I'm waiting on the PSVR now. Or I'm just going to re-buy a DK2. My hype went down a slope that I don't think can climb back up for the Rift.

@myzzzz: Luckey announced that buyers of the DK1 get it for free, no?

The compatibility tool says my PC is not ready. Just got a new GTX970 for this, but apparently an overclocked i5 3570k is not enough? Don't understand why. Plus it also says my USB 3.0 controller is not compatible, which doesn't make sense since I have 5 USB 3.0 ports, which meets the minimum 3 USB 3.0 ports. I guess I'll have to wait to see how the Rift works in reality in the consumer market. Oculus has a long stick up its butt about meeting the minimum requirements, and refuses to concede with any "sub-par" experiences, even though I have a feeling it would totally work anyway. The DK1 was running fine on computers 3 years old now.

Estimated Total: €752.00

That's just over 800 bucks. G'damn.

... Well, I still pre-ordered. I mostly blame GB.

The DK1 wasn't trying to push the resolution that the CV1 is. You can't really compare.

@killacam: Yeah they did, unfortunately it was only for people who bought the DK1 during the kickstarter campaign. I ordered mine after the campaign was over :/

Just got my CV preordered though - ended up being $599.99 - pretty steep, but it comes with 2 games, an xbox one controller, and a remote.

For $600 why would you not at least wait until the other VR headsets come out and see what they are like.Or until this one launches at the very least.

I guess if you've messed around with previous versions and that you're excited for it then that's what counts.

These are the recommend minimum settings for the Rift.

I hope this doesn't go the way of the Apple Watch where it was all anyone could talk about for a week or two after launch and then reality set in that it was an overpriced, underperforming first-generation device. Despite upgrading my PC last Fall, I'm going to wait until we see who shakes out to be the frontrunner in this race.

Remember the PS3, guys?

Got my pre-order in ! WOOO !
that price tho :(

@white: All too well...

@themanwithnoplan: Even for $300, I can't think of any real way to convince someone that VR is something worth investing in. Obviously this is the beginning stages of the whole thing and things could change but all the promises so far are nothing but glorified tech demos. That big mainstream game or feature or whatever it may be might be coming at some point but I can't imagine what it would be to get people to buy into something that is probably always gonna be pretty expensive.

Getting early support for something as new and different as VR is extremely important because they need to convince developers that this is a technology worth getting behind in a significant way. I've seen people comparing this to the first Blu-ray player but that's really not the same thing to me. Blu-ray was an industry standard of a medium that everyone already understood that was being pushed forward. VR is a completely new tech and most people don't understand why they would even want it.

@white: who would have thought I'd get to use this again https://i.imgur.com/HvRdVxu.gif

Yeaaaaa.. I was expecting a $500 tag.. 600 is where I start feeling like its a dumb purchase.

But I just put my order in. I skipped out on buying a DK2 some time ago. I've been dying to try this stuff so I feel the need to put my money where I mouth is.

The cynical side of me, which I am a giant pile of cynicism, is not surprised by this because they can totally milk the early adopter/enthusiasts/need-it-now people for everything they have and then drop the price later.

I could also see them giving a $50-$100 discount on the Touch for the people buy it now and put their name down for the Touch.

Edit: Compatibility tool also says my i7 2600k is not good enough, but its using the built in mobo OC (since I built the thing years ago so its reliable) which puts it at 4.4ghz, not sure if its factoring that in.

Turns out VR is still a fad

For 600 they can fuck right off

I hit those recommended specs, so that's a small relief. For under 400 I would pre-order immediately. For 600 I will wait for some hands-on comparisons between the released versions of the Vive and the Rift.

Edit: It's actually going to cost 750€ after taxes and shipping? Holy crap. 600€ doesn't sound so bad now. You could maybe convince me to pay 600€. I have them right here. 750€ is so close to an ok 4k TV that I would rather get that though.

@paulmako: honestly I like the way Oculus does things and the trust I have put into them has never been ill placed. I have been extremely happy with the DKs and they seem to really care about their user base. The first time i used my DK1 I knew I had to have to CV. The vive and morpheous have peaked my interest but I wasnt as impressed when i tried out the vive.

Allow me to remind you gentlemen that it's $600 for a peripheral. It's like you're buying a $600 monitor and I/O device.

