Oculus VR has begun taking pre-orders for the Oculus Rift Virtual Reality headset today. Many speculated that the price would be in the $300 to $500 range, but it’s currently priced at a hefty $599. The ship dates start on March 28, so spen $600 now and you can have your high-end virtual reality headset by April or May. Let’s hope you have enough computer to run it. Read on.
This is enough to make me step back and wait to purchase the headset. The price will fall quickly, and I like to take a “Wait and See” stance on new technology like this. The Youtube videos shot using Oculus Rift Development Kit 2 look great, but I want to hear from more people who have actually used the consumer version before I start looking at laying out that much for it, and building a new PC to boot.
The system will include the following:
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- Headset with integrated headphones and mic. That’s too bad. I already have a high-end headset and microphone system and I’m very happy with it. Oculus VR is going to have to convince me that their headset is at least as good as my Sennheiser, and I don’t think they can do that.
Oculus Rift Remote – What is the actual size of this thing? Excellent audio is very important to me. If I’m forced to use an inferior set of headphones or an inferior microphone in order to use Oculus Rift, I’ll pass. The word is that the headphones are light and of excellent quality. That’s good. I can’t find any information on the microphone, and if I have to sound like I’m swimming in a barrel of slime when I use the Oculus Rift, that’s a deal breaker for me.
- Sensor
- Xbox One Controller 😆 useless.
- Something (a game, I presume) called Lucky’s Tale, for which I have no use.
- Oculus Remote. It appears that the remote only exists so you can buy more junk from Oculus VR and/or Microsoft.
Oculus Rift System Requirements
If you want to experience high-end virtual reality with Oculus Rift, you’re going to need something like this:
- Processor: Intel i5-4590 equivalent or greater
- System memory: 8GB+
- Video card: NVIDIA GTX 970 / AMD R9 290 equivalent or greater
- Video output: Compatible HDMI 1.3 video output
- Input: This thing is going to take up 3 (three) of your USB 3.0 ports plus one USB 2.0 port. So you are going to have to free up four USB ports. Good luck. USB hub sales will now go up, I’m sure.
- Operating System: Windows 7 SP1 64 bit or newer. Sorry Mac and Linux.
Many people will need to spend $2500 or so on a new system, plus $600 for the Oculus Rift. Over 3 grand just to play in a virtual world. Again, I’ll take a “Wait and See” stance.
According to engadget.com: “If you don’t have such a machine already, Oculus is offering a Rift and PC bundle for $1,499, with pre-orders starting in February.”