the Vita is a powerful piece of hardware, releasing these specs along with an uber high capacity battery would make them sell at a huge loss.

3-5 hours for a smaller ps3 is bad, especially when most people buying a psvita probably own a ps3.

I love the way the thread topic is worded. "It also comes with no memory card." Made me laugh.

I knew they were going to not bundle it with a memory card and they were going to be expensive. I'll probably buy a 4gb at launch and wait for the bigger ones to drop in price. As for battery I'm perfectly fine with it as I'll always have it in a charge cradle when I'm not playing.

@Toms115 said:

@Sooty said:

@Toms115 said:

pathetic battery life

Hardly.

Your typical entry level laptop will not last 2 hours when playing games, nor will it provide anywhere near the same graphical fidelity as this thing is going to.

Now think of how big a laptop battery usually is, then compare that to the size of the Vita. Then think how small the battery will be.

Yeah that's pretty impressive if you ask me. Also smartphones don't last that long either when doing nothing but gaming for hours. (and again, with far inferior visuals to this thing)

Not sure what people were expecting really at this price point really, the Vita is a powerful piece of hardware, releasing these specs along with an uber high capacity battery would make them sell at a huge loss.

3-5 hours for a smaller ps3 is bad, especially when most people buying a psvita probably own a ps3.

3-5 hours for a smaller PS3 on a tiny battery is pretty amazing, actually.

What do you people expect? I mean really, you cannot even get more than a few hours of battery from a $2500 gaming laptop.

Welcome to modern battery technology. You cannot expect such great battery life from a device of this size with the specs it has. You just can't.

The only high powered device I can think of with pretty amazing battery life is the iPad and that has considerably worse specs than the Vita while having room for a much larger battery.

@devilzrule27 said:

@Scrumdidlyumptious said:

Expect handhelds are doomed, all hail smartphones article from Patrick tomorrow.

Gaming on phones is a painful and shallow experience, in my opinion anyway. I'll never be able to get behind it in its current form. Its slightly better on a bigger device like an iPad but then I'm back to carrying a large secondary device. In that case I might as well carry around a device, like the Vita, that offers up an experience, in terms of games and controls, that is far superior.

Even though the person you're replying to was being facetious (it's a Bombcast reference from Jeff), I have actually found that my Samsung Galaxy S2 has got perfectly adequate horsepower to provide all the little snippets of handheld gaming I really need. Phones really have come a long way.

AT&T guys...

@MoleyUK said:

@devilzrule27 said:

@Scrumdidlyumptious said:

Expect handhelds are doomed, all hail smartphones article from Patrick tomorrow.

Gaming on phones is a painful and shallow experience, in my opinion anyway. I'll never be able to get behind it in its current form. Its slightly better on a bigger device like an iPad but then I'm back to carrying a large secondary device. In that case I might as well carry around a device, like the Vita, that offers up an experience, in terms of games and controls, that is far superior.

Even though the person you're replying to was being facetious (it's a Bombcast reference from Jeff), I have actually found that my Samsung Galaxy S2 has got perfectly adequate horsepower to provide all the little snippets of handheld gaming I really need. Phones really have come a long way.

Its not about horsepower for me. Its the types of games and the controls that are found on phones. At the same time I don't want to carry around a phone that is full of buttons. I like the simple design of my iPhone.

And yes I got the reference to Jeff's opinion on the future of mobile gaming.

Doesn't it have some built in memory? And aren't the memory cards a generic thing like an SD card that you can get non-sony branded ones super cheaply? If the answer to both of those questions is no, then that's pretty shitty.

Ha, I remember when 1GB Memory Sticks cost something like $200. And then suddenly, the price was cut in half. That was a good day.

3-ish hours isn't that bad, all things considered. No memory card sucks though, especially at those prices.

@tekmojo said:

AT&T guys...

Best provider in my area of New Jersey. Only one with reliable 3G coverage.

@MattyFTM said:

Doesn't it have some built in memory? And aren't the memory cards a generic thing like an SD card that you can get non-sony branded ones super cheaply? If the answer to both of those questions is no, then that's pretty shitty.

