Prepare for the most immersive experience of buying a virtual reality headset ever created. Oculus announced that it will open pre-orders for its very first consumer-ready Rift virtual reality headset at 8 am PST / 6 pm GMT on Wednesday. The company says it will share (opens in new tab) “everything you need to know to order your Rift” that day.
One of those need-to-know details is apparently price, because Oculus still won’t say how much the final unit will cost. Company founder Palmer Luckey said in October that you should expect it to cost cost more than the $350 development kits (opens in new tab), though he noted that it would still be somewhere in that “ballpark.” Hopefully not quite second mortgage material, then. For more context, Sony has said that PlayStation VR will cost roughly as much as a new console (opens in new tab) all by itself.
Every Oculus Rift pre-order will include a free copy of space barrel rolling sim EVE: Valkyrie (opens in new tab), while every headset (pre-order or no) will come with cartoony platformer Lucky’s Tale and an Xbox One gamepad (opens in new tab). Oculus has been leading the charge for virtual reality hype for years, so I’d expect the first round of Rift pre-orders to go fast. Best to check in early and often if you’re interested – hopefully there’s enough time to glance at the price tag before clicking “buy.”
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