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

plagiarize said:
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.
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Oh so they did say the KS freebie ones would be going out earliest? Good to have confirmation if true.
 
Despera said:
Can someone explain to me what's wrong with this? He just stated a fact without sugar coating it, or do people prefer he acted like a PR person and fed them well-articulated bullshit?
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Because if they aren't including customs, then they're charging roughly $200 more for no reason at all!
 
BlackFlip said:
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.
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I don't think PC level VR like this is going to be the mainstream consumption kit for this sort of thing. I could really see something like the Gear VR being mainstream if it supported a ton more devices and had better hardware that delivered a more immersive experience. Everyone has a cellphone so the barrier to entry will be a lot cheaper.

Then the higher cost VR experiences will be there if they want them.
 
I'm not surprised based off of his tweets leading up to this. I wonder if they're selling at cost.

I'm really interested to see how HTC and Sony price their respective VR gear.
 
Despera said:
Can someone explain to me what's wrong with this? He just stated a fact without sugar coating it, or do people prefer he acted like a PR person and fed them well-articulated bullshit?
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He fueled fire to contradict his earlier statement that you pay more for Occulus in the first place to cover said import taxes.

Anyone with a clue in business would reply to that tweet reiterating the above (your tax is paid already) and questioning why this person thinks they will be paying 900+ euros as that is not how import tax works (if they are covering it).
 
CCS said:
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.
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Hopefully the later as that's just incompetence.
 
mario_O said:
750 euros.
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xkSChFY.gif
 
thanks for people fronting the crazy amount of money for this, since its too rich for my blood but i'd like to see it in the future
 
Despera said:
Can someone explain to me what's wrong with this? He just stated a fact without sugar coating it, or do people prefer he acted like a PR person and fed them well-articulated bullshit?
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You know it's not a binary thing like you've presented.

How about "I apologize for the higher price, but we do not have distribution from Europe at this time, and as such these customs fees are unavoidable. We will be working to remedy this issue in the future."

And also clarify if the price of the thing itself already covers customs fees or not.
 
Despera said:
Can someone explain to me what's wrong with this? He just stated a fact without sugar coating it, or do people prefer he acted like a PR person and fed them well-articulated bullshit?
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It doesn't have to be well-articulated bullshit. Could have just said it in a nicer manner. I would doubt he would have said it like that if he was talking with him face-to-face.
 
Despera said:
Can someone explain to me what's wrong with this? He just stated a fact without sugar coating it, or do people prefer he acted like a PR person and fed them well-articulated bullshit?
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Kids these days can't stand when you hurt their feelings. This is how I want a CEO to speak. Not typical PR spin bullshit.

I have found loads of success and was promoted to my current position in my company for not being a PR tool. Speaking straight and getting stuff done works wonders and is refreshing in today's environment.
 
Despera said:
Can someone explain to me what's wrong with this? He just stated a fact without sugar coating it, or do people prefer he acted like a PR person and fed them well-articulated bullshit?
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It translate as "I don't give a fuck". Not a great attitude to have when you're looking to sell to the other person.
 
eravulgaris said:
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...
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That's the thing.
Story says It should be 599€ + shipping, instead of this they charge 699€ we don't know why.
It's the same shit Google did with Nexus 5X and 6P prices in Europe.
 
"To reiterate, we are not making money on Rift hardware. High end VR is expensive, but Rift is obscenely cheap for what it is."

-from Palmer's Twitter
 
darkinstinct said:
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.
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Yeah but that's just PC gaming in general. There will be games in 2 years that a $2000 rig today will have a hard time running at 60 fps with maxed out settings. Just saying that the entry point for someone who wants a fairly capable PC to use a Rift with isn't $1500 today, especially since the only thing we really have to go on are the specs that Oculus has published. There isn't enough content right now to really know how much power the most demanding VR games are going to need.
 
RiccochetJ said:
I'm not surprised based off of his tweets leading up to this. I wonder if they're selling at cost.

I'm really interested to see how HTC and Sony price their respective VR gear.
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My theory:

HTC: $699 (It would really be a big deal if they came in at $599 though with their control system included)

PSVR: $399
 
Got the Shakes said:
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.
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I thought I remembered Luckey saying something about needing a 1200-1500 dollar PC to run the OR, but I must have misheard that. Still, I think it's strange that people are complaining about a $600 price tag for something that most people expected to be around $500. The EU people have a right to complain, but I don't think $600 dollars is an unfair price for something so cutting edge.
 
Despera said:
Can someone explain to me what's wrong with this? He just stated a fact without sugar coating it, or do people prefer he acted like a PR person and fed them well-articulated bullshit?
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Cause you're always supposed to treat belligerent customers like they are royalty.

Honestly, I'm with you, I like his blunt responses.
 
I get that Luckley is a young guy, but someone in PR should be addressing tweets, not the guy himself. How. How is he tweeting responses like that (and dear god that's the first time I've used "tweeting" - what a stupid verb)?
 
Palmer telling people to blame their country is a strongly worded but not unreasonable thing to say. If you go onto an online calculator for customs tax, punch in a $600 computer monitor w/ shipping you get a rate of £500 for the UK. The regional pricing is fair.

What is unfair is the time and effort spent already by developers and hobbyists that is now all but sawdust. This is a paperweight without high volumes of software. There can be no high volume of software without a large audience - and there can be no audience large enough to fund the dev time when the OR owner is going to be the fringe enthusiast who can afford not only a £800 PC but then drop £500 on a totally untested entertainment device.

Are PC developers in 2016 making and releasing software that requires a minimum spec of tbe OR to run? No. They're aiming at audiences with 2500ks and Geforce 760s - they're cross developing for consoles.

Very few if any PC developers are making boutique software for those with £850+ PCs. Even fewer will be making sofware for an audience who havs the capital to lay down £1350+ on VR.

Ergo this is DK3 in all but name. A high end sandbox for curious devs, whilst consumer-level VR is left solely in the hands of SCE.
 
Drakken said:
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.
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The problem is that to really take off, which I think all of us here want, there needs to be solid software. If there aren't enough units in the wild, the software will not come, which will lead to even less sales. It's a viscous circle. Luckily Facebook is all in, so the financial aspect may not be too big of an issue and may allow the time for the mass market to adopt. Should be interesting to watch, regardless.
 
plagiarize said:
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?
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This seems to be what a lot of angry people want. Maybe the messaging has been poor that they're selling these for cost and that doing so leaves zero room for Oculus to offset local taxes and fees.

He definitely needs a PR person to handle this now that people that haven't been following the Rift's development are showing up.
 
jaxapollo said:
I think you're right. Which seems really steep for the quality comparison between console and PC VR.

PSVR = $1000
Oculus = $1500

$500 for like 500 times the quality. Hmm.
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New tech, extra box needed, needs bundled game or two. Consoles tend to have more expensive peripherals. Sony does have a better distribution infrastructure tho.

Knowing Sony they will want to come in below Oculus but not too cheap since there is no real competition in the console space. $500 is probably the sweet spot for them.
 
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