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The Oculus Rift VR headset’s price has been revealed – it will set you back £499.
Now available for pre-order, the virtual reality headset is limited to one device per users, and for your £500, you’ll get a Rift headset, a sensor, an Oculus Remote, cables, an Xbox Controller and two games.
Those games are EVE: Valykrie and Lucky’s Tale.
Despite the pre-order page saying that shipping will begin in April, the Oculus Rift blog states that the headset will ship to 20 countries from March 28th.
Those that pre-order the Rift will also secure their place in line for Touch pre-orders later this year.
The Oculus Touch consists of a pair of plastic rings, which have joysticks and buttons that can be used by the gamer’s thumbs, and triggers positioned near the index fingers.
The Oculus Touch has built-in sensors to recognise gestures such as pointing, waving and giving a thumbs-up. They are also wireless and offer haptic feedback.
The price of the Oculus Rift may be a surprise to some. Back in 2013, Oculus CEO Brendan Iribe said that he hoped the VR headset will cost nothing to own.
“We’d love it to be free one day,” said Iribe in an interview with Edge. “You want everybody to play it and the cheaper it is, the more people are going to go out and buy it. Today it’s a $300 dev kit but we’re thinking about how to get it out to as many people as possible.”
Last year, Iribe said he hoped the final product would cost no more than £180, and opinion echoed by retailers.
But while the £499 price tag is quite a bit above that mark, it is worth keeping in mind the extras that come with it. Hopefully after the pre-order period there will be an option to buy the headset on its own and we’ll see the true price of the Rift.
Does your PC meet the recommended requirements for the Oculus Rift? Find out here.
