• Hey Guest. Check out your NeoGAF Wrapped 2025 results here!

Oculus Rift available for preorder for $599.99, shipping in March

Anyone who has purchased an iMac or MacBook Pro has spent at least that much on a computer. Obviously not something that can use the Rift, but there is a least some group of normal people out there willing to spend that much on a computer.

I like how u mention that you can build Oculus ready PC for cheaper but lets not compare Oculus to a computer. Most people can see how a small computer that can easily fit into the backpack of a college student is worth $1000 since its essential for many many things. Oculus is mainly for entertainment and not essential for most people.
 
I built a PC in August for like $720 that will support the Rift just fine. I'm not planning on pick up a Rift at $600, but you certainly don't need a $1500 rig to use it.



Anyone who has purchased an iMac or MacBook Pro has spent at least that much on a computer. Obviously not something that can use the Rift, but there is a least some group of normal people out there willing to spend that much on a computer.
Well that's another thing entirely. Apple is a popular brand and a fashion statement really.

Oculus wouldn't really have the same effect.
 
I think they're taking advantage of the fact that the Vive is delayed until mid 2016. I'd expect a price drop around the time HTC starts hyping up their release.
 
I've been a HUGE VR enthusiast for years, waiting for the tech to mature and the price to come down. I ran websites dedicated to this stuff.

$600 is a lot of money that simply forces me to walk away. I simply can't afford that kind of money and an updated PC to run games at the required specs. It looks like a neat toy for gamers who are financially well off but I'm going to have to unfortunately pass for the time being.

I don't see this selling well at all. Liketime sales of the CV1 might be around 200,000 max but this product may be dead on arrival with that pricetag. What a shame because I thought VR was finally entering the "ready" phase.
 
What jungle do you live in that makes phones an "unnecessary luxury device"? Sounds nice. The world essentially runs on the Internet and having a smart phone can drastically improve the quality of your life.

In 2006 a smartphone was absolutely an unneccesary luxury device. Things progressed since then, which is something I'm sure VR manufacturers would love to replicate even a fraction of, but when the iPhone first launched it was $500, had no type of carrier subsidy to offset the cost to consumers, had no App Store or software to speak of and had a measly 4GB of internal memory with no expansion. And apple had to drop the price a month or two later to spur sales. Let's not act like customer adoption of smartphones was some overnight sensation. I'm not saying VR will have the same kind of consumer success or trajectory, just that mainstream adoption doesn't have to happen on day 1.
 
I'm at a bit of a dilemma here now that I've ordered it.

On one hand, the price is steep as fuck and getting it will mean selling a decent amount of stuff and not buying ANYTHING until I've raised £500 (which means Uncharted 4 spoilers for sure). I'm also not sure it's got the software support yet.

On the other hand I've been waiting for a good VR device for 3 damn years and it's pretty much the only big thing I'm looking forward to. If I skip it now it'll mean I'll have to wait at least another year so I can upgrade my PC (& monitor) to be ready for the next versions.

I wish I had a job...
 
I was ready to pull 500 euros but

699 euros is like 750$
+Shipping cost of 50 euros
+ Import Cost equals to close to 22%

= 900 euros so 978 $

I think I can wait. Thx but no thx Palmer.

I like the euro package with an extra tube of lube.
Do they only ship from the US? Seems weird to me why they would operate with other currencies in that case.
 
People need to stop adding on the cost of a PC to the price of the Rift. I'm not seeing people adding on the cost of a PS4 to PSVR.

For most people who want the Rift, they either have the right kind of hardware, or are the kind of people who will upgrade every couple of years regardless. The 600 dollar cost of the unit itself is the cost. We're getting close to that "Fuck you Nintendo" Penny-Arcade comic where the guy complains about having to buy a Gamecube and a house to play Crystal Chronicles.
 
I'd assume so. But Palmer's reply to the guy talking about getting hit by customs seems to suggest otherwise.

Well, that's why I find his response so laughable. Not only does he not realise that what the guy's complaining about isn't an issue, but he responds in a passive aggressive manner which isn't very welcoming to people. xD
 
If only there was some sort of multi national parent company involved. Oh well.

