Oculus Rift price and release date announced

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Hobchild

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Topic # 190656 7-Jan-2016 22:43

The news has broken, the Oculus consumer version will retail for US$599 or NZ$900 and will release March 28.
It comes with the headset (incl. headphones), remote, Xbox One controller and a free game called Lucky's Tale.

I have to say although the price is a fair bit more than the DV2 it is what I expected. I won't be purchasing one anytime soon though not because of the price itself but because how much it will cost to upgrade my PC. Recommended specs below

-graphics card: NVIDIA GTX 970 / AMD R9 290 equivalent or greater
-processor: Intel i5-4590 equivalent or greater
-memory: 8GB+ RAM
-output: Compatible HDMI 1.3 video output
-input: 3x USB 3.0 ports plus 1x USB 2.0 port
-operating system: Windows 7 SP1 64 bit or newer

Well I do tick four out of six of those boxes lol.

So what's everyone's verdict? Will you be an early adopter and will you upgrade your PC or do you already own a beast?

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Reply # 1465513 8-Jan-2016 00:23

Thats effectively my current PC, so i meet the recommended specs.

but $599 + shipping + GST :O

a lot more than I was expecting giving their previous comments of "we'll keep it around $350 USD".

I'll wait for the pricing on the Steam HTC unit. I'm hoping thats closer to usd$400 but I don't like my chances now.

the Hololens will be an instant buy for me no matter the cost (well under NZD$2000 including shipping) but that has more applications and there is no competitor to it. the rift there is steams htc headset.

Dairyxox

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Reply # 1465558 8-Jan-2016 07:53

I'm committed to buying one of these, but the price does make me raise an eyebrow. It will be about $1000 NZD -+10%
Also holding off buying a GPU until these come out.

I'm now considering skipping Generation 1, and waiting until it matures a bit more. I wonder how long until they release version 2.

BigMal

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Reply # 1465573 8-Jan-2016 08:27

I've been interested in VR since the 90s crappy arcade games but have been completely obsessed with VR since the kickstarter for DK1. I had a DK1 and was blown away by that. I tried DK2 and was also amazed. I'd love a consumer rift but I can't afford a gaming rig and a rift so I'll be going for the PSVR (I already have a PS4).

I think the Vive, Rift and PSVR are all going to be great. The PC based solutions will obviously have superior graphical fidelity as is the nature of PC gaming but I think PSVR will enter the mainstream much quicker than either of the other two.

What's interesting is PSVR really has no competition in the console arena unless Nintendo or Microsoft come out with something whereas the Rift and Vive could end up competing with each other with exclusives which would be a real shame. Hopefully PC VR experiences will be built for both the Rift and Vive.

Be interesting to see what Magic Leap produce on the AR front too. Lots of smoke and mirrors but also lots of financial support which tends to lend credence to their claims.

Jaxson

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Reply # 1465605 8-Jan-2016 08:59

What's with the xbox controller?

Will this be a console compatible device, eventually?

lagbort

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Reply # 1465609 8-Jan-2016 09:05

Jaxson: What's with the xbox controller?

Will this be a console compatible device, eventually?

Maybe, maybe not. But the Xbox 360 (and now Xbox One) controller is pretty much the de-facto standard for PC game controllers.

The general theory is that it is easier to operate a controller than a keyboard+mouse when you cant look down to see what you are doing.

Hobchild

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Reply # 1465700 8-Jan-2016 10:30

reven: Thats effectively my current PC, so i meet the recommended specs.

but $599 + shipping + GST :O

a lot more than I was expecting giving their previous comments of "we'll keep it around $350 USD".

I'll wait for the pricing on the Steam HTC unit. I'm hoping thats closer to usd$400 but I don't like my chances now.

the Hololens will be an instant buy for me no matter the cost (well under NZD$2000 including shipping) but that has more applications and there is no competitor to it. the rift there is steams htc headset.

Wow I would be shocked if the Hololens was more expensive than the Rift. I was completely turned off Hololens when the users explained that you were looking through a window as opposed to having a world of AR something that was misleading from the tech demo side of things.

PSVR for me I think. Won't be as good as the Rift I'm sure but I won't need to buy another PC and I'm sure (I hope) Sony will have some of their best game developers working on some massive titles to go with it.

lagbort

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Reply # 1465704 8-Jan-2016 10:35

If it had come out to ~$600NZD I probably would have jumped on it but as it stands I may try and pick up a DK2 from someone who upgrades to a consumer release.