1. Not sure but seems like a no. Might be yes because then how else would they update firmware 2. No

Doesn't it have some built in memory? And aren't the memory cards a generic thing like an SD card that you can get non-sony branded ones super cheaply? If the answer to both of those questions is no, then that's pretty shitty.

@Sooty said:

@Toms115 said:

@Sooty said:

@Toms115 said:

pathetic battery life

Hardly.

Your typical entry level laptop will not last 2 hours when playing games, nor will it provide anywhere near the same graphical fidelity as this thing is going to.

Now think of how big a laptop battery usually is, then compare that to the size of the Vita. Then think how small the battery will be.

Yeah that's pretty impressive if you ask me. Also smartphones don't last that long either when doing nothing but gaming for hours. (and again, with far inferior visuals to this thing)

Not sure what people were expecting really at this price point really, the Vita is a powerful piece of hardware, releasing these specs along with an uber high capacity battery would make them sell at a huge loss.

3-5 hours for a smaller ps3 is bad, especially when most people buying a psvita probably own a ps3.

3-5 hours for a smaller PS3 on a tiny battery is pretty amazing, actually.

What do you people expect? I mean really, you cannot even get more than a few hours of battery from a $2500 gaming laptop.

Welcome to modern battery technology. You cannot expect such great battery life from a device of this size with the specs it has. You just can't.

The only high powered device I can think of with pretty amazing battery life is the iPad and that has considerably worse specs than the Vita while having room for a much larger battery.

i can, and i do

What kinda of memory does it take?

Shiiiit! Now we know why the Vita is so cheap.

@ProfessorEss said:

@Metal_Mills said:

Shiiiit! Now we know why the Vita is so cheap.

Even if it was less than we may have expected, am I the only one who finds it strange to be calling a 250-300 dollar handheld "so cheap"?

All other portable devices, ie phones, fall in the $200-400 with contracts range and the differences between a handheld and a phone really just comes down not being able to make phone calls. Tablets are even worse when all they are offering is a bigger screen and are going for 500+.

@ProfessorEss said:

@Metal_Mills said:

Shiiiit! Now we know why the Vita is so cheap.

Even if it was less than we may have expected, am I the only one who finds it strange to be calling a 250-300 dollar handheld "so cheap"?

Yeah, I wouldn't really call it cheap; I'd call it fair and reasonable. I think people are seeing it as "cheap" because they expected it to be too expensive. In reality, the price is more or less what it should be.

I don't play handhelds outside my house... since if I;m outside I'm doing something. I don't want to be playing games. So this is absolutely fine for me.

Remember whem memory cards where 8 megs?

3 hololurs.

@devilzrule27 said:

@Scrumdidlyumptious said:

Expect handhelds are doomed, all hail smartphones article from Patrick tomorrow.

Gaming on phones is a painful and shallow experience, in my opinion anyway. I'll never be able to get behind it in its current form. Its slightly better on a bigger device like an iPad but then I'm back to carrying a large secondary device. In that case I might as well carry around a device, like the Vita, that offers up an experience, in terms of games and controls, that is far superior.

the myth that mobile games offer no depths is just that a myth. there is plenty of game on smartphones that offer depth, you just have to look. but to be honest. when im playing games on the go im not sure i want depth. i want bite size chunks of fun i can pick up and pay in seconds. games like uncharted on the Vita are games i would much rather play with a proper controller on a proper size screen.

also neither the 3DS or the Vita are devices i could just take anywhere. i refuse to carry 2 devices around with me and the 3DS/Vita will always loose out to my phone when it comes to pocket space.

in any case both are to big to fit in a pocket (unless you walk round in combat trousers).

@AlisterCat said:

I don't play handhelds outside my house... since if I;m outside I'm doing something. I don't want to be playing games. So this is absolutely fine for me.

So I guess have fun playing ports of console games in front of your console on a handheld? Its your money I guess. You could just wait for Uncharted Vita to get ported onto console like the God of War handheld games since the whole "portable" aspect is superfluous. But if you got the money to burn go for it I guess.

