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[SenjutsuSage]

Still don't see VR being as big for gaming as people think. Barring a really interesting application of the technology, which I don't automatically assume can't happen, the uses will simply be far too limited, leading to more gimmick applications, rather than anything truly ground breaking and worthwhile.

It'll be bigger for things that people probably aren't expecting, like social media, non-gaming related apps, video and music streaming applications, and especially as a complimentary device to a keyboard and mouse on a typical laptop or PC where there are experiences designed around the detection of capable VR equipment.

That's why Facebook buying Oculus was such a big and smart move. Gaming's applications for VR are, and will continue to be for years, very limited.

 

[pixxxelz]

Fuck that! I hope the psvr is a lot cheaper than that.

 

[Glorified G]

Well, mostly because Palmer said the Facebook buyout would allow them to sell the headset at cost, so that's what most people expected them to do. Those high-end smartphones only cost a couple hundred dollars to actually build, and these headsets have only a handful of the parts that a smartphone has. It doesn't need RAM, or a CPU, or a GPU, or flash storage, or a cellular radio, or any of that stuff.

Even if they sells this for even more of a loss it wouldn't matter since there is such a high barrier of entry in the first place. Only a fraction of PC's will even work at all with the Rift. This is for the people willing to build their own high end gaming PC's. It's targeted towards a niche audience in 2016 but that doesn't mean this cannot be targeted towards a larger audience in the future.

 

[Nzyme32]

Still don't see VR being as big for gaming as people think. Barring a really interesting application of the technology, which I don't automatically assume can't happen, the uses will simply be far too limited, leading to more gimmick applications, rather than anything truly ground breaking and worthwhile.

It'll be bigger for things that people probably aren't expecting, like social media, non-gaming related apps, video and music streaming applications, and especially as a complimentary device to a keyboard and mouse on a typical laptop or PC where there are experiences designed around the detection of capable VR equipment.

That's why Facebook buying Oculus was such a big and smart move. Gaming's applications for VR are, and will continue to be for years, very limited.

It will be huge for gaming once it is affordable enough for easy entry to the medium. That is still years away.

 

[tborsje]

import duties levied by customs?

It's under the minimum threshold in Australia

 

[chemicals]

VR is a brand new form of media... OF COURSE The first few iterations will be costly.

 

[doomquake]

Pretty hefty price for such an underwhelming screen resolution..but then again it's hard to argue that this device is not the bleeding edge of consumer electronics. Still pretty lame thing considering you are also signing up to get bummed by Facebook at every turn.

 

[Sleeping Lesson]

Pretty hefty price for such an underwhelming screen resolution..but then again it's hard to argue that this device is not the bleeding edge of consumer electronics. Still pretty lame thing considering you are also signing up to get bummed by Facebook at every turn.

Not sure if parody post.

 

[Maximo]

Did anyone ask him about why the shipping cost is so fucking much?

"To be perfectly clear, we don’t make money on the Rift. The Xbox controller costs us almost nothing to bundle, and people can easily resell it for profit. A lot of people wish we would sell a bundle without “useless extras” like high-end audio, a carrying case, the bundled games, etc, but those just don’t significantly impact the cost."

I assume the the Controller/Carrying case adds to the shipping must be a big box.

 

[MikeE21286]

Pretty hefty price for such an underwhelming screen resolution..but then again it's hard to argue that this device is not the bleeding edge of consumer electronics. Still pretty lame thing considering you are also signing up to get bummed by Facebook at every turn.

What is the resolution BTW?

 

[Cutwolf]

$599, guys.

What a disappointing day.

 

[kennyamr]

PSVR = $399

 

[tuna_love]

"To be perfectly clear, we don’t make money on the Rift. The Xbox controller costs us almost nothing to bundle, and people can easily resell it for profit. A lot of people wish we would sell a bundle without “useless extras” like high-end audio, a carrying case, the bundled games, etc, but those just don’t significantly impact the cost."

I assume the the Controller/Carrying case adds to the shipping must be a big box.

For $187aud it would want to be in a huge box

 

[InaudibleWhispa]

What is the resolution BTW?

2160x1200 (one 1080x1200 screen per eye)

 

[Brofist]

$599 is just a bit outside of my spontaneous buy range. With more content and some good feedback I wouldn't mind at that price though.

 

[Maximo]

For $187aud it would want to be in a huge box

Yeah don't remind me the Australian price is a killer for me too...Was considering getting VR instead of a PS4 this year, looks like I'm getting a PS4, will keep a eye out for Vive.

 

[Thanati]

Drop the Xbox controller and two games, bring that price down. Christ.

Why? The controller is for people to play the games and why not bundle games? Are you not going to buy a game as soon as you get one?

 

[Felix Lighter]

2160x1200 (1080x1200 per eye)

And the base PC specs are already quite steep at that resolution. I can't imagine them going higher res and not requiring something like a 980ti base.

