Oculus VR Founder Defends Rift Price Tag, Speaks Kindly (Sort of) about Sony PlayStation VR

IB Times - Luckey spoke with International Business Times Thursday, covering a range of topics from the price of the Rift, the content that’s coming and the relationship with rival Sony.

[XisThatKid]

I personally think that the OR is worth it's price and I think you pay for what you get. Especially in this case of brand new tech. we're on the cusp of a revolution.

[Rimeskeem]

Ehhhhhhh, the last major gamin revolution was motion controls which some call a gimmick but the only reason it got a lot of acceleration was because the Wii was cheap and very kid friendly and oriented. But the cheapness certainly helped.

[thekhurg]

Any VR tech above $400 MSRP is going to fall flat on its face in the real world market.

[Rimeskeem]

@thekhurg

I disagree

1. Motion controls were kid oriented and therefore had to be cheap in order for parents to buy it for their kids
2. VR takes for more powerful and expensive tech (for now) and a lot more computer processing power (hence the extra processor in PSVR)
3. The market VR is aiming at are for people who have a good some of money and want something to be a completely new experience that doesn't involve flailing their arms to pretend they are hitting a tennis ball

These are completely unique experiences and thats what the software is for. If a game like Half Life 3 came out exclusively for Oculus do you think Oculus would fail?

[thekhurg]

@rimeskeem

Yes, it doesn't matter what game came out exclusively for whatever tech - if it's priced above $400, it's going to fall flat on its face.

The internet, and our small little gaming communities will make it seem different, because everyone you talk to will have one. Just like every PC gamer on the internet you talk to plays all of their games in 4k resolution at 7000 fps. But when you look at steam stats, it's less than 10% even having 2GB of video ram and those cards aren't even running new games at 4k. So the actual percentage is much lower.

So yeah, the mass market will wholly reject VR tech if it's above $400 - and I believe that's a kind price point. A lot of people aren't willing to spend $500 on a new GPU that will improve pretty much EVERY game, they're sure as hell not going to spend anywhere near that much for a drastically smaller gaming pool.

[donthate]

Despite the high price of Oculus VR, the fact that they keep saying they are not profiting from the VR unit itself and that they consistently focus on base quality experience makes me want to support them more. They also seem to support their backers, so the Rift is still likely my VR unit I'm getting.

Unless PS VR is massively priced lower, like $300, I don't think I would go with such a compromised experience. I also don't think Sony will support PS VR in PS5 so I believe it has limited time span based on Sony's poor support of 3D, PS TV, PS Move and PS Vita.

HTC Vive on the other hand seems like a cheaply designed and manufactured device, so I'm cautious about it, but it might be a consideration depending on again price.

In terms of "revolution" that remains to be seen, but I'm cautiously optimistic! :D

[ps5fanboy]

Compromised? Please , sounding like you are comparing a race car to a shed....besides , isn't the psvr better by all reports...

[SniperControl]

"on Sony's poor support of 3D, PS TV, PS Move and PS Vita"

Poor support? Dont Sony still make 3D TV's? Also, consider the fact that PSVR has a 3D element in it. The Vita just had a slew of new games announced for it, PS Move is being is integrated in PSVR, PSTV by all accounts is doing OK.

The Rift is horrendously overpriced, i have to pay £499(before tax and delivery, easy another £50-60 on top) for it, worst thing is, i have to essentially pay £80 for the bundled X1 controller and adapter which i'll never use. I'll wait till next year for a controllerless SKU.

This year i'll stick to the PSVR and my DK2.

[donthate]

Sniper:

If Oculus with a bare bones headset and no profit on the hardware prices it at $600, how much do you think PS VR will be with a breakout box and extra processing chips? 120Hz OLED screen?

As for support, I think the greater public already knows. I won't try bother trying to dispute your pulling wool over the eyes of the public. It is BS support and you know it!

[SniperControl]

Lol, you crack me up, only seeing want you want to see.......desperate to down play anything Sony related, pathetic really.

[keki]

you kidding right? $600 and a gtx970 or higher..the cost will run you around $1000+

[Tallpine]

This is budding technology. Just like 4k tv's where the price will run you 3000 to 5000 dollars, not to mention OLED tv's. Just like new graphic cards, just like 1080p tv's a few years ago, just like bluray players, just like apple watches, just like the emergence of iPods. If you aren't into it, wait until its in your price range. If you're an enthusiast and understand, are curious of, or have tried it then invest in your interests! It is just like any other hobby.

[starchild]

I think Sony and Oculus need each other. Or at least they will benefit each other. The bigger the market for VR the better.

[WelkinCole]

I was actually expecting it to be in the 700-1000 range.

People are forgetting that OR was never really meant to be for mass market (console + low end PC's).

