After the dust had settled on the European Nintendo 3DS launch in Amsterdam, and Wossy had been handed his huge cheque for basically reading an Autocue and sitting on his backside for an hour, Pocket-lint sat down with Nintendo's UK marketing manager James Honeywell, to talk all things 3DS.

And the first thing that we wanted to know, with the online prices indicating a minimum outlay of around £220 for the handheld console, is why should people go for 3DS when, for around the same money, gamers could grab an Xbox Kinect bundle?

And Honeywell didn't hold back when it came to comparing the newest gaming hardware, hinting that Nintendo had already proved itself in the motion-sensor market.

“3DS offers the latest and the newest thing”, he said. “Motion controlling has been around for a while - we moved into that area with the Nintendo Wii which launched in 2006".

“We feel that the Nintendo 3DS is the future. 3D has been gaining momentum over the last couple of years".

“We think that we can bring 3D to the mass market, to a wider audience, and really explode it out and that's why people will want it. Anyone that wants the latest and best experience will want the 3DS".

So what of the price - how can Nintendo justify a price point that is £70-£80 more than the £149.99 launch price of its predecessor, the DSi. According to Honeywell, it's all down to the hardware on board, and the extra features the console brings.

“There's a lot of new technology that's gone into the 3DS, beyond the 3D screens themselves and there's a lot of additional functionality like SpotPass and StreetPass”, he said.

“It is a true successor to the Nintendo DSi so it does have much more advanced graphics and much more advanced functionality".

“We think that's actually a pretty good price. We think it's kind of affordable when you compare it with other 3D experiences”.

Whether the public is convinced on the 3DS and its fairly hefty price-tag remains to be seen, and we're not sure that a comparison between the Wii and Kinect is entirely justified as Microsoft is stretching some pretty impressive boundaries with its motion-controller system.

But Nintendo is also pushing the technological envelope itself with the 3DS and Honeywell is positive that gamers will become hooked on its new baby if they give it a chance.

“We're offering something very new and when you experience 3D for the first time without glasses I think you'll find it's convincing”, he said.

The Nintendo 3DS launches in the UK on 25 March.

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