Oculus Rift

[c.j]

Ah k, cheers R8



I wonder if their order servers are ready for the meltdown?

[Cursed]

Well, I think my i7-4770k and 780ti are up to it. They're a couple of years old now.

I suppose if I choose this now and the HTC Vive turns out strikingly better, I shouldn't have many issues offloading the Rift here or on ebay or similar.

Will have to set a clock to be ready for the 3am offer.

[Duke]

Speaking of Vive: HTC update their Vive headset - it's now called the Vive Pre and has a camera on the front

If you're up on your recent VR history, you'll remember as far back as December when HTC announced that they were to delay the Vive's release date due to "a very, very big technological breakthrough." Today we're finally able to stop flicking through the mental rolodex of Back to the Future consumer items that have yet to come to pass - they were talking about a camera mounted to the front of the headset.

That camera finds its way onto a revised version of the Vive which HTC are showing off out at CES 2016 in Vegas. It'll allow you to look around at your actual surroundings so you don't go walking off your 50th floor balcony window or punching the cat.

To see physical objects around you while wearing the Vive head-mounted display, you'll just need to press a button on one of the controllers and the outlines of those objects will ghost in. There's a similar system already in place that alerts you when you're getting close to a wall by showing you its wireframe when you move near to it, and it's worked well when I've used the Vive.

So, that's why we're waiting until April for it - sounds fair enough to me. Still no word on pricing, but with Oculus pre-orders kicking off imminently and thus its pricing soon to be revealed, that'll give an indication of the Vive's ballpark figure.

[c.j]

Reloading, reloading... and the shop has crashed.

[c.j]

Thank you for your order
Your Oculus Rift is expected to ship in March 2016.

[Righteous]

It's up. $599 US

I got my order in but ouch, that's a bit more of a hit than I was thinking.

[norbs]

Trying to get one for a mate. Fucking hell. That is US apparently.

$850AU plus shipping and he backed out. Fucker.

[norbs]

It's up. $599 US

I got my order in but ouch, that's a bit more of a hit than I was thinking.

Looking forward to your review Righty.

[norbs]

Let's see as that was stated a long time ago, global markets have changed quite a bit since then. My prediction is it'll be well over that USD & close to $500-$600 AUD.
I hope not but I can't see how it won't be now.

Not even close Duke

[DarrenM]

Showed me $649 after changing country and going to checkout. + $132 shipping. $1100AUD

I've ordered just to get a spot, but that shipping is ludicrous.

[norbs]

Showed me $649 after changing country and going to checkout. + $132 shipping. $1100AUD

I've ordered just to get a spot, but that shipping is ludicrous.

Good to know Darren. $649AU?? I didnt get that far before he told me on the phone to pull the pin (farking slow net down here even at 3am). Just wait til I tell him it ended up being $1000 plus I suggested probably another $50 shipping. Jesus.

[norbs]

Flinty is going to tear both retinas with the mega eye roll at the price.

To bed.

[Righteous]

It's up. $599 US

I got my order in but ouch, that's a bit more of a hit than I was thinking.

Looking forward to your review Righty.

Well the good news is I'll loose some weight. I won't be able to eat for a month to cover the price.

I'm curious what HTC is going to price the vive at now. With extra bits and pieces, that is going to be super expensive I would think.

[DarrenM]

No mention of currency or GST so I assume USD

Update: They confirmed it's USD on the forum.

[Righteous]

Final price for me was 685 US. California has 9% tax to add to the price, so other people's final cost will be less over here depending on where they live.

So it looks like its 20-30 bucks shipping included there too.

Lots of price rage on their Facebook page, everyone saying they'll get a vive instead because it will be cheaper.

as far as i know HTC have said all along, theirs is a "premium experience". There will be a lot of disappointed people me thinks.

It's not really any more expensive than a high end monitor and people spend as much on mobile phones and comparable in price to a triple monitor setup.

[Righteous]

No mention of currency or GST so I assume USD

Update: They confirmed it's USD on the forum.

If I was paying in Aus, I'd want them to take the money now. The exchange rate with Aus has taken a beating the last couple of days and will likely be worse in March when they charge you.

I still get work from Aus, so I check the currency most days as it has an impact on how much I'll get paid.

[wobblysauce]

Righty, That said for others. If you think the exchange rate is good now, just put money into USD in e.g. Paypal and use that.. then if it changes worse later on you are not worse off, if the AUD gets better.. well you were going to get it with the worse conversion before so nothing is lost.

Also, it was mentioned that if you were a DK1 supporter you will be getting a CE1 for free, you just had to fill in a survey form.

[Duke]

Good luck to them but I'm glad I decided a while ago to not set my heart on one.

What happened?
Did they not say they were aiming for a RRP of $350-400USD?
The USD has strengthened since then too.

Just for you norbs.

[Duke]

Can someone point me to the actual specs, I can't see anything on the official site...?

http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2 ... der-at-600

Other developers agree that it could be too expensive to attract a mass consumer audience. “The price is a lot higher than we expected,” said Katie Goode whose studio Triangular Pixels specialises in VR experiences. “Of course, we’re in two minds about it. From a developer view it’s very much a new platform, but for a lot of consumers, it’s still seen as a PC accessory and it’ll be hard to convince them otherwise.

[norbs]

Imagine how many people who want it also need a GPU upgrade. if the 970 is min spec, it is now a $1600 hit.

That is a lot of doughnuts!

[Duke]

Imagine how many people who want it also need a GPU upgrade. if the 970 is min spec, it is now a $1600 hit.

That is a lot of doughnuts!

The CPU spec is also a consideration, anyone not on a current spec Intel i5 or better will struggle.

[wabbit]

Gee! I hope the PlayStation equivalent isn't priced the same.

[c.j]

Bring on march, I'll have mine just after my birthday.

This will be great - http://www.theverge.com/2015/12/15/1012 ... -rift-game

[Righteous]

I did the compatibility app and my pc passed it all, but I imagine I'll have to turn some bling down. I've got one of the original titans, which is probably marginally slower than a 970, but I'm not going to upgrade my GPU till the next gen of stuff.

What I'm extremely interested in seeing is if running 970s in SLI will yield better performance than a single 980ti. With nvidia's new drivers they can now dedicate 1 GPU to each eye, I imagine that might actually perform better than 1 GPU for both, even if it's more powerful.

[Cursed]

Well, I'm in. This was the primary purpose of my hobby fund over the last couple of years, so I decided to put my name down. I figure I can bail out if need be. Apparently my PC checks out OK.