[Archived] Virtual Reality

[DE.]

2016 is the year Virtual Reality headsets are officially hitting the market, so why not have a topic on it...

The Oculus Rift is available for pre-order as of today. Oculus are the company that essentially revived mainsteam VR interest, with a kickstarter campaign back in August 2012. In March 2014 they were bought by Facebook for $2 billion. Palmer Luckey, the founder of Oculus, has maintained up until recently that the Rift would be "in the ballpark" of $350. Pre-orders are set today at $600 (£529 for the UK).

I'm very surprised by the decision to launch at such a large price tag. It reminds me a little of the Panasonic 3DO and Philips CDi. Back in the early nineties these two consoles launched as the first CD-ROM based consoles, supposedly a major step up from cartridge gaming. Both were extremely expensive, though, and due to a small user base and lack of development interest quickly faded into obscurity. Eventually the much cheaper PlayStation came along and wiped out all the competition.

The same thing may happen with Oculus. They're asking a lot of money for an untested device, and to run the Rift you also have to buy a top of the line PC which would likely cost at least £600. So, as an early adopter, you're looking at a £1000+ payout for a device with limited support and no guarantee it will get the development necessary to succeed. The pre-order also doesn't include the "Touch" inputs, which are the VR controllers that mimic arms/hands. Instead you get an XBox One controller and will have to pay another $100-$200 for the Touch controllers when they are eventually released.

Meanwhile, there are another two devices coming out this year:

HTC Vive - very similar to the Rift in design, but has been marketed as a "premium" experience. Comes with full room motion sensing, will be released with VR controllers and already has an alignment with the Steam game platform. Even if it's $100-$200 more expensive it seems like a better current deal than the Oculus. It's due to be unveiled for pre-orders next month.

PlayStation VR - a headset which works exclusively with the PlayStation 4. Unlikely to have room motion sensors or anything similar, but is likely to be significantly cheaper and have far more developers behind it due to Sony's gaming experience and reputation. Much like in the 90's, Sony could again blow away its competition by having a less sophisticated but much more engaging machine. No release date set for this one but would guess around the summer, maybe a little later. I get the feeling Sony will bide their time and see how the Rift and Vive perform before launching their product.

I was set to get an Oculus headset, but at the current price will wait and see how this all pans out. VR will either be the future of gaming/entertainment or flop again, as it did in the 90's. This time it won't be quality, but cost that may cause people to opt out.

[davulsukur]

A guy I work with had the Oculus development kit a while back. He really liked it,sounds like it had alot of promise. He sold it in order to wait for the official released version.

Not sure how they will pan out to be honest, if they have full room motion sensors then I could see them really taking off.

The only issue the guy at work mentioned was that without a stationary reference point like a car dashboard or plane\ship console, you can end up feeling quite sick. Not sure if that's the case for everyone but could be a stumbling block.

I work in the construction industry and there a few people looking into the Oculus as a way for clients to walk/look around a virtual site of the final design before construction commences.

[DE.]

They claim to have solved the motion sickness issue. I imagine a few will still be affected by it, but I doubt they'd release the headset unless they'd pretty much gotten rid of that problem.

Virtual Reality could revolutionise a lot of things, both in business and entertainment, but Oculus have dealt the platform a huge early blow with their pricing. On its own the headset does nothing, you need a very high spec PC to even use it. So they're essentially asking you to pay £529 for a peripheral, which is insane. Hardcore enthusiasts will pick it up, but I get the feeling this will be a small market for a long time yet. HTC/Sony could steal a march by announcing much lower prices - but neither can afford to lose much money on VR.

In the 90's Sony had enough capital to sell the original PlayStation at a significant loss to give it a huge install base, which ultimately allowed it to become the first successful CD-ROM based console. They don't have that money to throw at VR, and HTC don't either. Prospects for VR took a significant downturn with today's price announcement from Oculus imo, though I hope I'm wrong.

[Tom]

A guy I work with had the Oculus development kit a while back. He really liked it,sounds like it had alot of promise. He sold it in order to wait for the official released version.

Not sure how they will pan out to be honest, if they have full room motion sensors then I could see them really taking off.