I already have the PC to support it, but ~$900 is just too much for essentially a toy at the moment, even if I am sure I would have great fun with it.

Hobchild

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Reply # 1465706 8-Jan-2016 10:37

lagbort:
Jaxson: What's with the xbox controller?

Will this be a console compatible device, eventually?

Maybe, maybe not. But the Xbox 360 (and now Xbox One) controller is pretty much the de-facto standard for PC game controllers.

The general theory is that it is easier to operate a controller than a keyboard+mouse when you cant look down to see what you are doing.

I wonder how much the Touch controller will add to the total price. If that's too expensive I feel the masses are going to be put right off as it's not really VR until you can move with the game.

sidefx

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Reply # 1465708 8-Jan-2016 10:38

Hobchild:
reven: Thats effectively my current PC, so i meet the recommended specs.

but $599 + shipping + GST :O

a lot more than I was expecting giving their previous comments of "we'll keep it around $350 USD".

I'll wait for the pricing on the Steam HTC unit. I'm hoping thats closer to usd$400 but I don't like my chances now.

the Hololens will be an instant buy for me no matter the cost (well under NZD$2000 including shipping) but that has more applications and there is no competitor to it. the rift there is steams htc headset.

Wow I would be shocked if the Hololens was more expensive than the Rift. I was completely turned off Hololens when the users explained that you were looking through a window as opposed to having a world of AR something that was misleading from the tech demo side of things.

PSVR for me I think. Won't be as good as the Rift I'm sure but I won't need to buy another PC and I'm sure (I hope) Sony will have some of their best game developers working on some massive titles to go with it.

Haven't we already got indicative pricing for the Hololens in the form of the developer kit - $3000? (and did I hear somewhere it's a minimum order of 2 as well?) Not sure how much they can bring that down but I really get the impression that the current iteration is intended as a business tool more than a gaming device and will be priced accordingly.

lagbort

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Reply # 1465710 8-Jan-2016 10:43

Hobchild:
lagbort:
Jaxson: What's with the xbox controller?

Will this be a console compatible device, eventually?

Maybe, maybe not. But the Xbox 360 (and now Xbox One) controller is pretty much the de-facto standard for PC game controllers.

The general theory is that it is easier to operate a controller than a keyboard+mouse when you cant look down to see what you are doing.

I wonder how much the Touch controller will add to the total price. If that's too expensive I feel the masses are going to be put right off as it's not really VR until you can move with the game.

To be honest the main games I really want this for are what people have started calling "cockpit experiences", such as driving, flying, space flight games etc where physically moving myself around within the confines of the game is not contextually important.

However for things like first person shooters or adventure style games, I agree that touch/motion controls will be a game changer if implemented correctly.

Hobchild

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Reply # 1465717 8-Jan-2016 10:56

Rappelle:
Hobchild: The news has broken, the Oculus consumer version will retail for US$599 or NZ$900 and will release March 28.

Not quite true. The price of retail units is unknown. Retail will begin in the US only in April with a very small number of units. Any new preorders won't be shipped until June now (preorders started at March.. lots of people been ordering clearly)

The preorder price for New Zealand was $699USD + $138USD shipping which comes to $837USD (~$1250NZD incl GST).

I preordered one- definitely looking forward to it.

Wow that's commitment right there. It is strange that if you preorder the unit the price jumps up $100 as soon as you enter your address, now I know GST is not included but bang on $100 really? When is your shipping date? Did you get in before it was pushed back to June?

DarthKermit

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Reply # 1465722 8-Jan-2016 11:05

Maybe our man in the field, @sbiddle can check it out while he's at that CES show and tell us how good it is?

Dairyxox

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Reply # 1513786 15-Mar-2016 15:24

I'm getting the itch to (pre)order.

A couple of questions...

-Is there any trick to ordering it in NZ? (i.e. do you need to use youshop, or any other 'tricks' like when ordering from overseas sometimes)

-Is the pre-order some kind of special? (i.e is it somehow a better deal then buying it in a few months time? a bundle?)

BigMal

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Reply # 1513835 15-Mar-2016 16:21

From my understanding Oculus won't allow remailers like Youshop and their shipping costs are VERY expensive to NZ.

From memory the perk to pre-ordering is you get the same place in the queue when touch controllers are released ie. If you're first to pre-order a Rift then you're first in line for touch controllers.

Dairyxox

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Reply # 1513863 15-Mar-2016 16:38

1.Maybe buy tickets to fly to the US, collect a Surface Book & Oculus Rift & R9 Fury while I'm over there.....use all the savings

2. ...

3. Profit!?

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