Palmer Luckey Explains Why the Oculus Rift Will Cost “More than $350”

As we approach the Rift’s Q1 2016 consumer launch, Oculus Founder Palmer Luckey has given us a new minimum for the still unannounced Oculus Rift price.

[Godmars290]

So they're not even going to try to reach a broad audience? Which, to a degree, is a good thing if they're focusing on quality.

[Eonjay]

But honestly when you look at the minimum specs for the device, is this really any surprise. I think that required parts are more prohibitive than the headsets price because the GPU and CPU are easily more than the headset.

[bunt-custardly]

"It’s using custom displays we worked on with Samsung that are optimized for virtual reality, in a lot of ways even beyond what you’re actually seeing on these prototypes on the show floor."

This is really an encouraging comment. I'm glad we get the best it can be rather than cheap and half arsed.

[donthate]

This comment alone makes me feel that Occulus Rift is probably the right choice for me. Occulus is the leader, and they are being open about the specification needed on PC, and then they are having no compromises which lines up with their PC specs.

Much respect, and looking forward to it!

I don't want compromised quality to save $50-100.

[maybelovehate]

I agree. The only way VR can be successful is if it is a must have experience. The future of VR is basically in their hands. Bad experiences will set the tech back years.

[Eonjay]

It may be between them and Valve. But Valve may beat them to it. Apparently they will launch in two months. So Valve might become consumers ambassador to VR.

One point that Shu made in reference to the Rift is that they felt that Oculus pushed them to upgrade their device. They didn't want to be the folks who hindered VR because they cheapened out on the headset and influenced the mass market in a negative way.

This suggests that all three, Oculus, Valve and Sony will all be responsible for making VR a successful venture.

[freshslicepizza]

do we really want a repeat of what nintendo did with motion controls? it was great nintendo opened up gaming to new ways of playing but the actual hardware was cheap. nintendo did the same thing when they decided to add a tablet like controller on the wii u. because of costs the hardware was rather weak. this is a constant concession hardware makers have to make, especially consoles because they want to attract mass markets.

this puts sony in a rather odd predicament. do they take the middle ground and maybe come out at $199-299? if i am going to invest i want to make sure it's going to last and sadly consoles only have a shelf life of about 5-6 years on average. by the time morpheus comes out it will be mid-life. which makes me wonder is this going to be like kinect where sony will now shift its focus to morpheus and eventually go all in for the ps5 and make it mandatory so that they have a 1-1 ratio to sell games to?

on the pc i expect this to be a rather niche market at first but because the pc market is an open platform you will see a lot of new and creative ideas taking place. it also means the oculus rift (and vive) will not be hamstrung by a shelf life like consoles. i think he is hinting at a price of $399 for this which is a lot of money. on top of that you will need a rather decent pc to run it so you are already at least a grand to start. but if i'm going to commit i want to know it's going to be good for a long time. i never did invest in kinect thankfully but i did with the playstation move. where are all the games now?

[Eonjay]

I don't think you have to worry about the games. Obviously, there is much more excitement for VR than for Move, Kinect and Wii Controller combined. There will be content. Also, bare in mind that Occulus has already stated that they are working on another version of the Rift to follow the release unit. Within a 5-6 year lifespan, there will probably be multiple iterations of the Rift. This means that you may have to settle or upgrade your rig yet again.

Either way, Its an exciting time for gaming no matter what platform you are on. We will all be the first to try experiences that we never could have before.

[freshslicepizza]

https://www.youtube.com/wat...

i'm sorry but these games either look like smaller indie games, demo's, or linear on rail games. this is what worries me, the technology will be limited due to the hardware capabilities. it's like the wii all over again. great concept and fun in the beginning but the limitations become more and more evident of what it can and cannot do.

i remember when mario 64 came out. people were blown away at the whole 3d play style and the graphics were very impressive at the time. it was a game that changed the landscape. nothing in that video does that. perhaps this is why sony is likely trying very hard to get no mans sky for the launch. but will playstation vr be powerful enough to play the whole game with it or will it be used moderately like forza did with kinect? these are the questions that i want to find out. will a game like gran turismo 7 which will no doubt be beautiful and most likely be 60 frames per second allow playstation vr to be used in a natural way? will you still be able to race and use the headset and look at the cars and look around while racing and play like you normally would all at a smooth frame rate with no loss in graphics? that i have my doubts about.

the oculus rift will also a huge hurdle to overcome because of pricing and software that is compelling enough to warrant the investment. it's the old catch 22, you need the software to sell it but before anyone truly commits to marketable software they want to make sure there are enough people to sell to.