The PS3 was a full fucking console that can play games and even people were up in arms about its price.

Not natively. Oculus refuses to support games not specifically built ground-up for it. There are ways to make it work with Steam VR or homebrew projects like Vorpx or or Vireo Perception.

Totally, were at a very early point, so no one knows how this will shake out in the long run. I plan on getting one of these day one, but I realize I'm in an extreme minority. At this point there's a novelty to Vr, and that will persuade some people, but plenty others won't bite just for that. Once people get their hands on these devices and more content (hopefully) comes out, then a case could be made for one of these things. Until then, we'll just have the see.

I did it. I bought one.

Going to justify it to myself via subtracting the price of the included controller, two games, and the fact that I'm getting a tax rebate soon.

@white said:

Yeaaaa.. But I also just spent $700 on four tires for my truck yesterday. My 980 was like $550. The LG 21:9 ultra-wide monitor I got this holiday was on sale for $620. And a couple months before that it was a new LG OLED TV for $2000 ;_;

Everything is expensive. Sucks. But I still have my $600 PS3 which has worked pretty great all these years and I got hundreds or thousands of hours out of it. It's also the model that people still want..

$600 is probably dumb for something like this. But I guess it's all in perspective for me.

That's a very fair point. Nothing about this launch is very pretty, especially when pointed out that this is something you can only use when paired with an even more expensive device. This whole platform will be an uphill battle carried on the backs of early adopters.

I think $600 is reasonable considering phones have very similar technology and cost that much or more. I'm very curious to see how much the PS VR costs considering it will probably need an external box with extra processing power to handle framerates necessary for a smooth VR experience.

$599 becomes €699 in Europe for some reason. That's 767,43 US Dollars for an Oculus Rift in Europe. Oh boy.

Either this or a 21:9 Monitor.....

I was hoping it would hit a $500 price point and told myself that was the most I would spend...

Pre-ordered anyway. At least I can cancel later if I start having regrets.

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-2015-playstation-vr-external-processor-revealed

You've got to respect them for being so passionate about the future of VR that they're willing to be the company that sinks for it.

@themanwithnoplan: And an additional cost and struggle is that the controllers its ultimately designed to work with won't be out until perhaps the second half of this year and we've no idea how much they'll cost.

Why is 600 dollars for VR crazy but 1,000 for a new TV isn't? This is cutting edge tech...

Unless they're luckey.

@nicolasvh: I assume it's $599 without VAT which is why it comes out more when converted into euros (since it will then include all taxes). At least that's how I understand the weird $ to euros conversion.

To be fair "some reason" is largely taxes (not included in the $599 price) customs and shipping.

That still sucks hard, but at least it's not entirely Oculus' fault.

Even in California, a Rift would be $599 plus $57 in state sales tax, plus shipping.

@themanwithnoplan said:

@rolento said:

@yellownumber5 said:

The compatibility tool says my PC is not ready. Just got a new GTX970 for this, but apparently an overclocked i5 3570k is not enough? Don't understand why. Plus it also says my USB 3.0 controller is not compatible, which doesn't make sense since I have 5 USB 3.0 ports, which meets the minimum 3 USB 3.0 ports. I guess I'll have to wait to see how the Rift works in reality in the consumer market. Oculus has a long stick up its butt about meeting the minimum requirements, and refuses to concede with any "sub-par" experiences, even though I have a feeling it would totally work anyway. The DK1 was running fine on computers 3 years old now.

The DK1 wasn't trying to push the resolution that the CV1 is. You can't really compare.

These are the recommend minimum settings for the Rift.

Yes, I've seen that screen too. I guess my thing is:

Oculus wants to build an optimal experience, understandably so to keep people from being sick. But the question I have, Will is still work anyway if you don't meet the minimum requirements? Are there genuine reasons for having a Haswell or higher CPU that something about the architecture is required for the programming, or are they just wanting to make sure you have a fast enough computer to run it so you don't get sick. If I want to run it at a "sub-par" experience that should be my own choice, much like how we have a choice in buying budget video cards for current games and lowering resolutions or graphics effects.

I suppose I am frustrated my PC doesn't meet Oculus' specs, but also not given any information to decide if it meets my requirements for what I can handle out of expected fidelity based on what I can afford or already own. I just bought a GTX970 for this, and there was no reason I would have thought my overclocked i5 3570k would not be good enough, nor that my USB 3.0 controller would ever be incompatible. Why would the Rift be picky about a USB 3.0 controller? 3.0 is 3.0 right?

