The phone maker is partnering with video game company Valve on the technology… but I hope you have a tax refund coming, because the Vive headset won’t be cheap. However, the Vive will come pre-packaged with their controllers, as well as the Lighthouse system that scans and tracks your room and movements.
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The cost of being an early adopter of the SteamVR-powered headset will be nothing less than $799 United States dollars compared to the $599 Oculus Rift, but HTC is including extra trimmings with the Vive Consumer Edition package. The Vive itself is a little different to the Rift in that it works with actual space rather than being a VR headset that you sit in a chair with. “With the Vive consumer edition we are now able to realise our ultimate vision; bringing Vive into homes around the globe so that people can experience immersive virtual reality in a way that fires the imagination and truly changes the world”. That suspicion was confirmed today, as HTC announced the consumer Vive for a whopping US$799. With so many of them, we might see the gaming industry becoming polarized and we might see titles being launched with support for just one of these VR headsets.
In terms of requirements the Vive asks around he same as the Rift, meaning you’ll need a beefy PC to back up your new and shiny purchase.
The five-piece virtual reality kit, comprising a high spec HD visor, two location-sensing cubes, and a pair of controllers, is set for an April launch, with pre-orders opening February 29 at 10am EST (11pm Malaysian time). This includes ‘Job Simulator, ‘ a game where you play as a robot acting out various human jobs and ‘Fantastic Contraption, ‘ which places you on an island in the sky to build machines.
A lot of other interesting features have been packed into the HTC Vive Pre but they have not been disclosed yet. You’ll also get Vive earbuds, but you’re free to use any headphones you like.
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For the more enthused there’s PlayStation VR, expected to cost around £300 it’ll connect to the PS4 and run a range of compatible games.
