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[Steel]

I meant comparatively destroy. $600 was considered insane for a console. You really think people will be chomping at the bit to spend that on a peripheral for $1000+ PCs?

You really think anyone expects console-like sales right out of the gate for any VR device?

 

[KHarvey16]

Wasn't the whole idea that the he rift bring VR to the masses? I was skeptical after owning dk2 but that was the whole point of oculus, and specially the Rift.

The idea is Oculus the company will, eventually. This first release isn't intended to see adoption on a massive scale. The price needs to come down, the tech needs to improve and the software (not just games) needs to be developed.

 

[Kathian]

Price is high, but it's way less than many other devices that are much more popular.

Which is the issue. People aren't willing to pay for what it offers.

 

[ruddiger7]

I have 2 980ti hybrids and im not paying for this overpriced bullshit. The vive will have the same price if not be cheaper and better.

 

[Nzyme32]

so are we willing to admit that at best this is a highly niche piece of tech that probably won't even be mass market for at least several years, let alone the 'future' of gaming?

From the outset the goal hasn't been "mass market" out of the gate. It's been said to be at least around 3 years before things scale to the "mass market" and that seems about right. As with most new tech, this is starting as a purely enthusiastic affair on the consumer side while probably getting some use for other industries. Over the years the momentum of more sales, developers, diversity and number of products, competition and hardware evolution will drive prices lower. That is still quite a way off though.

Personally I'd think the price in Europe is too high for some who would call themselves enthusiasts in the first place, but there will still be a good amount that get on board with it regardless of price, which is pretty typical for early adopters.

 

[jimbobsmells]

People that were expecting this lowet than $500 were dreaming, i will eat crow is psvr is $400

Ok saving this for later just in case you like the taste of crow ;-)

 

[Sulik2]

Wasn't the whole idea that the he rift bring VR to the masses? I was skeptical after owning dk2 but that was the whole point of oculus, and specially the Rift.

It is long term, but they had to make VR work first. Turns out that requires some really expensive components. The cost will come down over time, but these headsets and the computing power to drive them are not cheap.

 

[D23]

Ill stick to my Gear VR, WIRELESS FTW

 

[WhiskeyKnight]

I ordered one.

I'm an idiot.

 

[Alec]

Pre-ordered without hesitation. Thing coulda been $1,999.99 and I still woulda pre-ordered.

I said this exact thing to a couple different people IRL today.

 

[baddvision]

damn gina! didn't expect it to be so expensive, hope playstation vr is much cheaper

 

[Dr.Acula]

This reinforces my intention to wait until I can buy this thing at retail.

 

[Mihos]

I'm not saying it's not a thing, but it's a very small thing at this point.

I am actually on the side of preparing for the meltdowns in about a year when the most popular VR content is a cooking show.

It is going to be an enormous thing. I think the next world cup is even in VR

 

[Chance Hale]

I have 2 980ti hybrids and im not paying for this overpriced bullshit. The vive will have the same price if not be cheaper and better.

You need to pass the bud brah, the Vive's entire marketing has been based around how it's a premium VR device even in comparison to the Rift.

 

[Nafai1123]

Why did people adopt DVD's over VHS when VHS showed you the same content at a cheaper price(plus you could record over it!)? I mean, why would people go "Holy shit I need this" and not "wow viewing this movie in a higher resolution is cool"?

Easy, it's because people didn't go "Holy shit I need this" in regards to the early adoption of DVD. They went, "hey, this PS2 has a DVD player....maybe I should check out some DVD's" or "hey, this DVD thing's been out for a while and the studios keep releasing them, maybe I should pick up a DVD player for $50."

Film studios/retailers/distributors liked DVD because once the infrastructure was in place it was cheaper to produce, smaller to package/mail, etc.

 

[labx]

Price is high, but it's way less than many other devices that are much more popular.

What other devices?

cellphones? Tablets? smart-watches? those are actually useful and have a multitasking format.

 

[BizzyBum]

The only thing I need to upgrade in my PC is my GPU. I have a GTX 780. I'm waiting though for the next gen nvidia cards which I think should be out around the same time the Rift launches so it's perfect.

 

[artsi]

In a way I hope many people will cancel their preorders so I can get my own before May, lol.

 

[XiaNaphryz]

There's a lot more to it.

For game content

Significant amount of optimization has to be done in order to maintain the high frame rates.