I also bring up the DK1 running on 3 year old PC as an example is that VR has already been existing for that time at that fidelity, so them limiting the CV1 to such high minimum requirements is frustrating. Understandable, but frustrating. It also does limit their market as almost anyone could run a DK1 or even a DK2, but many people are going to have to upgrade for the CV1.

Update:

Their tech support site is now up and running and has some answers:

On not meeting the CPU requirements:

"Why am I getting this error?

If you received this error message, our compatibility tool detected that your computer’s processor (CPU) is below Rift's recommended system specifications. Rift may work but your virtual reality experience will be limited and degraded."

At least they say it will still work, and leave it open for having a limited or degraded experience.

So the only reason it wouldn't have been a total travesty Facebook bought Oculus (pushing down the price to drive adoption) didn't happen, so that purchase is an utter shit show for anyone who didn't have stock in the company. WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

A few days ago I was unable to get my DK1 working with Elite Dangerous and cursing the thing for not being at all useful to me. Now I'm pretty stoked I'm an original backer. Especially living in Europe.

So that's about $900 Canadian with our dollar right now. Yeowch. I believe I will pass for the time being.

Cause Tech does not equal usability. A TV does not necessarily require a high end PC, can be enjoyed by several people simultaniously, does not require several additional hurdles you might get with wanting to play with OR, and so on...

That said, i'd argue $1000 for a new TV IS crazy.

What they need to sell this, is a demo kiosk in Gamestops. And to get below $300. Then, VR can aspire to be the 'future' instead of just an expensive hat.

So the Rift is basically the iPhone of VR. Thanks to the Vive getting pushed back, it's the first to market, and at a premium price point. It'll be hungrily adopted by technophiles, and mocked and ignored by people without the money or without the necessary investment in the idea. Then, once it's proven itself a viable concept, competitors will start trickling out, and at lower prices; the Android equivalents.

The only real difference here is that PSVR and the Vive have already been announced and shown off. If either of them can sink the Rift in terms of cost, while maintaining the quality of the experience, they'll steal the whole market like Android phones have been doing lately, and they'll do it without lagging behind for a decade.

Price as barrier to entry is mostly a red herring. It will come down, of course. What's going to make or break VR is the bulk of the hardware. I strongly suspect the shine will quickly wear off once people sit through a few long gaming sessions with a VR headset strapped to their faces.

@ichthy: Thanks for reminding me that our dollar is down the shiter these days.

I really want to upgrade my PC this year but I don't think it's the right time.

I don't know, I don't think $600 is really that much, especially relative to the cost of hardware I have in my PC. Not to mention all of the peripherals...hell, I have a $200 mechanical keyboard and a $100 mouse. I won't even get into what my GPUs cost me, and I found both of those on Craigslist for "cheap." For fucks sake, last year I bought an $800 G-Sync monitor primarily for playing games on.

All that being said, I'm going to wait on the Oculus Rift for now. Not because of the price, though. I want to see what games are going to be like six months or a year from now, and how long it's going to be before CV2 is announced. The second or third generation of these things is going to be where I probably jump in unless I can find a cheap Rift on Craigslist at some point later this year.

@white: But your talking about a niche market of people that are already willing to shell out a large sum of money for their gaming pc rigs. For people that have a passion in pc gaming this is just another expense.

@white: I was looking up that video to post on this thread, but I'm glad you already did so.

It was never a secret that CV1 was supposed to push a lot of stuff in terms of tech. The day they showed us the recommended specs was the day a lot of people realized that this is a high-end toy. It's sad to see that the word "affordable" can only be used with sarcastical meaning at this point.

I've never planned on being a first adopter, since my PC isn't even up to par. Heck, I've never wore a virtual reality headset on my pretty face. I can only hope that the VR market doesn't die when they actually properly perfect their invention.

The backslash is pretty heavy tho, even if according to the sale numbers they're doing pretty well. While Palmer saying such things as the price being in a ballpark estimate of 300$ dollars, I think it was just wishful thinking on his part at that point, before he attented some kind of an investor meeting.

I'm absolutely excited to see what happens when Vive is released, and when first Oculuses arrive. 2016 sure is the year of VR.