So then THEY pay the import fees and add them to the price of the Rift in Europe, or THEY pay to start manufacturing them inside Europe, and they add the price of setting up factories in Europe to the price of the Rift in Europe.

I'm really not sure what you expect of them. Facebook don't manufacture things. They don't have channels in place to ship stuff. It's not cheaper for Facebook to do it than it is for Oculus to do it independently.

They're selling these at or close to cost most likely. So they should take a loss on every one sold in Europe?
 
lol at people expecting PSVR to cost the same ..sony have been transparent from day one ... PSVR will cost roughly what PS4 did at launch, MAX.

That is according to a new report from Super Data Research that was launched this week. One part of the report on consumer adoption of VR in 2016 looks at the percentage of the market each type of HMD will own by the end of the year. In the console VR space, the report suggests that 1.9 million units will be sold, taking up 5 percent of the overall market. The only device listed in this area so far is PlayStation VR, which it estimates will cost at least $50 USD more than the $350 PlayStation 4, ranging between $400 – $600.
http://vrfocus.com/archives/27478/analyst-predicts-playstation-vr-price-ps4-sell-1-9m-2016/

I think it will launch at $500.
 
I will say that they should be marketing this towards businesses. Put these in internet cafes and family arcades like Dave and Busters. That's the only way I see it ever taking off as a mainstream device until the tech gets cheaper for consumers.
 
I built a PC in August for like $720 that will support the Rift just fine. I'm not planning on pick up a Rift at $600, but you certainly don't need a $1500 rig to use it.

My understanding is the specs they give is what their 1st party titles require. There is no "this PC will run all Rift titles ever" specification. There will easily be games in two years that require a PC that costs $2000 now. PCs won't get a standard now that plays everything in 90 fps, there will still be developers that go beyond that by adding better graphics and such. It's a common misconception that there is a minimum or required PC build that plays all VR titles equally good. PCVR is no console VR with a fixed base for five to seven years.
 
My PayPal preorder went through to Oculus/Facebook Northern Ireland for the UK, so sounds like all good there...

Sounds good on paper, but the real reason for that is probably tax avoidance on their part lol. If you "operate out of Ireland" you join the tax loophole haven our big company friends love in the UK.
 
I've been a HUGE VR enthusiast for years, waiting for the tech to mature and the price to come down. I ran websites dedicated to this stuff.

$600 is a lot of money that simply forces me to walk away. I simply can't afford that kind of money and an updated PC to run games at the required specs. It looks like a neat toy for gamers who are financially well off but I'm going to have to unfortunately pass for the time being.

I don't see this selling well at all. Liketime sales of the CV1 might be a couple hundred max but this product may be dead on arrival with that pricetag. What a shame because I thought VR was finally entering the "ready" phase.

Haha! What?!?!
You truly think CV1 lifetime sales will be in the hundreds?
Hopefully you meant couple hundred thousand.
 
That eBay tactic is a scam and EU customs are going to collect import fees no matter what you gave eBay upfront. So you'll end up paying taxes two times. Not joking either. But thats kinda OT.



The markup is justified, additional import fees are not. Its either or, not booth.

What's mark up and what's tax is immaterial. If the retailer(s) Oculus have designs on getting into told them they'll have to sell at 699 + tax, Oculus.com has to set their price at pairity.
 
I suspect they will be sending from USA and are already including customs price on top of the base price for extra quickness vía express shipment.

Not that I wan't to justify the price or anything, but it's what most likely is going on.

Doesn't the euro price include the 20% or something VAT?

The US price doesn't.
 
Lol'ing at all the "Oculus shot themselves in the foot"; "VR is DOA"; etc. hot takes. If you believe that, you have no sense of perspective. New tech - especially something as game-changing as the Rift/VR - is always very expensive at launch. Let's remember that this is the FIRST consumer version. They're not expecting the general public to buy in at this point. The early adopters will be there, as expected (and if Palmer's tweets are any indication, they'll be there in numbers).

