Oculus Rift preorders start Wednesday at 11am ET/8am PT

Still no word on price point or specific release date, though.

Read the whole story

 

[lewax00]

Well then hopefully we'll know the price by Wednesday, so there's some progress.

 

[elh]

Do you think it will be shipping to US only?
If so what's the current procedure to have it forwarded to another country?

In the past, I have used Ars Civis colleagues to help with that, but I best there's professional companies that do that?

 

[ChickenHawk]

Hate to be the naysayer, but we know from consoles how these accessory items sell, and how few succeed... Couple it with a high powered PC being required, and I can't see a lot of developers justifying the extra cost to make their games work with it

 

[pokrface]

Don't care what the price is, buying it. Have had waaaaay more than $350 worth of fun with the $350 DK2 I bought last July. Pretty much no matter how much the Rift costs, it's a must-have.

 

[rougegoat]

I would love to find a site that just helps you find the parts(best price/compatibility/etc) for an Occulus Rift compatible rig. Anyone know of one?

 

[elh]

ChickenHawk[/url]":1csnsg28]Hate to be the naysayer, but we know from consoles how these accessory items sell, and how few succeed... Couple it with a high powered PC being required, and I can't see a lot of developers justifying the extra cost to make their games work with it

Judging by the astounding success of PS Move and M$ backtracking from shipping Kincect by default, I hate to agree. Still it can remain a high-end niche product and still make senses, as long as at least a few developers put a little extra effort...

 

[elh]

rougegoat[/url]":1a05pxis]I would love to find a site that just helps you find the parts(best price/compatibility/etc) for an Occulus Rift compatible rig. Anyone know of one?

Just ask on ars forum and we'll spec you a nice rig to handle the games.
From Oculus themselves, the main requirement is a beefy video card (GPU) - for example GTX970 or better.
At this point, I'd probably wait to see what the final spec of the product is as it will be easy to extrapolate how much of computer you need to handle a particular performance in a particular game.

 

[laitpojes]

If you have a wheel/pedals/seat combo, something like Project Cars would be...

AWE-SOME


I was excited about something like DCS except the resolution still doesn't seem to be there for small details like all the cockpit gauges, but perhaps overlay/popups/huds could make it workable.


Been waiting my whole life for seriously immersive Flight Sim!

 

[Houdani]

Damn you O.Rift! I was hoping to wait another year or two before upgrading my rig again. #tempted

 

[rolphus]

laitpojes[/url]":2a6z8ua3]If you have a wheel/pedals/seat combo, something like Project Cars would be...

AWE-SOME


I was excited about something like DCS except the resolution still doesn't seem to be there for small details like all the cockpit gauges, but perhaps overlay/popups/huds could make it workable.


Been waiting my whole life for seriously immersive Flight Sim!

Yeah, I basically want one for Project Cars, Elite Dangerous, Eve Valkyrie etc. I'm a sitting-down-with-interesting-controllers kind of person.

 

[praetor_alpha]

Anyone want to bet that their severs won't be able to take the load from legitimate demand?

 

[rolphus]

praetor_alpha[/url]":gw06t356]Anyone want to bet that their severs won't be able to take the load from legitimate demand?

I'd love it Carmack's job post-Gear VR was building an e-commerce app.

 

[Happy Stance]

I really really want one. But I really need to wait to see the reviews and reception. A new PC (probably), graphics card, and a Rift is a lot of money to casually put out sight unseen.

 

[Fulgan]

 

[Dr Orgo]

rougegoat[/url]":9d4z9dhq]I would love to find a site that just helps you find the parts(best price/compatibility/etc) for an Occulus Rift compatible rig. Anyone know of one?

PCPartPicker is a good resource for PC build guides. They don't have a specific Occulus Rift build yet, but it has guides that show the best price/performance PC at the different price brackets. It also lets you browse user uploaded builds to see what looks good visually.

I'm glad Occulus is keeping on schedule, but I have no plans to jump into the VR space until version 2 or 3 of the Occulus Rift. The controls and design decisions are guaranteed to improve greatly over the next few years. I'll happily enjoy VR after the beta testing stage is over (or when Blizzard releases a stand alone VR game).