It is obvious from the min specs that it was targeting people with mid-high to high end PC's which I would assume is not mainstream.

I am actually surprised with the negative response for the price considering the target market are those people that would spend anywhere from 450-1000 plus for a graphics card alone.

People must remember that OR was never meant to be an every day device you can just plug in your TV or console to play.

[Psychotica]

They are just taking advantage of people who are hyped up for it, it's not that the device is actually worth that.

[Wallstreet37]

I think oc may be worth it but it definitely won't get mass appeal with that price. I laughed when ppl said oc would be 400 and I told them good luck and was right and damn they priced it well above that. Sony VR will definitely attract more buyers and it will be priced anywhere from 350 to tops 450.

Yeah vive and Oculus may be stronger hardware but one thing we know is that Sony are hardware wizards. Previewes have already stated PSVR has its strong points over the competitor and have been very positive. The number one thing being that all games they played had no or minimal screen door effect and out of ces it's said vive suffers from some heavy screen door effect. On the Oculus front ppl are saying the fov isn't all that. Seems like Sony VR will be OK especially given you don't need to up spec your hardware and besides controllers and camera all you need is a ps4.

[donthate]

With severely lowered specification across the board on PS VR and it's games, I expect the details to not come out as well.

Personally, I just don't see a group of people that is price sensitive to $50-100 price drops, to pay $400 for a VR headset with very few content and questionable long term support.

A PC gamer might be more used to spend big bucks on parts, and even the graphics card required cost around $300 alone. So PC Hardware to VR headset cost is a little bit off, but not too far of. On the other hand, PS VR relative to PS4 cost is completely out of whack.

Getting someone that spends $300-400 on their console to spend another $400 is a lot harder than someone that is spending $1000+ for a PC and upgrades regularly to spend $600.

I don't think PS VR will do well long term. It has so many challenges including expensive dev kits to even get started developing for it, likely very limited user base, significantly poorer experience (like below what is considered fine by Oculus) and less content equals less users.

[Wallstreet37]

I respectfully disagree in regards to the ales aspect (I think it will sell better than 680 vr solution plus whatever extra to up your PC specs).

As for your point in regards to "significantly poorer experience" ummmm you do know that ppl have previewed software and the hardware for all vr solutions and I've never come across any expert who said any such thing about psvr, if anything they said that given psvr specs they were surprised how close it faired and how close the experience was to the more expensive vive and oc.

Again not to mention how the other two have a more prominent screen door effect compared to the psvr according to previewers and yeah that's on lower spec machine and resolution :). Not to mention they all will have exclusives and Sony will definitely have their faithfully clamoring for vr gran turismo, Drive Club, and whatever else they cook up.

To counter your "Significantly poorer experience" how many ppl have Titans in their pc's, have Lamborghinis instead of Toyota's, eat filet Mignon as opposed to regular grade steak. Let's be serious man they all enjoy their choices based on Price and in every one of those scenarios it isn't a significantly poorer experience for them. Remember If we went by your logic ps4s wouldn't be selling like hot cakes because it's a "significantly poorer"experience as compared to a uber high end PC that costs 2000 (or is it?) , let's be real lol

I think between specs, comfort, software and price (what I assume will be a 350-450 price tag) I think Sony has created the most appealing package, not to mention Sony are wizards in hardware and best believe it will hold it's own even if the others cost significantly more and have higher specs, the gulf won't be as wide as you say. Games like Rift and a few others already show it's grunt.

[uth11]

$30 million ps4 owners won't rush out to buy it, but some fraction of the user base will. Sony even stated they aren't expecting big numbers at first

Plus if you want to get into VR but don't have a ps4 or a strong enough PC, the PSVR bundle could be half the price of the PC+OR bundle. PS VR is increasingly looking like its in a sweet spot for price/performance.

Anyway if PS VR succeeds, Rift benefits from the popularity of VR. If it fails it could push rift into a more niche space. They kinda benefit from each other.

[ps5fanboy]

Tosh , if psvr does well in short term , guaranteed success , as the experience (shared) will sell units , as the experience is that much more visceral.

And correct , not many , but be assured a fare amount , of people are going to buy both the ps4 , vr , move controllers and games all together , not everyone in normal struggles of daily money finding as they're rich and spend the shiz.

[donthate]

wallstreet:

Many people say exactly what you say, but the issue here is the pioneers of VR aren't agreeing with you. There is a reason why Oculus foregoes an entire PC market by requiring a GTX 970 minimum. They don't do that without good reason.

I think as you keep using PS VR, the weakness will start to crop up over time. Yes, some people will buy it, but even Oculus is concerned and have even invited Sony over to discuss minimum expectations so that Sony doesn't "poison the well".

