Nintendo UK warns of 3DS price-rise, but no stock shortage this weekend

Nintendo UK marketing manager James Honeywell has said that, regardless of whether you pre-ordered or not, there'll be enough UK 3DS units for everyone to buy from today, this weekend and beyond - but he's warned that the price could go up.

Speaking at last night's 3DS London launch event, Honeywell told Eurogamer that Nintendo has shipped enough stock to go around.

"We have well in excess of the pre-orders available," he said.

"I know we haven't published an actual number, and I know there have been a lot of reports out there talking about numbers. All of those numbers are way short of the actual number.

"So there is literally no reason why you won't be able to go out tomorrow, Saturday, Sunday and buy one."

Honeywell said in an interview with MCV yesterday that Nintendo expects to sell around 200,000 3DS units in the UK this weekend alone.

3DS price could still yet rise

If you are still thinking about getting a 3DS, though, better think fast: Honeywell warned of a price increase from retailers who dropped the price underneath the expected £220-£230 barrier pre-launch.

"The only thing I would suggest to any readers is, don't wait," he said to EG.

"I'm not sure a lot of those offers will be there for the long term. Those are great offers for the launch. There's huge amount of noise and hype around the launch. Those prices will start to revert a bit.

"Clearly people are trying to get as many possible sales as they can in these first couple of days. After that, perhaps a little more normality will come back to the market and you'll see that creep up again.

"So don't wait and think, 'Oh, if this is how far it's gone down, it's going to go down even lower.' You might see the opposite."

Retailers went as low as £175 on launch pricing for the handheld yesterday.

Read our report from the Oxford Street London launch here and a video of us unboxing our own 3DS unit here.