The real problem with these devices is nobody's invented a proper manpurse and as long as portable space is limited to pocket room, 1 smart phone is about all most people are willing to do. Get Johnny Depp or someone to wear some kind of purse that you wear like an ammo belt and portable devices will be saved.

Having to worry about battery life sucks in general. I'll be happy about a laptop/handheld device when it lasts as long as my Kindle.

I feel like we need some kind of technological breakthrough or something.

@jetsetwillie said:

@devilzrule27 said:

@Scrumdidlyumptious said:

Expect handhelds are doomed, all hail smartphones article from Patrick tomorrow.

Gaming on phones is a painful and shallow experience, in my opinion anyway. I'll never be able to get behind it in its current form. Its slightly better on a bigger device like an iPad but then I'm back to carrying a large secondary device. In that case I might as well carry around a device, like the Vita, that offers up an experience, in terms of games and controls, that is far superior.

the myth that mobile games offer no depths is just that a myth. there is plenty of game on smartphones that offer depth, you just have to look. but to be honest. when im playing games on the go im not sure i want depth. i want bite size chunks of fun i can pick up and pay in seconds. games like uncharted on the Vita are games i would much rather play with a proper controller on a proper size screen.

also neither the 3DS or the Vita are devices i could just take anywhere. i refuse to carry 2 devices around with me and the 3DS/Vita will always loose out to my phone when it comes to pocket space.

in any case both are to big to fit in a pocket (unless you walk round in combat trousers).

I've been looking for 3 years. The phone platform just isn't set up for it with its controls. Sure there are a few games that offer "depth" on phones but at the same time there are "bite size chunk" type games that will be available for the Vita just as they were for the DS and PSP and the latter is far more rare.

Clearly we have a difference on how we like to game on the go and there is nothing wrong with that. I don't commute to work so the whole small short games doesn't appeal to me. I use my portables when i travel and am staying in a hotel or when I'm at home sitting on the couch watching a NASCAR race or a hockey game. I tend to play in longer sessions as opposed to short bursts so having that "console" experience in the palm of my hands is exactly what I'm looking for. I want to feel like I'm not missing out on a rich and immersive game just because I'm using a handheld. The PSP accomplished that to a degree for me and the Vita looks like its taking that to a whole new level.

Also I tend to always carry a bag so the whole limited pocket space is moot for me. My iPhone, iPad, and PSP Go go everywhere with me. Please don't mug me! haha

@MattyFTM: I don't know the answers to your question but some games can save just through the game card without the memory card.

I don't mind a short battery life if the recharge time isn't so bad, but wow, 2 and 1/2 hours to charge it up again? That could be trouble.

@coakroach said:

@TaliciaDragonsong: Yes, but its 3-5 Hours of actual games In all seriousness though this is a let down, its less a handheld more a cheap mini PS3.

As opposed to what? What do you think people do with their 3DS, chuckles? Play the accordion? This battery life is on par with, if not actually worse than the 3DS. People that laughed and assumed that the Vita would have a superior battery life were sadly mistaken.

Well, playing splinter cell conviction on my ipod touch, fully charged with wifi off, i get 2 hours. As soon as you turn wifi on, even if you're not using it, i'm lucky to get an hour and a half. Things only a few months old too. So...3-5 hours is the norm i'd say. Problem is when, that 3-5 hours is with the brightness pretty low. Who, other than the sensitive eyes in the world, would ever want to play with decreased brightness? Its just....Hurts my eyes trying to see

@Hailinel said:

@coakroach said:

@TaliciaDragonsong: Yes, but its 3-5 Hours of actual games In all seriousness though this is a let down, its less a handheld more a cheap mini PS3.

As opposed to what? What do you think people do with their 3DS, chuckles? Play the accordion? This battery life is on par with, if not actually worse than the 3DS. People that laughed and assumed that the Vita would have a superior battery life were sadly mistaken.

In case you didn't get the joke (well, a very TRUE joke) he means that the 3DS has no good games. BAM.

So Vita requires a $20+ add on in order to play some games even though arguably it should've been packed in from the start?

Huh.

Sounds familiar.