Sony announces PSP's battery life...

[OB1]

IF it is and with such a low batter life it should be.

Sony compared the PSP to a high-end electronic device so it should be.

The rechargeable batteries I have take about 3 hours, and doesn't the GBA take several hours to recharge?

Most modern digital cameras, portable DVD players, etc. have pretty short battery lives but don't take very long to recharge. I think the GBA SP takes around two-to-three hours to recharge, and that's because it's one of the cheaper rechargeable batteries out there.

Except that it's an additional charge on top of the potentially high price you are already paying. Of course you could not get an extra battery, but then you'd have to contend with the short battery life.

You could use that same argument against Nitnendo with the light-less GBA where you had to pay extra for an external light or with the GBA SP where you have to pay extra for headphone jack. That's the way things are.

If Sony is smart they'll include a recharging base for the PSP so that you're constantly recharging it when you're not using it, like a PDA. For long trips you can buy an extra battery pack. That's really not that much of a hassle.

But not compared to Nintendo's next handheld.

Possibly, hopefully, but we know nothing about Nintendo's next handheld. If they want to seriously compete with the PSP then they'll have to make a system that is comparable to the PSP in terms of power and capability, so it'll probably be around the same price as the PSP. Or Nintendo could simply make a new handheld that's not even half as powerful as the PSP so that they can keep that $99 price point. It's too early to tell.

Yes, having a rechargeable battery is a good thing, having a short battery life, however, is not.

Sony can make this a very easy thing to manage. People are used to short, rechargeable battery lives with higher-end portable electronics.