[bunt-custardly]

Moldy, I think this is down to budget and a lack of willingness to invest in something that has no actual commercial product out there as of yet.

I will point you in the direction of Alien Isolation, heck even Euro Truck Sim on the DK 2 though. I also hear Elite is awesome. I can vouch for these games (with the exception of Elite) that they feel like a AAA experience and proves games like these can work and drive the VR platform beyond what you say are indie looking games.

[freshslicepizza]

@bunt-custardly
"I will point you in the direction of Alien Isolation, heck even Euro Truck Sim on the DK 2 though. I also hear Elite is awesome. I can vouch for these games (with the exception of Elite) that they feel like a AAA experience and proves games like these can work and drive the VR platform beyond what you say are indie looking games."

that's cool. i may sound like i don't want vr to succeed. nothing could be further from the truth. there needs to be a continued innovation within the industry. i have not yet tried any vr headsets and i think that is truly the only way to know how it is. i am excited to try it but i know that in the past all of these new ways of playing games have a tough time sticking around. things like steering wheels for racing games are one of the few exceptions but that of course is limited to one genre. we had things like rock band that had a certain length of excitement and they are trying to bring that back but it is even more limited to where you can use those peripherals. vr was done before but very poorly. we had 3d gaming last generation and it too failed to catch on. of course motion controls also came and that seems pretty dead now.

but now there is a huge push to reinvent vr so maybe this time it will stick around. but again consumers are reluctant to invest unless major developers also invest.

[ArchangelMike]

I understand the dilema, I honestly do. But seriously if the price is prohibitivly expensive, it will never gain mass market momentum. You have to factor in the price of the high end PC required to run VR smoothly - $1000? $1500? $2000?

Then what's going to be the cost of the Oculus Rift? $500? $650? $800?

All-in-all it sounds like the entry point for Oculus is going to be between $1500 -$2000. I'd say that's no longer a mass market product.

I think it would be better to release an SKU that will appeal to th mass market, and then when you have consumer buy-in, you then iterate, and ask for a higher price for a higher-end product.

[Godmars290]

They likely only meant it as a niche device.

Thing is, as many not want to hear, what is Sony going to do with this info if its credible? If PSVR comes in as suspected at $300 that could be a $200 difference if not more. That plus little to no quality difference between the two would be even more trouble.

Unless Oculus is leaking this suggestion to make Sony trip themselves and over price PSVR.

[donthate]

"If PSVR comes in as suspected at $300 that could be a $200 difference if not more. That plus little to no quality difference between the two would be even more trouble."

Ha! That is ridiculous!

PC gamers enthusiast that don't mind paying more for their experience. Heck, the graphics card requirement alone sets it at around $300+ which is close to the cost of a PS4. That general demographic will have no issues paying $350-400 for a VR unit with a controller.

I would be more concerned about PS VR if it hits $300. Why?

Because the PS4 is a low cost console and is regularly sold at $350 range. The demographic for this is typically lower cost gaming, families and children. They aren't going to spend $300 for a single person experience on something cutting edge, and combined with the stories of VR sickness will scare them away.

Thus, I think the PC market is the one that will thrive and the PS VR will be for a niche market until they can lower that price significantly.

That is likely why I will stick with an Occulus Rift myself.

[Godmars290]

And that's the problem with the "PC Master race": They want, expect, everyone to get a PC for gaming because its the most powerful and versatile platform, but there's no recognition of the investments involved with maintaining that versatility. Meanwhile consoles, even regrading the added complexity of current gen, will always have ease of access.

It Beta-max vs VHS all over again.