 

[tuna_love]

Yeah don't remind me the Australian price is a killer for me too...Was considering getting s VR instead of a PS4 this year, looks like I'm getting a PS4.

I havent canceled my pre order yet but i dont think ill be keeping it. Its crazy

 

[MikeE21286]

2160x1200 (one 1080x1200 screen per eye)

That seems...not horrible :?

 

[Qvoth]

JUST

 

[McLovin]

To think I was gonna build a high end PC for this. They just saved me a bunch of money. I'm sure someone will make a PC driver for ps vr anyways.

 

[RedlineRonin]

Lots of respect for Palmer reading this AmA. Thought he was a shoeless goofball but he is totally taking the shit about price in stride, apologizing and providing sound support and logic for he situation. Good on em. Still not sure I'm ready to dive in for $600 but someday.

 

[TheChewyWaffles]

It comes with an Xbone controller? Does it also come with the wireless dongle?

 

[Sleeping Lesson]

That seems...not horrible :?

It's a good sweet spot for now. Read any impressions and the one thing people say is that you stop worrying about resolution very quickly.

 

[Jimrpg]

For gamers that already have high end GPUs, the equation is obviously different. In a September interview, during the Oculus Connect developer conference, I made the infamous “roughly in that $350 ballpark, but it will cost more than that” quote. As an explanation, not an excuse: during that time, many outlets were repeating the “Rift is $1500!” line, and I was frustrated by how many people thought that was the price of the headset itself. My answer was ill-prepared, and mentally, I was contrasting $349 with $1500, not our internal estimate that hovered close to $599 - that is why I said it was in roughly the same ballpark. Later on, I tried to get across that the Rift would cost more than many expected, in the past two weeks particularly. There are a lot of reasons we did not do a better job of prepping people who already have high end GPUs, legal, financial, competitive, and otherwise, but to be perfectly honest, our biggest failing was assuming we had been clear enough about setting expectations. Another problem is that people looked at the much less advanced technology in DK2 for $350 and assumed the consumer Rift would cost a similar amount, an assumption that myself (and Oculus) did not do a good job of fixing. I apologize.

I gotta hand it to Luckey, at least he can admit his mistakes and shows up to take his lumps. I still do not understand at all how or why they allowed people to believe they were making a $400 product, even months and months after they decided to ramp up quality at the expense of affordability.

I thought that was a pretty weak answer myself. He could have easily clarified that in the same interview. you can't mistake $349 with $599... thats almost double the price.

Aside from that, i liked his other answers. I still think he should talk more about the games on the system because I still don't know what is available.

 

[Occam]

"To be perfectly clear, we don’t make money on the Rift."

Translation: Everybody is getting paid, and the components are paid for. They aren't losing any money, either.
Nothing wrong with that, but since they'll obviously make money with their walled garden, lowering the price a bit at first to foster consumer acceptance would have been an option, too. Console manufacturers do it all the time.
From the point of view of a consumer, it is of no consequence how a seller arrives at a price. Only the price itself matters. And as the responses in this thread show, $600 is too much for most people.

 

[Bsigg12]

It comes with an Xbone controller? Does it also come with the wireless dongle?

Yes.

 

[xxracerxx]

It comes with an Xbone controller? Does it also come with the wireless dongle?

Yes.

 

[biglittleps]

Drop the Xbox controller and two games, bring that price down. Christ.

Read this: http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1167258

To be perfectly clear, we don’t make money on the Rift. The Xbox controller costs us almost nothing to bundle, and people can easily resell it for profit. A lot of people wish we would sell a bundle without “useless extras” like high-end audio, a carrying case, the bundled games, etc, but those just don’t significantly impact the cost. The core technology in the Rift is the main driver - two built-for-VR OLED displays with very high refresh rate and pixel density, a very precise tracking system, mechanical adjustment systems that must be lightweight, durable, and precise, and cutting-edge optics that are more complex to manufacture than many high end DSLR lenses. It is expensive, but for the $599 you spend, you get a lot more than spending $599 on pretty much any other consumer electronics devices - phones that cost $599 cost a fraction of that to make, same with mid-range TVs that cost $599. There are a lot of mainstream devices in that price-range, so as you have said, our failing was in communication, not just price..

 

[ThisGuy]

Just as an example. Samsung Galaxy s5 released in April 14 and the s6 in April 15.

He's probably referring to 1 to 2 years lifespan

Jesus. Im guessing this doesn't operate like a console, as in there won't be oculus rift 2 games and people will be fine with the first one for years. Right? Lol.

 

[Asmodai48]

Shrug... early adopter tax etc

 

[Trace]

Well I've spent all day shitting on the pricing strategy and I ordered one anyway. Well played Oculus.

Can always cancel later I guess is Vive turns out to be more compelling.

 

[Occam]

I bet he won't say how many sets were preordered today. But that's the $100,000 question.

 

[Bsigg12]

Jesus. Im guessing this doesn't operate like a console, as in there won't be oculus rift 2 games and people will be fine with the first one for years. Right? Lol.