The only issue the guy at work mentioned was that without a stationary reference point like a car dashboard or plane\ship console, you can end up feeling quite sick. Not sure if that's the case for everyone but could be a stumbling block.

I work in the construction industry and there a few people looking into the Oculus as a way for clients to walk/look around a virtual site of the final design before construction commences.

A good friend of mine had one of the development kits for 2 weeks before selling it for a decent profit.

I had a play with a few things on it, a scuba one was very impressive but I found that it hurt my eyes using it for anything more than a couple of minutes and he had to guide me to where the mouse was.

Your place doesn't design schoolyards and the like does it by chance?

[Baz]

There are also things like the samsung gear vr headset that was selling for £80 the other day.

Obviously some will be better than others etc, but the rift sounds far too much money, but some people will pay it.

If sony prices their system at a decent price, and with a decent backing of games, even if the quality isn't quite as good, I could see it doing well.

I wear glasses (cant wear contacts), so although its claimed that it won't affect your experience, they say the same with 3D, and I can tell you wearing glasses plus 3D glasses isn't comfortable. Its why Id really like to see a proper review, or use the systems myself for more than just a couple of minutes in a shop first before Id consider buying.

[DE.]

With the HTC Vive being properly unveiled next month and PSVR coming out before the end of the year, there's little reason to pay an extortionate price right now for an Oculus Rift. Much smarter to wait for the reviews to come in, and prices to drop. There's not much sense in sinking £1000+ into a device, then finding out you backed the wrong horse.

[davulsukur]

A good friend of mine had one of the development kits for 2 weeks before selling it for a decent profit.

I had a play with a few things on it, a scuba one was very impressive but I found that it hurt my eyes using it for anything more than a couple of minutes and he had to guide me to where the mouse was.

Your place doesn't design schoolyards and the like does it by chance?

The guy at work also sold his on for a profit

The company I work for is pretty big (global) and whilst I am not involved in design of any schools I'm sure other departments will be.

Why do you ask? (Or did I just miss the point completely?)

[Tom]

Random but just wondered if our friends was one and the same that's all bud

[davulsukur]

Ah right, cool.

[davulsukur]

The guy i work with has come in this morning and said he ordered the Oculus yesterday. Paid something like £520 for it.

He seems pretty happy, although he won't actually get it till May.

[Kamy100]

Crazy price to pay, on top of that he will need a high end PC to run it which if he doesn't have one will set him back £700-£1000.

[DE.]

Early Oculus adopters are going to get destroyed financially. £529 incl shipping for the Rift, £100-200 for the controllers whenever they come out (not included in the launch), £700 minimum for a PC that can run the games at a decent framerate and to top it all off barely any games or apps available because it's a brand new technology. Oh, and the majority of orders won't ship until May or June at the earliest.

You'd be much smarter waiting for the HTC Vive to be announced and then seeing what PSVR has to offer. There's absolutely no need to rush into getting VR now, you're paying for a lot of hype and potential that may or may not be realised.

[Kamy100]

I agree DE.

I was at the Gamescom and did manage to test Valkeyrie (the game that will ship with the Oculus) and I will admit it was absolutely fantastic, quite unlike any other experience that I have ever had, in fact I went back 2 more times and each time I was blown away. But totally agree that you are paying a heck of a lot of money for a concept that might not even take off.

I am also interested to see what Sony do. They said yesterday that they have 100 odd titles in development and with it connecting to the PS4, If Sony can get the price point right (£250 maximum) it could take off.

I am excited by what VR has to offer but at the moment very much on the fence about whether it will be a success.

[Biddy]

I'm still waiting for the 1990's VR headsets we were promised. Good to see they are finally making a comeback. Not going to invest at that stupid price and it needs to be more than a gimmick like PS Move and Kinect has pretty much proved to be (add 3D TV's to that).

[DE.]

I agree DE.

I was at the Gamescom and did manage to test Valkeyrie (the game that will ship with the Oculus) and I will admit it was absolutely fantastic, quite unlike any other experience that I have ever had, in fact I went back 2 more times and each time I was blown away. But totally agree that you are paying a heck of a lot of money for a concept that might not even take off.

I am also interested to see what Sony do. They said yesterday that they have 100 odd titles in development and with it connecting to the PS4, If Sony can get the price point right (£250 maximum) it could take off.

