back to article Y'know that ridiculously expensive Oculus Rift? Yeah, it just got worse

Excited gamers are going to have to dig even deeper if they want to use the new Oculus Rift virtual reality system. It's bad enough that the basic system costs $599 – almost double the expected price of $350. Today, the Facebook-owned biz revealed a range of accessories that will push its cost even higher. If you want a pair …

  1. Boothy

    Audio

    Quote: "The fact that Oculus has gone to the trouble of creating a custom audio socket is just another sign of the organization's desire to create an entirely walled garden."

    Compare that with the HTC Vive, that has both a standard 3.5mm headphone socket, plus an unused USB socket, both on the headset itself, leaving the user free to use just about and headset type they want!

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Audio

      At least Apple waited until it had hooked an entire userbase before fucking with the audio connector. Ballsy move, Facebook/Oculus!

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Audio

        Even then, Apples is not a custom interface.

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: Audio

          "Even then, Apples is not a custom interface."

          It really is. Unless you're referring to the bluetooth interface?

          1. AndyS

            Re: Audio

            > Unless you're referring to the bluetooth interface?

            Of course he's referring to the bluetooth interface. The fact they have removed the physical connector is stupid, but it absolutely does not mean you need to buy headsets from Apple.

            1. Anonymous Coward
              Anonymous Coward

              Re: Audio

              You can still use BT headphones with Oculus too. It's a PC you're plugged into.

        2. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: Audio

          "Apples is not a custom interface."

          Youse can get them from trees all over the world, of course apples is not custom.

          (I don't see how theys an interface either, but whatever...)

          1. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            Re: Audio

            I know it's late but this is how apples "interface" -

            https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y3rNQ2pTyAY

        3. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Even then, Apples is not a custom interface.

          I push apples inter me face daily. It's my custom. Keeps the doctor away, they say.

          1. Sir Runcible Spoon

            Re: Even then, Apples is not a custom interface.

            You can use whatever you want with PSVR too - standard 3.5mm jack on the headset

  2. goldcd

    Everything they're doing would be fine

    If they had a monopoly.

    As it stands Sony are going to wipe up the mid-range. Leaving Oculus & Vive at the high end.

    I genuinely can't see a single reason not to go with the Vive, presuming you're OK with Steam (which I love to bits, despite vehemently hating it when it first rocked up).

    Putting aside the political stuff - high end VR is not a large market. To then deliverabtely wall yourself into half of a very small space, then fragment internally with those that can look, and maybe wave arms & maybe walk about..

    On the bright side, Vive's still sat in my shopping basket waiting for me to get sufficiently drunk enough that I don't think my wife will kill me - and who wouldn't like to see Facebook get a bloody nose?

    1. PerspexAvenger

      Re: Everything they're doing would be fine

      Thankfully the extra "they want -how- much for shipping?!?" factor killed that off for me for a while...

      ...and then Scan pointed out they were cheaper and faster.

      It -is- very shiny, though.

    2. Dan 55 Silver badge

      Re: Everything they're doing would be fine

      There's also Nintendo's next console which is supposed to do VR. Hopefully cheapish, like the Wii did for motion controls.

    3. John Sanders
      Linux

      Re: Everything they're doing would be fine

      Give me a version of VLC that can interact with a VR Headset so I can have my home cinema, and 5 mins later I'm buying a headset.

    4. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Everything they're doing would be fine

      Indeed, TCO of Rift is close to £2000

      If you have a PS4 (and 80m gamers do), TCO is £300. Yes a slightly lesser experience, but Sony has all the good games on tap too.

      If VR us going to break into mainstream, there is only one that has any chance of success

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Everything they're doing would be fine

        I think if you don't already own one of the new ps4's the TCO will be higher, but - it will just work... but - sony have an awful reputation for supporting their products. Vita & ps move anyone?