Once eye tracking gets implemented, games made around that will require a headset with the necessary hardware to use it.

 

[flyinpiranha]

How long is the life of a cell phone? Its not something I've concerned myself with. Palmer states thats the life span of this first generation rift.

He said between a cellphone and a console. So we can look at 2-4 years realistically. I would expect 2-3 years from the CV1. They need to get it out, get word spread, and go from there. At this price even early adopters like myself will feel a little irritated if they come out with a new one like a new phone every year. But, the 'lifecycle' and production rates for phones are completely different. Most users have a phone for about 2 years when they subsidize another (OMG I MEAN IT'S FREE!!!)

I'm actually pretty happy after reading his explanation about price. Not that I wouldn't want something cheaper but I have a DK2, I know what $350 with no profit can achieve. I don't want that as my 'real' device. I want something that will blow my mind, that I don't have to constantly tweak and get to run for people I demo to.

This device was NEVER MEANT TO BE MAINSTREAM at this launch. It just wasn't. People comparing it to consoles that are mass appeal devices and need to sell like one in order to survive just don't get what's going on here.

There's going to be price ranges for all users. This isn't the price range for the people that just 'want to try it'. That can be the PSVR if you already have a PS4, or a cheaper way to 'jump in'.

 

[Hoho for breakfast]

I'll jump in in a few years when everything should be better and cheaper. Way too much of an investment right now when I don't even have the PC to use it.

 

[Dreamwriter]

I'm not liking that the answer to the "give us a ballpark idea of the Touch controller cost" is "I've learned my lesson about ballparks! I won't overpromise!" It was delayed, but unless something is wildly wrong, they should have an idea of the price. Again, it's that thing where there's no real baseline to judge it by for what it's doing, so it makes guessing the price very difficult.

I dunno, until they actually have a production line, they won't have a very good idea of the price, just a guess. And the fact that it's suddenly not coming until the second half of 2016 means they ran into some problem/improvement, which could very well alter the price.

 

[wachie]

30/599 is about 5%, next to thing. The games also cost us next to nothing. The case also didnt cost us next to nothing. The headset also cost us next to nothing.

But we bundled them all anyway, cause that's how you make your margins larger.

 

[Bsigg12]

30/599 is about 5%, next to thing. The games also cost us next to nothing. The case also didnt cost us next to nothing. The headset also cost us next to nothing.

But we bundled them all anyway, cause that's how you make your margins larger.

I can get an Xbox One controller from Microsoft for $20. I bet they get them for much less than that.

 

[wachie]

I can get an Xbox One controller from Microsoft for $20. I bet they get them for much less than that.

Pretty sure Microsoft sold Xbox One less than 300 (bundled games) in '14, doesnt mean they continued to sell those for that price.

 

[Bsigg12]

Pretty sure Microsoft sold Xbox One less than 300 (bundled games) in '14, doesnt mean they continued to sell those for that price.

I'm saying right now, direct from Microsoft I can get it for $20, the wholesale price. A discounted console is something else entirely.

 

[ThisGuy]

This device was NEVER MEANT TO BE MAINSTREAM at this launch. It just wasn't. People comparing it to consoles that are mass appeal devices and need to sell like one in order to survive just don't get what's going on here.

I mean that's what this is now. Which is fine for someone like me. I'll be able to save enough for this and even upgrade from 970 by April, which I think is the as of now store release date. I just don't want to buy this and then late 2017 see cv1 phased out. But as mentioned by another poster once killer features are plugged in I won't have a choice.

But I could of swore palmer was pushing cv1 to be cheap enough for "mainstream", which to me was enthusiasts that borderline high end PC gaming. But I think its clear he even over shot that market.

I'm jelly of the dk1 purchasers. But I'll be on this train soon enough.

 

[Syder]

As someone who's never tried VR or keeps up-to-date on VR news, and have no idea which the best model out there is, this news has only killed my interest in the format. This truly is a prime example of the costs of being an early adopter. It gets even worse if you're outside of North America. The Rift total plus shipping is €742 in Europe, so a bit less than £550.. So if you want to be an early adopter you'll have to pay that and need a high-end gaming PC. Recommended specs are a 970. Fuck dat.

Looking forward to using VR in 2020 when it's cheaper and more refined.

 

[homelessscootaloo]

I've been thinking about it all day and this cost is just too much a risk for something that can fail

 

[TheVampire]

Does this rift have that screen door effect this previous dev versions had?

I HATED that.

 

[InaudibleWhispa]

Does this rift have that screen door effect this previous dev versions had?

I HATED that.

According to most impressions, no.

 

[Jarmel]

Why are they holding an AMA now instead of doing a press conference last week? It's not like they're working out of someone's garage now. This seems kinda bizarre.

 

[AniHawk]

Fuck that! I hope the psvr is a lot cheaper than that.

i don't think it's in sony's nature to release super expensive electronics.

 

[Ferrio]

i don't think it's in sony's nature to release super expensive electronics.

lol