Depends on the game and the engine, but a lot of that optimization time is going to happen regardless for the standard game. A lot of that testing and optimization will help the VR side of things regardless. Hell, that used to be part of my main job over a decade ago when I started in the game industry doing PC hardware testing. I don't think there will be that much more overhead specifically due to VR on top of what they already need to do. Especially if you're going to assume the min specs are the ones the Rift have as "recommended" which will likely be higher than the min spec of a title.

The cameras have to reworked completely depending on the game. Same with controls.

You're overstating how difficult this actually will be.

Video content has to be recorded with actual 360 cameras unless you spend a lot of time in post.

Weren't you asking about the cost of adding VR support to games versus 3D conversion of movies? What does video content for VR have to do with that?

In any case, simply adding VR support to a game will not be more expensive than full-on 3D conversion of a film. I've worked in both spaces (game development and movie post production), 3D conversion is still pretty laborious and not that cheap.

 

[CosmicQueso]

cellphones? Tablets? smart-watches? those are actually useful and have a multitasking format.

Same exact thing said of the iPod when it was announced.

 

[plagiarize]

Moon_frogger circa 1998: "So are we willing to admit that HDTV is a highly niche piece of tech that probably won't even be mass market for at least several years, let alone the 'future' of television and movies?"

We just don't know yet. It may take the market by storm when it hits mass market price or it may be a nonstarter.

Try 1991.

It's not crazy to suggest it won't be mass market for several years... it probably won't be. But it doesn't need to be. It took a long time before HDTV became mass market. You can point to 1996 for the first smart phones. It took them ages before they become mass market. Or before mobile phones did. Or video chat. Or colour TV... or well just about any major new technology.

 

[Spoo]

Big VR fan but....


Hell no. 400 or bust.

 

[Bsigg12]

I have 2 980ti hybrids and im not paying for this overpriced bullshit. The vive will have the same price if not be cheaper and better.

Heh

 

[Doc Holliday]

Do people buy extra $600 dollar graphics cards for diminishing performance returns? This was never meant to be the moment VR went mainstream. A circa four figure PC is the entry requirement. We've known that for months.

Actually 2016 was the year many were thinking VR would go mainstream. I still think will be somewhat. Oculus is just making t harder than it should be. Come on Facebook take a bigger loss on the hardware lol. Mark is giving a away cash might as well take a hit on the rift lol

 

[Betta Lines]

I have 2 980ti hybrids and im not paying for this overpriced bullshit. The vive will have the same price if not be cheaper and better.

You sound very confident about that...

 

[cybropm]

While still in shock at the price and holding out for the PSVR which I am guessing will come in at lower price probably around $399... I am reminded how far VR has come.

https://youtu.be/J0n5B3fl-bU

 

[Scotia]

Oh cool, the Oculus Rift is ready for pre-

https://shop.oculus.com/

 

[TAJ]

Even stuff like DVD players were insanely expensive at first.

No they weren't. I paid $400 for a Toshiba model during the test market phase.
DVD-R was expensive AF, though. It was $15,000 for a drive at first. It dropped to $5,000 around 1999-2000. Then I bought a drive for $300 in 2002.

 

[plagiarize]

I have 2 980ti hybrids and im not paying for this overpriced bullshit. The vive will have the same price if not be cheaper and better.

Good luck with that.

 

[kruis]

Preorders seem to be moving briskly so I'm not sure why they would need to drop the price, but I'm sure they are concerned that a GAF thread has taken a negative tone. That almost never happens.

Preorders are an indication of pent up demand, not of long term sales.

 

[Doc Holliday]

Depends on the game and the engine, but a lot of that optimization time is going to happen regardless for the standard game. A lot of that testing and optimization will help the VR side of things regardless. Hell, that used to be part of my main job over a decade ago when I started in the game industry doing PC hardware testing. I don't think there will be that much more overhead specifically due to VR on top of what they already need to do. Especially if you're going to assume the min specs are the ones the Rift have as "recommended" which will likely be higher than the min spec of a title.



You're overstating how difficult this actually will be.



Weren't you asking about the cost of adding VR support to games versus 3D conversion of movies? What does video content for VR have to do with that?

In any case, simply adding VR support to a game will not be more expensive than full-on 3D conversion of a film. I've worked in both spaces (game development and movie post production), 3D conversion is still pretty laborious and not that cheap.

Someone was asking about Hollywood, and television networks. That's why I brought up 360 cameras.