Comparing this to steak or lamborginis is just stupid, because these units are really at the ground beef and cheapest Huyndai, so dipping lower is what?

We are talking minimum here....

[Wallstreet37]

http://www.tomshardware.com...

[SniperControl]

Thank you for posting that, great read, very very encouraging.

[Wallstreet37]

You welcome. I've read so many articles and they have all been so positive and really shed light on how good Sony really is in hardware. Psvr seems to excel in places and is no slouch as opposed to what some arm chair developers on here would have us believe, it's very comparable to the PC experience. I mean just check out rigs previews their all glowing.

[amnalehu]

The moment you have to defend something like this si the moment you know you may have a PR problem.

[uth11]

So Luckey even said in this interview that Sony was working on VR before he started Oculus. Will that finally stop everyone from claiming that Sony whipped this together in a year or two in response to the Rift?

[Wallstreet37]

Only Morons would say that Sony decided to get into VR after Oculus lol Sony has been dabbling in VR for years before Oculus and had consumer HMD head sets and all that. Sony has to much R@D going in over there that we don't hear about but the VR is a given since they had all those high end hmd screens for years already.

[DigitalRaptor]

Yeah, those people are not going to shut up.

I'll post what I have already in the past.

Sony were working on VR years before Oculus even began making the public aware of their Kickstarter campaign to get the product off the ground, let alone before it was even a company.

There's evidence of Sony also experimenting with PlayStation Move technology back with PS2 hardware, before the Wiimote was announced or even hinted at. All of this stuff really goes to show how far ahead they were thinking. Shame they weren't always the first to make their mark with each individual piece of the puzzle, but you gotta look at where they were always heading. And yet, you have these people calling out Sony for jumping on a gimmick, yet this has been on the cards (like you said) for a long, long time. It's hardly reactionary bandwagon travel.

[kneon]

There is more than just evidence, the move patents were filed well before the Wii was announced.

[joeorc]

More than just evidence, Dr. Richard marks in SIGGRAPH 2000 showed off the medieval chamber demo of the early playsyation Move motion control system working concept software was dono on the playstation 2!

The WiiMote technology was pitched after 2000 by the same company that pitched their concept to Sony to Nintendo in 2001.

Sony declined the pitch, because they were already working on one themselves.

Hell in 2004 Dr. Marks demoed @ SIGGRAPH 2004 the 3D depth sensitive camera by prime sense..that was licences to Microsoft as its kinect.

Back in 1997 Sony released their very 1st VR headset!

[Melankolis]

"Well the real battle here at this point isn’t us against them. It’s us versus the public and trying to convince them that VR is worth adopting."

Can't agree more, same goes to Sony i think.

[SweatyFlorida]

ehh,if Sony penetrates the market with a cheaper version PSVR that will help both companies. Oculus/Vive will become the "natural" upgrade to a PSVR, but you have to let people try it out and Sony's in the best position to do that.

I think it's too dangerous to think of any of the other companies as serious competitors. VR has a lot of requirements and is expensive, the more they can get into peoples hands the better, even if it's not your company per say, the advantage is later on you'll know what the consumers want, whether it's cheap affordable gear or more expensive high-end, or something totally different like quirky add-on controls, or something not related to gaming.

The market is untested, 3 fishermen should just throw their line in different parts of the pond and see what the fish want, then respond after, if one fisherman gets a fish you'll get an idea of what fish are in the sea and what bait to use to up your chances of success.

[QuickdrawMcgraw]

The comments at the end about Sony and Oculus are not really competing against each other....It is more about them both working to convince gamers the VR is a really good option...And is here to stay...To me this has a ringing of truth to it...Until now I had never thought of it that way...This was a good read for me....

[Wallstreet37]

Yeah and even though Microsoft and Sony are direct competitors it's also the same with consoles they can't all share the same gaming space and exceed. Few years ago everyone was saying consoles were dead due to lagging sales and mobile gaming but both Sony and Bone to a lesser extent have showed otherwise. It was at the end both Microsoft and Sony both showing consumers that it's still worth it to game on consoles.

[SirDj]

I am afraid the oculus will die because only a few people will afford to buy it. And that will make it a small market and game devs will see this and will not bother to optimize games for it. The end result will lead to no games on the oculus and even fewer people will buy it then before. Dead on arrivel basically! Sadly, because i was planning on buying it for around the 350 price tag.

[DivineAssault]

IDK how many units they plan to sell but for this to be a smash hit, the price needs to be lower.. It will have a niche market as does everything else in gaming but wont be something for the common gamer with a price tag like that.. Sony best watch closely because im interested in buying PSVR but the price cant be that high

[mochachino]

In terms of how the devices look, PSVR look more premium in appearance and aesthetic design at least.