        Poor poor vita, so unloved from birth. Unless you like jrpgs... and I do, so not all bad :D

        Jim did a review on the ps vr the other day, says if you want to play games then it's the best about at the moment, but it will depend on Sony making things for it. So we will see.

        Though I believe DOAX3 is VR enabled, so that's christmas sorted.

        1. MJI Silver badge

          Re: Everything they're doing would be fine

          My Vita is quite good.

          Move though a wasted opportunity.

          Was brilliant fun for shooters, but a lot did not support it.

          Was quote annoyed PS4 shooters ignored it as well.

          Made Portal 2 more fun, made aiming very quick and accurate without aim assist in Killzone 3.

          But definately a wasted opportunity (but it saved me money on shooter games)

    5. Ascorbius

      Re: Everything they're doing would be fine

      The Vive is excellent, although it is expensive..

      Just be sure to run the SteamVR test before getting one to make sure your machine is up to the job, then crack open that bottle of Jack Daniels..

      Mine wasn't, so I splashed out on a GTX1080 along with the Vive - An Expensive drunk purchase, but completely worth it.

      With all the things I'm hearing about Oculus, it makes me sad 'cos I had high hopes for them - but HTC are killing it in terms of the experience in my book - It's a rift killer out of the box.

      1. Sir Runcible Spoon

        Re: Everything they're doing would be fine

        I was ready to build a new rig and get a vive, that is until ps pro and and the psvr came along to delivery the double whammy.

        Not having dipped my toe into the current-gen console market (still using my xb360) meant I might as well go for the pro.

        So, including all the extras like move controllers and a camera and a charging station etc. I think it's cost me around £800. A LOT less than the £2k I was looking at for a PC setup.

        Admittedly the PC setup would have been superior, but it's a lot more outlay for what is effectively an experimental platform at present - even though it has huge potential.

        If it all takes off and I'm ok with VR, then I can always sell the PS stuff and head back to the PC side of things - I still like building my own rigs so it isn't like it's a closed door.

  3. scrubber

    Facebook of all companies ...

    ... should know the danger of going all in on one leading company in an unproven, immature market.

    OK, having written that I'm now thinking of Google and Nest.

    1. Brandon 2

      Re: Facebook of all companies ...

      All that user data... and still no clue what they really want...

      1. Mage Silver badge

        Re: Facebook of all companies ...

        Sure they do, monetising your private data by selling adverts. Not as well as Google, but far better than Twitter, Microsoft etc.

  4. King Jack

    Fools tax

    The early adopter tax is in full force. Price the thing high and watch fools rush in to be first to buy. Then drop to price to something sensible. Tried and tested strategy.

    1. JustNiz

      Re: Fools tax

      "watch fools rush in to be first to buy"

      Ahh the voice of the self-righteous.

      I love my Vive and the experience and entertainment value it provides is worth every penny and then some to me. Its truly and literally a gamechanger. From my perspective, the actual fool is the one who self-righteously preaches about something that he hasn't even had the experience of owning.

      1. King Jack
        Trollface

        Re: Fools tax

        'Ahh the voice of the self-righteous.'

        People who over-pay for stuff always defend the fact that they paid more. Wear your badge with pride, I am glad you are happy with your purchase. Many more will enjoy the same product at a cheaper price. I bet they are all self-righteous. FYI I have no interest in Oculus Rift or similar. I'm just pointing out how things are sold.

        1. JustNiz

          Re: Fools tax

          > People who over-pay for stuff always defend the fact that they paid more.

          Except I didn't over-pay. I paid the going price. I've also owned it for maybe 4 months now and the price hasn't dropped.

          > Many more will enjoy the same product at a cheaper price.

          Yes maybe in a year or so you can find a new Vive for like $50 cheaper that I paid. Big woop. Personally I'd rather pay the extra and have it for a year sooner, but then I'm not a total tightwad.

          Good luck with saving minimal money at the cost of enjoying your life now. I'm sure you'll die happy knowing that you had less fun/fewer experiences in your life but saved yourself $50.