 

[mckmas8808]

Stop comparing it to other early tech, content has to specifically be designed for this. Cell phones, tvs, and even media devices (dvd/vcr/whatever) don't require anywhere near the same amount of work to create content for it.

Good because plenty of content is being made for this also.

 

[Head.spawn]

I ordered one.

I'm an idiot.

I'm an idiot too!

 

[Codeblue]

This thing taking off is the very reason why it isn't a lower tech headset for less cost. They believe it has to be at this level of quality to not fail.

Maybe they should have waited until production got cheaper. I want VR to be a thing, but $600 is not a mass market price for something that doesn't have an established mass market use.

 

[robotrock]

Any CES impressions?

 

[ruddiger7]

You need to pass the bud brah, the Vive's entire marketing has been based around how it's a premium VR device even in comparison to the Rift.

Yet every review done has stated how much better the experience has been than the rift.

 

[Ferrio]

You need to pass the bud brah, the Vive's entire marketing has been based around how it's a premium VR device even in comparison to the Rift.

Good luck with that.

To be fair, this was back when people were expecting rift around $350. Vive's "premium" might be what Rift ended up costing.

 

[wanderingprostheyltite]

If anything I look at this more like dk3 in terms of content availability, sans Oculus funded content of course. We'll have an app store which will obv put it in a much better place usability wise, being able to buy and launch everything within the hmd, but beyond that it could def be sparse during the first year for meatier experiences and games. Expect a lot of short minigame type titles like ones available for Gear.

 

[Alienfan]

Yeah this price makes me think that Samsung are really the only ones that have a chance at mainstream success - although in saying that, the Gear VR is still an oculus device.

 

[Octavianus]

What other devices?

cellphones? Tablets? smart-watches? those are actually useful and have a multitasking format.

A somewhat decent tv?

 

[KratosEnergyDrink]

Wow.


I hope PSVR is cheaper.

Of course it will be cheaper. It is technically the low-end version of oculus and hive. But it will be expensive too.

 

[KHarvey16]

Maybe they should have waited until production got cheaper. I want VR to be a thing, but $600 is not a mass market price for something that doesn't have an established mass market use.

It's not a mass market product.

 

[plagiarize]

Actually 2016 was the year many were thinking VR would go mainstream. I still think will be somewhat. Oculus is just making t harder than it should be. Come on Facebook take a bigger loss on the hardware lol. Mark is giving a away cash might as well take a hit on the rift lol

I think it will be a break through year for VR, but I don't see VR as a desktop PC peripheral ever becoming mainstream. Console VR or more likely mobile VR will be where it breaks through to mainstream.

 

[Occam]

Ill stick to my Gear VR, WIRELESS FTW

That's one of my main gripes with all current VR solutions. VR really should be wireless.

 

[Scrub Mcgrubb]

Luckey is asking developers to put significant investment, time and testing into an already niche product that costs from $600 upwards if you don't live in America, that already requires a $1000 PC to run at some ok standard.

Here's the thing though... VR isn't Oculus exclusive. The same game can be released for Playstation VR, HTC Vive, Oculus Rift, Starbreeze VR (and whatever else might be coming).

In that same notion- with the amount of competition there's bound to be an option that's going to be cheaper than Oculus.

It's a little premature to be putting the nails in the coffin of VR.

 

[low-G]

Which is the issue. People aren't willing to pay for what it offers.

And for the unknowns. If I could have been sure the device ticked all the things I specifically want, I probably would go in for $600, personally. But I expect it to be a bit short in some ways, and what with the pricing I'm not confident with those gaps being filled in with other cool things.

I'd expect 95% of GAF could afford the Oculus if it did what we all personally wanted. To me $400 was the safe zone where the device could totally not fit my needs and I'd still be OK paying. I can't imagine someone willing to pay $2000 for something that shits the bed.

 

[artsi]

I ordered one.

I'm an idiot.

Welcome to the club, lol.

I've done worse purchases, like a 1000€ bicycle I used two times last summer.

 

[billeh]

I personally have a bunch of home videos shot in 3D that I'll be using the Rift for. Only way I can see my dad ..

Can't wait to see all the non-gaming applications.

 

[dEvAnGeL]

Ok saving this for later just in case you like the taste of crow ;-)

I like onions and tomato, just in case 😑

 

[_Justinian_]

Price isn't an issue for me, but I want to wait until official reviews of the product and a solid line-up of games are available before putting up that much money for something.