I am excited by what VR has to offer but at the moment very much on the fence about whether it will be a success.

I haven't experienced VR at all yet, though I've heard it is incredible the first time. I suppose the question is whether it holds its appeal once the novelty wears off and it's just another gaming/entertainment platform. People may still prefer standard 2D TV when all is said and done, which would basically leave VR on mobiles with the likes of Google Cardboard and Gear VR.

I'll be getting a PS4 anyway as I want to play the FF7 remake, so waiting for PSVR seems logical from my perspective. If Sony are smart in their pricing they could very quickly become the dominant VR brand. They may not have all the features of Oculus or HTC Vive, but if the price is right and the experience is still awesome people won't care. Having top development studios working on PSVR games will give them a huge advantage, too.

If $600 was the best Oculus could launch at, I'd be more inclined not to launch at all. I think they've handed both HTC and Sony a big chance to gain a massive foothold in the market. It's an exciting time though, as there hasn't been this much competition and potential since the days of the 8-16-32 bit wars.

[Guest]

Great run-down, DE.

I've got a high-spec PC, and love the idea of a VR set. However, I barely play my Xbox One, so £529 would probably be a waste. But then I love new technology like this.

[DE.]

Great run-down, DE.

I've got a high-spec PC, and love the idea of a VR set. However, I barely play my Xbox One, so £529 would probably be a waste. But then I love new technology like this.

The temptation is there for me too, and I'd have to shell out for a new PC on top of the £529. I'll wait though. If the HTC Vive looks good I may well pick it up, but again, it depends on the price. Vive is supposed to be the 'premium' option, so in theory it'll be even more expensive than the Oculus CV1. I'd expect PSVR to be the cheapest, but still probably around the £300-£400 range.

[Biddy]

Aye, If Vive is more expensive than Oculous then I can't see Sony coming in cheaper than about £450. They will probably be keen to undercut but will also want to re-coup as much development costs as possible and certainly won't fire sell to just get numbers out there. They will be able to sell high if they have the software library to back it up.

[DE.]

If they have a lot of software ready to release at launch, it might actually encourage Sony to price the product cheaper, as in theory they'd be confident about recouping losses through the variety of software available. Developers will want PSVR in as many homes as possible if they are to continue putting their time and effort into making VR apps/games.

The question is how much money Sony can afford to lose short-term on PSVR. They don't have the type of capital they had 20 years ago with the first PlayStation, they're in a significantly weaker financial position as a company. If I recall correctly, the PlayStation division is pretty much the only division that makes money for them. They can either take a financial hit gambling that VR will become the next big thing and usher in a new era of high and frequent software sales, or tread carefully and give the PSVR a competitive but similar price to Oculus/HTC's models.

[davulsukur]

Crazy price to pay, on top of that he will need a high end PC to run it which if he doesn't have one will set him back £700-£1000.

As far as i am aware there is a program/app that you can run on your pc which checks all of the hardware in your pc against whats needed to run the Oculus to see if its up to standard before you buy it.

[Biddy]

Well the recommended spec graphics card is an Nvidia GTX 970 which is around £250 for the cheapest. Funnily enough my work laptop was not up to scratch going off the checker

[DE.]

The cheapest way to get an Oculus (or Vive) as an early adopter will probably be as part of a bundle with an Oculus ready PC. I see Alienware/Dell are doing a bundle at the moment where the PC & Oculus Rift is £1074 combined. That takes the Oculus down to about £300 if you assume the PC will be in the region of £700-£800.

[Baz]

Amazon US listed the Sony VR at $700, but quickly removed the price, Id hope that's just a 'holding' price until they decide, because if so, they won't shift many.

If they price at £250 max, at least they have a chance of pricing it as a Christmas gift, at £550-600 it wont sell enough IMO.

[DE.]

Sony won't be releasing PSVR for another six months minimum, if not longer... why would they announce a price now? Seems like it was just a mistake. If they price PSVR higher than Oculus they'll struggle to shift many units. The PS4 & games are expensive enough as it is.

[Kamy100]

No way that any price given at this stage is right.

Sony will announce the price I would expect at this year's E3 which takes place in June.