          1. MrDamage Silver badge

            Re: Fools tax

            > "Personally I'd rather pay the extra and have it for a year sooner, but then I'm not a total tightwad."

            Some people are happy to pay a premium to be beta testers.

            Sensible people wait until people like you have spent your wad, and worked out the kinks, before they pay less than you for something that works better than what you got.

            If you're happy with being a beta tester, all well and good, enjoy your toy. But just because most of us are jaded and cynical after being treated as beta testers for allegedly "stable" hardware and software, and thus prepared to wait a bit longer for a proper working version to come out, does not make us tighwads.

            1. DonL

              Re: Fools tax

              "> "Personally I'd rather pay the extra and have it for a year sooner."

              "Sensible people wait"

              There is something to be said for both, depending on how much you want something. Some people really want some specific kind of car where others couldn't care less about. Some people really want some phone that others couldn't care less about. Etc.

              Who cares, for each his own :)

          2. Anonymous Coward
            Happy

            Re: Fools tax

            Good luck with saving minimal money at the cost of enjoying your life now.

            My life is enjoyable because I interact with humans and nature, not a screen.

            It's free. Try it.

            1. AndyS

              Re: Fools tax

              > My life is enjoyable because I interact with humans and nature, not a screen.

              ...he typed, into a screen, on a tech website... I think you forgot your and markers?

              The world needs early adopters. Sometimes they get burned, sometimes they don't. We've all been there, and if this guy is enjoying his early adoption, more power to him. If it means the price comes down in a few years for the true mass market, great. If not, fine, he's enjoying some unique hardware.

              Really unsure why he is being called a fool, and downvoted, for that.

        2. ArrZarr Silver badge

          Re: Fools tax

          Buying my Google Glass was a good idea and I've never regretted dropping a grand on it. Not once. Honest guv. Still waiting for the cheaper version though.

      2. John Bailey

        Re: Fools tax

        "I love my Vive and the experience and entertainment value it provides is worth every penny and then some to me. Its truly and literally a gamechanger. From my perspective, the actual fool is the one who self-righteously preaches about something that he hasn't even had the experience of owning."

        Said every person who bought <insert abandoned hardware>. Until the maker abandoned it.

        Early adoption is risky at best. You may buy into Blu Ray, or you may find yourself using a zip disk.

  5. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Blame Zuckey, not Luckey

    Everything they're doing now is against everything Palmer Luckey wanted to do with VR. The fact that the Vive is better in almost every aspect on the hardware side was the death knell.

    (Also, neo-nazi? Really? You're rather stretching it.)

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Blame Zuckey, not Luckey

      If Palmer Luckey had any sense, he should have taken the money, and then jumped ship and joined Valve or HTC instead. Assuming they'd even want him of course.

  6. Mage Silver badge
    Pirate

    desire to create an entirely walled garden.

    Just like Facebook.

    Why COMPANIES, never mind consumers use Facebook is a mystery, but perhaps Amazon and eBay don't let you hire labourers, sell baby hedgehogs and weapons?

    1. AndyS

      Re: desire to create an entirely walled garden.

      We live in an area where there should be hedgehogs, but aren't. We'd really like some in the garden.

      Maybe I should try the Facebook market?

  7. Destroy All Monsters Silver badge
    Facepalm

    Has the author developed a sudden brain problem?

    Going from

    Late last week, The Daily Beast revealed that Luckey was behind a $10,000 donation to a group called Nimble America dedicated to creating and spreading memes that attack Hillary Clinton. In one case, the group took out a giant billboard ad in Pittsburgh with a picture of Clinton's face and the tagline "Too Big to Jail."

    to "funding pro-Trump neo-nazi trolls" must be in the hypersonic region of Godwin's Law scale.

    And seriously, anyone who doesn't troll supporters of La Madame Klingon (who has btw. her own paid-for troll brigade doing Clinton Hasbara) is missing out.

    Did I mention that the Daily Beast is suspiciously pro-Clinton? One can practically hear the cheque hit the bank account...