 

[batmananimated]

I'm beyond excited for this to release. I'll watch the early reviews closely and try to persuade my wife to go along with a major entertainment purchase. Does anyone know if there are any plans for placing the first gen Rift in traditional retail stores? If I could get my wife to try it out, I think it will be easier to sell her on it.

 

[No.6]

laitpojes[/url]":1wlzmb2q]If you have a wheel/pedals/seat combo, something like Project Cars would be...

AWE-SOME


I was excited about something like DCS except the resolution still doesn't seem to be there for small details like all the cockpit gauges, but perhaps overlay/popups/huds could make it workable.


Been waiting my whole life for seriously immersive Flight Sim!

From the hordes of happy iRacing folks who post on those forums, sim-racing is "AWE-SOME" in VR. Lotus 49 at the Nordschliefe! (I don't happen to have PCars, but I thought they were in on Rift support, so that should be great too).

I agree that modern-era flight sims are going to be a bit tricky yet, but something like Rise of Flight would be amazing as well (until your plane catches on fire).

 

[The_Turdinator]

ChickenHawk[/url]":3dlxso0s]Hate to be the naysayer, but we know from consoles how these accessory items sell, and how few succeed... Couple it with a high powered PC being required, and I can't see a lot of developers justifying the extra cost to make their games work with it

These won't become popular until something like the Playstation 5 comes with it included in the box. You have to build a whole system around VR. Not just tack it on and expect people to pay $400 for an "accessory"

 

[Einstein76]

jcnix[/url]":2qebcwfo]i'm not buying one of these things

No one cares.

 

[batmananimated]

DrDenim[/url]":136tokj9]

batmananimated[/url]":136tokj9]I'm beyond excited for this to release. I'll watch the early reviews closely and try to persuade my wife to go along with a major entertainment purchase. Does anyone know if there are any plans for placing the first gen Rift in traditional retail stores? If I could get my wife to try it out, I think it will be easier to sell her on it.

Why?
I've read some VR news and so far the major applications seems to be a "game" where you make soup (which I can do in my own kitchen) and space combat sim where the HMD just replace the mouse movement?

I'm making the bold prediction that putting giant junk on your head to play games will only appeal to a tiny batch of extreme nerds...

Well, count me in with nerds. I think the technology is an amazing new story telling and education medium. I can hardly wait for it to come out and look forward to incorporating it in to my leisure time.

 

[arkiel]

Bah! I'm not buying this!

This comes with EVE: Valkyrie.

Okay, I'm TOTALLY BUYING THIS.

 

[Bluefinger]

I know there are a few people unconvinced by Oculus and co, the whole VR thing. But I'll be buying in regardless. As someone who's studied into interface technology and design, to finally have viable consumer-grade VR products makes me very happy indeed. Sure, it won't be every game I'd be able to use it for. But I'm not going to miss it for the world.

My computer is ready...

 

[KT421]

My 970 is ready.

My wallet... is probably not ready. We'll see.

 

[Syrophenikan]

Does the pre-order include the IR head tracking for the headset?

 

[lewax00]

Does the pre-order include the IR head tracking for the headset?

Considering it's pretty much useless without it, I'd certainly hope so.

 

[Kyle Orland]

Syrophenikan[/url]":1kmdtmik]Does the pre-order include the IR head tracking for the headset?

The head-tracking camera comes packed. It's unclear if they're including a second one, which seems to be required for the Touch controller.

 

[batmananimated]

Dr Orgo[/url]":1j4nmq2p]

rougegoat[/url]":1j4nmq2p]I would love to find a site that just helps you find the parts(best price/compatibility/etc) for an Occulus Rift compatible rig. Anyone know of one?

PCPartPicker is a good resource for PC build guides. They don't have a specific Occulus Rift build yet, but it has guides that show the best price/performance PC at the different price brackets. It also lets you browse user uploaded builds to see what looks good visually.

I'm glad Occulus is keeping on schedule, but I have no plans to jump into the VR space until version 2 or 3 of the Occulus Rift. The controls and design decisions are guaranteed to improve greatly over the next few years. I'll happily enjoy VR after the beta testing stage is over (or when Blizzard releases a stand alone VR game).

I second your recommendation of PC Part Picker. It is a great site and it even has user generated vr builds. I have spent far too much time comparing parts on that site.