[Lamboomington]

@Godmars290

No one expects anyone to do anything. You pay more for a gaming PC, you get more, it's that simple. Except console exclusives, which are pretty awesome a lot of the time.

[Godmars290]

@Lamboomington:
Funny thing about that is, if I understand correctly, services like Steam, Ea's or Ubisoft's to be more accurately, are creating further barriers, more layers of complexity, to PC gaming because they want the "exclusivity" of console gaming if only for the sake to have such for their brands.

[subtenko]

Same thing with other enhance devices like the chest/body hit feedback, the running in place thing, and more. These have been out but you dont see people getting them. why? expensive and its also kinda 'out of the way' (more so than a head set tho, we all put on headphones..)

[Scatpants]

$400 guaranteed.

[FoxyGotGame]

Expected. We're looking at phase one of future technology, and it's very much in its infancy...

I suspect all companies involved in this tech are establishing a market base, not essentially looking for immediate mass penetration. This is a walk, not a sprint. I expect the same for PSVR, and if that is priced at £299 or (likely) more, I'll be waiting awhile .... /

[gangsta_red]

People are kidding themselves if they really believe these new VR headsets will be under 400 bux.

[boing1]

I bet Sony will not top PS4's launch price.

[BitbyDeath]

Sony definitely has the advantage here as they can absorb costs if they wish and make it back on games.

[maybelovehate]

My only worry with Morpheus is that PS4 has an app wall. Rift will launch with hundreds of apps across a broad range of topics, games etc with developers pushing out content daily. Hobbyist with no desire to make money will be making programs available for education and fun.

That isn't really possible on the PS4. You have to go through Sony which is a roadblock a lot of developers won't want to bother with.

[boing1]

As I see it, it'll be other way around. The same was with Move. We wanted to add Move support to our game, and Sony was extremely supportive. They even offered dev support and additional promotion on PSStore. I don't see Sony blocking anyone.

[GrimmQuiorra]

Considering that you'd need a PC that has at the VERY least $800 put into it to run VR at a playable framerate, this doesn't surprise me.

It is discouraging though. Not entirely sure how they plan on selling enough of these. Especially when you realize that most of the gaming PC's being played on aren't exactly "High end".

So I could either upgrade my PC a bit, or buy the Morpheus since I have a PS4 as well.

Shoot. :/

[ScorpiusX]

Cool , sounds good .
can't wait play

[Aloy-Boyfriend]

Suddenly Morpheus's rumored price doesn't sound bad anymore

[Antifan]

VR will be a very niche experience. Nothing wrong with that, but if they want a broader audience, it's gonna have be it's own thing and not just a pc gaming hook on.
It has to do more than just gaming.

[Tzuno]

I'l pass.

[contradictory]

i'd still buy one! But i'd have to make some upgrades to my PC after looking at the spec requirements and i can't really afford both right now... and i'm trying to save money for other stuff i need and i have to prioritize so it'll be a while until i get around to VR

[Roccetarius]

The spec requirements are not that surprising, considering the hardware needs for a proper 60 fps VR experience. Currently only the PC is capable of this, unless you drastically reduce the quality.

But then again, i personally wouldn't be buying it for Moton Controls, because it severely limits the games you can make with it.

[ABBAJESUS]

299$ is magic price point for this

[Imortus_san]

$350 = comercial failure, no VR will sell well if they are not $150 or $200 tops.

[madjedi]

You do realize they may not be targeting everyone and their dog in mainstream till after the technology is more affordable.

The first hdtv I saw cost 16k for a 40ish inch plasma, and yet you can get a decent 40 inch hdtv for $300-400 now.

[madjedi]

NVIDIA GTX 970 / AMD 290 equivalent or greater
■Intel i5-4590 processor equivalent or greater
■8GB+ RAM
■Compatible HDMI 1.3 video output
■2 USB 3.0 ports
■Windows 7 SP1 or newer

It would be nice if the article had bothered to give that information, I barely meet the recommended specs.

Seems as if the technology needed for mainstream is about a good 5+ yrs away on the gpu/cpu side.

I do have to wonder how many people will dismiss this technology as being too expensive, will turn right around spend an extra 200 or $300 on the latest samsung, iphone or ipad.