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Has the author developed a sudden brain problem?

      I'm no fan of Trump, but that's hardly an example of "neo nazi" memes. A single $10K donation is hardly newsworthy for a multi multi millionaire, either.

      1. YARR

        This articule is pure speculative opinion = meaningless

        I think I'll reserve judgement on this product and it's price point until after it's released.

        Accusing opponents of being Nazis is a sign of desperation when someone has no real arguments to support their opinion. Lots of people all over the world oppose immigration or high levels of immigration for varied reasons and are not Nazis. That said Trump does say some crazy + offensive things which are not constructive for anyone advocating more control over immigration, and who wants to appeal to a broad audience.

        What's worse, building a wall to defend your country from illegals who don't respect your laws and who already have a country that they apparently don't want to make better,

        or starting a purge of people from their employment based on their opinion which you are attempting to thought criminalise?

        For the record, the Nazis didn't build walls to keep people out, but the Soviets built them to keep people in.

        1. allthecoolshortnamesweretaken

          Re: This articule is pure speculative opinion = meaningless

          "For the record, the Nazis didn't build walls to keep people out, ...

          Yes, they did. Westwall, Ostwall, Siegfriedlinie, ... didn't work, though.

          "... but the Soviets built them to keep people in."

          Well, if you mean the Berlin Wall, the official reason was to keep people out ("Antifschistischer Schutzwall"), but yes, the idea behind it was to keep people in. Didn't really work, though.

          The original big-wall-to-keep-people-out, the Great Wall of China, didn't work either. Because thry didn't pay the guards guarding the gates properly.

          1. You aint sin me, roit
            Devil

            Re: This articule is pure speculative opinion = meaningless

            Some of the thinking behind big walls (particularly Adrian's) wasn't to keep people out - they knew raiders could focus an attack at a vulnerable part and get over quite easily - it was to stop them carrying loot (and particularly cattle) back over.

            For your average blue-faced Pict, beating you up and shagging your wife was merely a bonus... it was your cows they were really after ;)

            1. Sir Runcible Spoon
              Coat

              Re: This articule is pure speculative opinion = meaningless

              Adrian? Wasn't he Hadrian's half-brother? You know, the one with the limp from when that arrow went through his knee.

      2. keitai

        Re: Has the author developed a sudden brain problem?

        10K to trump campaign openly wouldn't be newsworthy. 10K to troll is infuriating, since it contributes making the society more trollish, aggressive and stupid. As a near-billionaire, you have some responsibility to use that to the good of mankind. There is so many awesome things you can do with big money (people to mars, shooting probes to proxima centauri with a big-ass laser, curing cancer, heck even building gaudy casinos and hotels count, ...). And he decides to support trolls for giggles? That ought to bite, although I guess it will be just an exercise of "I've been unfairly attacked" rather than "I've learned something".

  8. Charles 9

    "If you want a pair of half-decent headphones with the VR googles, you will have to cough up an additional $49. And don't imagine you can use your own existing headphones: Oculus has built a custom audio connector."

    And that leads me to wonder what's to stop someone just making some kind of adapter to allow people to use regular headphones? Will the Oculus headphones contain special circuitry or something? Will it be more than two channels?

    1. nematoad
      WTF?

      What?

      "Will it be more than two channels?"

      Only if you have got more than two ears.

      1. Charles 9

        Re: What?

        Not necessarily. Our ears are surprising able to detect forward and backward sound. I know this for a fact because I came upon some quadraphonic earphones a long time ago (in a secondhand electronics shop): as in each earpiece had TWO elements set at an angle to each other.

      2. MrDamage Silver badge

        Re: What?

        >> "Will it be more than two channels?"

        > "Only if you have got more than two ears".

        Check your local stockist in Alabama or Tasmania for this version.

  9. PerspexAvenger
    Meh

    I may be a Vive owner and fan...