As time goes on, Oculus will iterate. Tech will improve; HW costs (and prices to consumers) will slowly come down. Competition with HTC, Sony, MS, etc. will only help things. The Rift (and VR in general) will eventually begin to gain traction with the general public as prices become more palatable, and people hear more and more stories of the amazing, unique experiences their early adopter friends are having.

Will this ever become a mass market thing like TVs, video game consoles, etc.? Maybe. Maybe not. But that's OK. Oculus and VR are fine.

I can understand being disappointed if you were looking forward to getting a Rift and can't afford it at this initial price point, but let's not act like Oculus is being ridiculous here or VR is a lost cause or something.
 
Is it still common that people expect VR to take off in any way? I do remember that sentiment years ago, that as long as people get their hands on it in demos it will blow up. I never saw that happening and certainly can't now.

By the way is Sean still around.
 
People need to stop adding on the cost of a PC to the price of the Rift. I'm not seeing people adding on the cost of a PS4 to PSVR.

For most people who want the Rift, they either have the right kind of hardware, or are the kind of people who will upgrade every couple of years regardless. The 600 dollar cost of the unit itself is the cost. We're getting close to that "Fuck you Nintendo" Penny-Arcade comic where the guy complains about having to buy a Gamecube and a house to play Crystal Chronicles.

Yup, the consumer that already has a high end PC will likely be enough to fulfill demand through this year.

Doubt Oculus are expecting many people to go 'all in' and buy a new PC + the headset. Next year when there's price drops we'll start to see more of that.
 
Palmer/Oculus is making an absolute shambles of this. Either the EU price doesn't include taxes/customs in which case its offensively bad price gouging, or it does and he's on Twitter sending out misinformation about his own product.
 
I'm sorry, but you don't know that this is a money grab. In fact, Oculus has repeatedly said that they are selling as low as they can without giving the thing away at cost.

you're absolutely right. I do not know and it might very well be the cheapest they can sell it, perhaps even at a loss. As others are saying, it's not a mass market price. It certainly isn't, not yet, and I'm fairly certain it's not meant to be. Once it has a sizable amount of content and is proven to be worth it/awesome, then will come the cheap, widespread, mass market price.
 
Haha! What?!?!
You truly think CV1 lifetime sales will be in the hundreds?
Hopefully you meant couple hundred thousand.

They've already sold multiple thousands if not tens of thousands. Remember, the total initial shipments are almost certainly north of 10,000, since they're giving some 7500 away and said those would be amongst the earliest shipments.
 
If Apple gets into the VR business, threads are going to be hella amusing.

Well, people'll still complain, because not everyone buys into brands. ;)

I certainly don't.

I think Macs, iPhones, iPads etc are a waste of money. They can get away with it because not everyone feels the same way.
 
Well apparently so.

What? He specifically says that VAT is covered. If you have any other import costs Oculus isn't paying them though. Which makes 100% sense. That's all he said.

EDIT: With the amount of apparent confusion going on I bet they'll issue a statement soon about this.
 
4Rf03aB.jpg


They deserve not selling shit in Europe (I guess they don't want to anyway).

I can't even imagine how much will it cost here in Spain.

750 euros.
 
Honestly, I didn't expect the pricing to be less then $500 to start. I can't say that I'm shocked at the listed pricing, but it's pricing a lot of the market out.

But then again, you gotta pay to play so....
 
Can anyone explain to me why we're getting things like the PS4 for €399 (which is still more than $399).

He's saying because of taxes, Europe prices are higher.

Why can't he also go €599?

$599 - €599

Other companies have done it before...
 
My PayPal preorder went through to Oculus/Facebook Northern Ireland for the UK, so sounds like all good there...

That's simply because they pay less taxes by keeping European income in Europe, doesn't mean anything about where they are shipping from. Seems like they warn customers for a reason when they say additional taxes and fees may apply when the product is shipped because otherwise they could just leave that part out.
 
I... Think the price is fine. It's the first consumer generation of a cutting edge technology - Of course the price is gonna be high.

I'm in for a Vive if it sticks under $1k.
 
Top Bottom