 

[Bluefinger]

DrDenim[/url]":nwfj6a70]Turning your head instead of moving a mouse is "amazing new story telling and education medium"?

You'd be surprised at the effect this has on presence, where you have the sensation of being in the virtual world as opposed to real world. Even with low fidelity graphics, as long as you have low latency between the tracking of your view/perspective as well as your movements, you create a far more immersive experience, to the point where you create a 'presence' in the virtual world.

To boost this effect even further, adding haptic feedback amplifies the effect considerably. As such, taking advantage of this sensation of 'presence' offers unique opportunities for invoking emotional responses where ordinary means through 2D screens haven't been possible. Like having a character invade your personal space by being too close to you. It's hard to create that feeling on a 2D screen, but once you have 3D perception as well as the presence of you being in the virtual scene, suddenly you can invoke that response. Also, things that were possible to do with traditional 2D media now might be too intense when applied to 3D VR experiences, simply because it'll invoke too great of an emotional response, like being in a middle of a gunfight.

As a further addendum: Imagine if the opening scene to Saving Private Ryan was done in a VR experience. Old WW2 vets that survived those landings would be having severe flashbacks, as it would be like being there again. And for audiences who haven't been in a battlefield, suddenly feeling like you were there and watching people getting blown to bits and shredded under shelling and machine-gun fire, to say it'd be a haunting experience would be putting it lightly.

 

[SudoShinji]

I need a vive update asap, I don't know how long I can hold out and I really would rather put my money towards valve but I'm not waiting long as this has been the one tech advancement I've been most excited for (VR).

 

[hawkstone]

Since I'm already planning to buy a consumer release of one of these VR headsets (either computer or console, not a phone one), I've been torn between the "just works" PlayStation experience, the Oculus Rift for the full PC flexibility, or the "first-to-release" Vive. Since the Vive is now looking like it may be later than the Rift, even with other benefits I think it's just gotten pushed back in the stack, and we still don't have a release date for the PS VR. So the Rift may win out at this point.....

 

[polerin]

elh[/url]":dxsabedn]

rougegoat[/url]":dxsabedn]I would love to find a site that just helps you find the parts(best price/compatibility/etc) for an Occulus Rift compatible rig. Anyone know of one?

Just ask on ars forum and we'll spec you a nice rig to handle the games.
From Oculus themselves, the main requirement is a beefy video card (GPU) - for example GTX970 or better.
At this point, I'd probably wait to see what the final spec of the product is as it will be easy to extrapolate how much of computer you need to handle a particular performance in a particular game.

**cough Ars System Guide, Rift Edition cough**

 

[qchronod]

Looking at the renders, I'm not sure about how comfortable the hard plastic is going to be, especially the little nubs where the arms of the shitty headphones are going to be poking into your skull. And as someone that shaves their head, I'm probably going to need to wear a knit cap to stop it from leaving marks in my skin.

I think I would have preferred if they stayed with the adjustable straps from the DKs.

 

[auxilio]

I'm getting it.

One thing to keep in mind is that Oculus's system requirements are more of "recommended requirements" for a good experience now and in the future. You may be able to get by with less. Therefore, I'm not upgrading any component on my PC until I've got the Rift on hand to see if it's absolutely necessary.

 

[Zak]

How does it work with standard games if at all? Is it compatible/does it benefit from SLI?

 

[Zak]

rougegoat[/url]":8uoaypk0]I would love to find a site that just helps you find the parts(best price/compatibility/etc) for an Occulus Rift compatible rig. Anyone know of one?

This requires pretty high-end set up so choosing on the high-end is easier than budget or midrange. I'd go over their minimum suggested specs. Since I'm in the Intel/Nvidia camp so I'd just get a current model Core i7, 16GB RAM and 980TI. Then match up an Asus, MSI or Gigabyte mobo that has good recent reviews.

 

[icwhatudidthere]

Zak[/url]":2qd7m1ey]How does it work with standard games if at all? Is it compatible/does it benefit from SLI?

I'm not sure of the current state it's in, but Nvidia has a special VR SLI where each card renders each eye's viewpoint entirely.

As for games, I wouldn't bother playing standard games that aren't made with VR in mind. You run the risk of poor experience at best or getting sick at worst.