Vive Consumer Edition & Pre-order Info
The Virtual Reality community is buzzing over the news posted on the HTC Vive blog. Hype building video below.
HTC have provided long awaited news of the Vive Consumer Edition and told us that the pre-orders will start at 10am Eastern US time, 3pm UK time, on Monday Feb 29th.
Once you have pre-ordered you may expect delivery starting in early April. Similar to those awaiting Oculus pre-orders. The major difference between the two technologies is that the HTC Vive will ship with the motion controllers. Oculus Touch remains delayed. The Vive will improve on the Vive pre in one minor way – an updated head-strap.
Vive also announced their launch price: $799. It is not clear if countries outside of the US will pay taxes and high shipping charges. It is not unsurprising that this is higher than the Oculus Rift, the Vive was always being positioned as a premium device coupled with the availability of the motion controllers.
The Vive will ship with 2 VR “experiences”.
Job Simulator – a game where you play at having a job.
Fantastic contraption – a sandbox building title.
In the box will be:
Vive HMD
2 x 360 degree tracking and room scale movement sensors (Lighthouse patented by Roomba)
2 x wireless controllers
With the availability of Vive’s motion controllers and the fact that Oculus + touch controllers may end up costing more, you could argue that Oculus made a strategic error in the timing & pricing of their device. Additionally their decision not to take a deposit on the oculus could see people cancelling in droves.
I am one of a decreasing number of users who will be stretching my budget to try and order both, but this will depend on the additional costs non-US based people tend to be exposed to.
Brought to you by UKRifter of the VR Spies
www.vrspies.com
www.vrspies.com
A hundred dollars cheaper than I thought it would be but I'm still getting a Rift, it all comes down to software at the end of the day. EVE Valkyrie, Lucky's Tale, Chronos, Edge Of Nowhere and Climb look to be MILES better than Job Simulator and Fantastic Contraption.
And if you want Room Scale VR that will be available (albeit without the Chaperone system) in a few months after the Rift releases – my money would be in June after E3.
Getting a Rift also helps me to spread the cost of the Touch controllers rather than spending £689 all in one go.