    ...but adding in the cost of the PC to the Rift is a little disingenuous when you're pricing out the various options and comparing to a Rift with "The HTC Vive is $799."

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: I may be a Vive owner and fan...

      That always annoys me as well, it's like comparing TVs, by including the cost of all the furniture in your living room, a Sky install, and broadband to test the 'smart' features.

      There's no point when the same stuff is needed irrespective of TV being purchased.

  10. JM Grinder

    Where's the "neo Nazi" part, or are you one of those "progressive" outlets that defines anyone who doesn't agree with you as a "neo Nazi?"

  11. defiler

    Seems a bit greedy.

    On the plus side, you can buy it piecemeal. But still, I'm coming top the conclusion that I'd rather have a Vive.

    That said, my 7-year-old has probably brainwashed me on the Vive. No, it's not on Santa's list...

    1. goldcd

      Oh go on

      Get it.

      It'll make the Christmas of 2 people at least.

  12. sikejsudjek

    I thought nvidia stereoscopic was expensive - but its beginning to look like a bargain. Granted its not VR, but for £99 if you have a high refresh monitor its pretty good and with helixmod's patches most games will run.

  13. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    That article picture ..

    .. makes it more look like users must have some enthusiasm for tech bondage.

    No, no, I only need that sling for computer gaming..

    :)

    1. Gene Cash Silver badge

      Re: That article picture ..

      Actually the correct article picture would be someone wearing the VR headset, swinging the controllers around and bashing their PC, lamps, cats, etc. onto the floor. Much more realistic and embarrassing.

  14. oldtaku Silver badge
    Trollface

    I'm in!

    How can I properly click on the integrated Facebook VR ads if I don't spring for the controller?

  15. Barbarian At the Gates

    The future is now, Occulus

    And honestly it's not that exciting.

    True, I found that the first 30 minutes of a VR headset experience can be pretty glorious. But a vast majority of the applications available are not much more satisfying than a tech demo or "early access" title that is interesting for about that 30 minutes. Then I end up with a feeling much like after eating a whole bag of crisps/chips...unsatisfied, a bit queasy and vaguely remorseful.

    1. Charles 9

      Re: The future is now, Occulus

      And that's why I've limited my "VR" investment to Cardboard-compatible "insert phone here" headsets. They can actually do stereophonic stuff pretty decently, and it's not like I paid a lot for them (the one I have I actually bought with prize credits from Dave & Buster's). Point being, if I get bored or it doesn't work out, I'm only out a few bucks.

  16. Haku
    Coat

    Meh, you can keep your fancy shmancy holo glasshole cardboard vive rifts.

    I'm banking on VRML, when it takes off it's going to be completely out of this world, because at the end of the day it's going to be a real game changer, it will distinctively reconceptualize backend ROI, whilst energistically monetizing performance based e-tailers, not to mention how it will efficiently harness elastic web services, plus authoritatively transition worldwide process improvements whilst helping to phosfluorescently foster multidisciplinary testing procedures.

    1. DropBear

      Re: Meh, you can keep your fancy shmancy holo glasshole cardboard vive rifts.

      You forgot the bit about how it will single-handedly transition us all over to IPv6... :)

      But yeah, man, does messing around with VRML bring back some memories...

      1. Sir Runcible Spoon

        Re: Meh, you can keep your fancy shmancy holo glasshole cardboard vive rifts.

        BINGO!!

  17. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    They'd already screwed the pooch. I feel sorry for early adopters, but anyone buying them now might as well get a 'muppet' forehead tattoo and give their credit card to the first person they meet. Might be cheaper.

  18. Black Rat
    Coat

    Obligatory Johnny Mnemonic link

    https://youtu.be/pBSR3DyobIY

    Mines the one with the Thompson eye-phones in the pocket.

  19. SimonC
    FAIL

    Running out of nails for the coffin that is the Oculus Rift...

  20. Halfmad

    Still not sure..

    Used a DK1 and DK2, owned the consumer version for all of two weeks and have even had a loan of a Vive.

