Microsoft has explained its reason for not jumping on the 3D gaming bandwagon yet, and it’s just about the most obvious excuse you could get: money. Neil Thompson, the UK head of Xbox, has revealed that the technology involved in supporting 3D gaming is just too expensive at the moment.

Microsoft is approaching 3D gaming with a lot of caution for now.

Thomspon said that: “If you look at the costs of entry into the living room and when that’s going to become mass-market, we think the offering with Kinect and the natural user-interface we’re bringing, that’s a more compelling proposition for consumers over the coming years than maybe looking at 3D at this point.”

Sony is bringing 3D gaming to the PS3 for free via a firmware update, notes a TechRadar report on Thompson’s quotes. However, you will need to by a new 3D ready set to view the games, which certainly won’t be cheap at present. Microsoft though, is approaching the whole matter with a lot of caution

The TechRadar report also notes that Thompson talked about the price of the Kinect motion-controlled peripheral, but didn’t really give anything much away.

“We haven’t decided to announce that at this point and we’ll make that decision in due course and then announce it in due course. We haven’t landed on a date yet when exactly we’ll announce it, but when we do we’ll let you know.”

Thanks. For. That.