The virtual reality headset will have a higher price than most would probably be expecting, costing $599/£499/€699.
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The VR headsets are to be released in waves.
All preorders come with a headset, a sensor, two original games made just for the Rift, an Oculus remote and an Xbox One controller. Oculus said on Monday that the Rift, which comes bundled with the games “Lucky’s Tale” and “EVE: Valkyrie”, could be preordered from Wednesday. If you want to wait until February, you can order a bundle that includes a Rift and a Rift-ready PC for $1499.
Also, since it is are being sent from the United States, you’ll need to pay GST and a tariff.
And, popular Oculus will stay, as the Rift headset was just released today for preorder.
PiperJaffray analyst Gene Munster said the cost of the Rift is higher than the $449 he expected, but said he still expects a few hundred thousand units to sell during 2016.
The announced price-point is a bit over the original $300 ball-park Palmer Luckey announced previous year. Has it outpriced itself, or is it a pretty awesome deal for PC gamers keen to adopt VR?
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However, what isn’t included in the $599 price tag is the cost of being Rift-ready. People have been dreaming about immersive high-end VR for decades, and we’re thrilled to share Rift with you this March. According to Bloomberg, most analysts said that the device wouldn’t be a big deal for Facebook in 2016, even though virtual reality computing may have a bright future. “When we shop online, we’re using abstractions (menus and hierarchies) that are very different from actually walking down the aisle of a store”.