    Just not sure any of these is quite ready for me yet, motion sickness was less of an issue on the newer versions but still present, my main issue was cables and long term comfort. The cables break immersion if it's a game where you have to look around a lot (better on ones like Elite Dangerous) but the biggest draw back was comfort, I found them uncomfortable if used for more than an hour, warm face, dry eyes.

    I'll look again in 5 years thing is as a spectacle wearer I loved using them, It could be bloody amazing given a little more time to mature, downsize and reduce reliance on cables.

    1. Boothy

      Re: Still not sure..

      HTC already updated the cables used for the Vive, from the rather heavy and stiff 3-cable ribbon they started with, to a lighter more flexible single cable (direct replacement part, just plugs in to existing headsets).

      Plus they are working on wireless, but that automatically gives you bandwidth, latency, and of course power issues.

      There are also back-pack PCs available now, that are basically a high end laptop, with extra large batteries and cooling vents. The Vive has an advantage there, as the tracking stations (the lighthouses), don't need to connect to the PC, leaving you completely un-tethered.

  21. clocKwize

    I went to a friends house last night and played with a Vive for the first time. its far better than I expected and thoroughly enjoyable. If I could justify £700 on gaming, I would definitely buy one. This is all.

  22. DropBear

    If mainstream VR is to have any future at all (and that's a big "if"), it will be the cheap-as-dirt do-whatever-you-want-with-it Chinese knockoffs, not Vertu-level priced pieces of kit living in walled gardens. And no amount of "tech demos" / "experiences" / ad campaigns / ecstatic reviews in the media will change that. There's nothing exciting about an ocean liner sized yacht at the price of an ocean liner sized yacht. Most people have long accepted that sort of thing is just something they'll never have and they don't really need. Now, start selling speedboats for half the price of a regular car and you've got my attention...

    1. Tony Paulazzo

      I'm kind'a surprised at the lack of Chinese knockoffs for VR headsets yet. I remember the 1 hour battery life tablet knockoffs coming out within months of the first ipad release.

      Come on China, get your finger out - altho' please don't use child labour as we're not really comfortable with it; except, their little fingers are probably perfect for all those tiny little circuit boards...

      VR isn't going to hit mainstream until the whole kit & caboodle cost about £500 (sterling), killer app is already here, vrporn.

  23. BinkyTheMagicPaperclip Silver badge

    Slightly disingenuous article

    It's not really sensible to compare the PS4 to either the Rift or the Vive, and it's definitely off to compare it to a knock off Chinese copy. Rockpapershotgun recently reviewed a higher resolution 60Hz Chinese VR headset - the conclusion was basically that Oculus/HTC were correct in insisting on special 90Hz low latency screens, the cheaper system looked better when stood still, and caused motion sickness when moving.

    Likewise Metro had a number of decent reviews, and it's not as if everything Rockstar have created is brilliant.

    Bash Oculus for valid reasons by all means, but incorrect nitpicking is not on.

  24. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    OK Go making content for a walled garden?

    WTF? At first I thought the writing's on the wall and it would end love for the band, but finally I realised, all is not lost and this too shall pass.

    Meanwhile, somewhere in an alternative reality:-

    "Aaaaaaaaah!!!!!!! Man, we really must absolutively not make that video with Palmer Luckey"

    "That ship has sailed, my friend".

    "Baaaaaahk!"

  25. Comedy of Errors

    Everybody used to say the Oculus was cheaper than the Vive

    When all the reviews first came out I remember they all said the Vive might be better but the Oculus was cheaper. As I suspected it turns out once you have added all the hardware to bring it up to parity it is more expensive.

    But the biggest mistake was not launching it as a single package. Developers will be unwilling to make games using the Touch handsets or Room Scale when only a fraction of the users have one. At least with the Vive they know 100% of the user base has them.

    1. corporatezombie

      Re: Everybody used to say the Oculus was cheaper than the Vive

      Oculus is $1 cheaper than the vive. And comes with built in headphones and a free xbox controller. This article is just wrong.

      The additional cameras and optional earbuds are accessories and not required purchases.

      Vive doesn't even come with headphones. You have to buy your own.

  26. Frank Leonhardt

    I've actually tried one out...

    Back in 1992 I was at the press launch of Virtuality, (at the Hard Rock Cafe in Covent Garden IIRC). I wasn't impressed, but could see the potential. Last week I tried a Rift. It really worked. It gave me vertigo, and I don't normally suffer from it.

    Yes, it's over-priced, but its time is coming. I've been waiting since 1992, so I think I know what I'm talking about here. Would I buy one? Well, I probably wouldn't buy anything from THAT company, but as the display system for a flight simulator (not the game time), I can see the potential. It costs me between £100-£250 an hour to keep current in a real aircraft, so a virtual one costing a couple of a thousand makes sense. There are commercial uses for the technology outside games. And what I saw was "good enough".

    My first Apple PC was around £2K in 1981 IIRC, when £2K was a lot of money. If something has a tangible use, it will sell. And the price will drop to the mass market over time. My first mobile phone was a similar price in 1987 - but cheaper than having an office and a receptionist.

    PET/Apple/Tandy were steamrollered as cheap home computers turned up in the 1980's (Apple's survival was very much in doubt for a long time). Oculus Rift will, in my view, create the market as earlier PCs did. Whether it holds it when it's matured, given its current attitude, is a completely different question.

  27. MJI Silver badge

    Oculus will lose the market at this rate.

    Current minuses are Facebox ownership, Trump support, expensive custom accessories.

    High end will go Vive.

    Low end mobile phone.

    Middle will dabble with PSVR.

    My grunty PC (for 2008) could not run one, yet my £350 games console will be offered an affordable one.

  28. corporatezombie

    Maths

    Clearly maths is not the authors strong suit. Or they lack basic understanding of the oculus platform.

    Or they are deliberately misleading us for the sake of a headline. Either way it's poorly researched.

    Oculus rift comes with headphones, and a camera, and a wireless xbox controller for $599

    Oculus touch comes two controllers and a camera for $199

    Oculus Total = $798

    The earbuds and additional cameras are optional extras. Reality check VR has already shown that 2 cameras are enough for room-scale, so additional cameras aren't really a necessary purchase. The headphones that come attached to the rift are really good actually, and aside from them getting caught in my hair, when I take the headset off, they are fine.

    HTC vive, comes with no headphones. and two controllers and two base stations

    Total = $799

    Your own headphones = $Whatever you want to spend.

    So Oculus is cheaper by a dollar than the vive, and has free headphones and a free Xbox controller? And has a lower price entry point of $599 for those that are happy playing cockpit based and platform vr games and don't want the touch controllers.

    Both Vive and Oculus require gaming pc. The one for oculus would be about $500 dollars, the one for Vive about $600 dollars, (because the oculus has asynchronous timewarp and requires a lower spec PC now.)

    Just for giggles lets look at PSVR:

    PS4 Pro = $399 (I personally don't think the base PS4 will cut it)

    PSVR = $399

    2 x PS move controllers pack = $100

    PS4 camera = $60

    Total = $958

    So that's quite expensive too, but you don't need the pc. PSVR is expected to be a less "premium experience" but we'll have to wait and see.

  29. FlamingDeath Silver badge

    My neck hurts

    Lets be honest, once people realise it's a chore to have a weight effectively hanging off-centre from your head, and is going to be an expensive pain in the neck, the novelty idea will die and will go to the place in the sky where all the other fads go

    1. Sir Runcible Spoon

      Re: My neck hurts

      Apparently Sony have that particular aspect sorted.

      PSVR is the heaviest of the headsets, but reviews are consistently stating it as the most comfortable for extended use, and also very glasses-friendly apparently.

      I will know for sure next week ;)

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