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Anyone pre-order a Oculus Rift?

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Hellmeat

Grizzled Veteran
Feb 7, 2013
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Austin, TX
#1
I picked up a DK1 when they first released them and had fun with it, passed on the DK2, and pre-ordered the RC1 yesterday. YES I was not happy with the new price tag of $600 when I expected $400, but I figured whatever, I'm not married and no kids so why not treat myself?

Anyone else picking one up? I've played KF2 using my 3D TV and upscaling the image from 2D to 3D for fun, but I'm kind of excited to try KF2 out on a headmounted VR.

That and pr0n.
 
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#4
Yoshiro said:
I know several of the devs here have Occulus dev kits. I think most are upgrading to the final release. Mix of personal projects and the joys of playing VR.
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Yeah, same here in Austin. Myself and several friends work at either Sony, Trion, or Blizzard and I bet we made up about 40% of the pre-purchasers, ha ha! I am also looking at the Vive, I like the room-mapping sensors and really wanted to check it out. I grabbed the OpenVR SDK, but without the hardware it's kind of pointless. I am really, really looking forward to some KF2 in VR =) And Fallout 4. And defiantly some Star Citizen.

Imnrk, the prices will come down later this year once the other sets come out. $600, in my opinion, keeps the device out of the hands of what I would consider the people who will make or break VR getting big: Gamers. I mean I'm in no way rich, but my situation allowed me to have enough disposable income to pick one up, and even then $600 was almost a deal breaker. If I had been in the position where I was going to have to upgrade my PC to meet the pre-requisites to even hook up the Rift, I wouldn't have bought it, that's for sure...
 
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#6
I have always wanted to try vr but because I am scared to buy it for it is such a new technology and will presumably have may updates. So why buy the first version when you can wait awhile and get a better version. For example I just bought the samsung s6 edge to just now realize a better phone is coming out(the s7).
 
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#8
Dolphi123 said:
I have always wanted to try vr but because I am scared to buy it for it is such a new technology and will presumably have may updates. So why buy the first version when you can wait awhile and get a better version. For example I just bought the samsung s6 edge to just now realize a better phone is coming out(the s7).
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Yeah, this is a great strategy and I would expect that there are a lot more wait-and-see customers out there than early adopters. If I didn't think I could afford the $600 (or just didn't see enough value for a first gen piece of tech to drop that much) I would definitely have passed on it and waited. I am the same way on consoles and phones as well, but since I actually owned a Dev Kit v1, I knew I would really enjoy the Rift.

And while I can see how the price was jacked up because of the inclusion of higher resolution LCDs, high-def audio, and the other extras included, I feel that setting this price-point kind of shot the whole VR movement in the foot. Hopefully the Vive and Sony's console VR unit will be priced a little more friendly for casual enthusiasts.
 
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#10
I'm definitely not sold on the VR idea...not at all and I've never been. I think it's mostly a gimmick that will quickly die out...

And so much for it?! I understand that it took a long time to become reality,that it's new , that the idea of being able to LIVE the game is cool and stuff... But it's just too much. Maybe I'll try it when one of my friend will own one.
 
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#11
Nah, I'd rather wait to see whether the trend will die or not. It seems quite faddy, like stereoscopy since people invented cameras, 3D glasses in the 90s, Wiimote ("motion controllers" in general), etc. etc.

Although I did enjoy my eDimensional glasses with a goodly ViewSonic G90fB CRT monitor back in the day (I loved that thing). I particularly remember playing Max Payne and Blood 2 .

If the contemporary attempts at "VR" (HMD + head tracking, really) are successful, I'll wait for the China to start producing low-cost, high-quality (resolution/refresh rate) displays before I buy any. From what I've heard, like many fad products, the Oculus Rift lacks the quality and utility necessary for true staying power.

I am looking forward to finally trying it though. I live far from the "big tech" cities where there are lots of conventions etc. I'd imagine there would be lines to try the HMD for the first week or two, where on display.

You pay $600 for bleeding edge tech, and usually you bleed - a little.

KF2 is hardly a good game for it though. The thing is basically designed for simulators or "cockpit" games where the idea is to be able to look around rapidly without having to turn the whole vehicle. I'm guessing a lot of the preorders are hardcore flight/car/space sim people and it will be an attempt for direct replacement of monitor+TrackIR. For KF2 to really "work" with it, you'd have to implement separation of head and aim, like in ARMA (which is designed for this kind of thing).
 
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#12
Aleflippy said:
I'm definitely not sold on the VR idea...not at all and I've never been. I think it's mostly a gimmick that will quickly die out...
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How can you know if you haven't tried? I believe VR with the screens so close to the eyes should be able to give you "true" 3D unlike 3D TVs which honestly look more like layers of 2D images to me.

And so much for it?! I understand that it took a long time to become reality,that it's new , that the idea of being able to LIVE the game is cool and stuff... But it's just too much. Maybe I'll try it when one of my friend will own one.
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If it is indeed what it's painted out to be, 600$ is almost a bargain for that. A 4k display will cost you more, and for that you get just more of the same, slightly better. People pay 700 or 800 for a damn phone when a 200 phone does the job just fine.

HOWEVER: I do believe the price of the Oculus is probably highly inflated. It's a couple of small screens, those can't be very expensive since they are on any cellphone. After that it's just a bunch of almost-free sensors, mediocre mic/headphones and some plastic and glass. I have a hard time believing that all costs much at all in bulk.
 
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#13
The "screens close to the eyes" is the part that worries me, my vision is blurry up close and I wonder if I'll even be able to enjoy it. :-/ I guess I'll have to try it out and see though.
Any other far-sighted people out there who can give some insight to if this works or if it just gives you a headache ... ?
 
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#14
juliex011 said:
The "screens close to the eyes" is the part that worries me, my vision is blurry up close and I wonder if I'll even be able to enjoy it. :-/ I guess I'll have to try it out and see though.
Any other far-sighted people out there who can give some insight to if this works or if it just gives you a headache ... ?
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I think contact lenses or surgery should fix that. Those would be useful not only for some VR goggles.

That said, I understand the close distance to the screen may still prove problematic for many folks. Eye strain and all that from focusing on so close. May be there is no workaround for that problem.
 
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#16
moleculo said:
How can you know if you haven't tried? I believe VR with the screens so close to the eyes should be able to give you "true" 3D unlike 3D TVs which honestly look more like layers of 2D images to me.


If it is indeed what it's painted out to be, 600$ is almost a bargain for that. A 4k display will cost you more, and for that you get just more of the same, slightly better. People pay 700 or 800 for a damn phone when a 200 phone does the job just fine.

HOWEVER: I do believe the price of the Oculus is probably highly inflated. It's a couple of small screens, those can't be very expensive since they are on any cellphone. After that it's just a bunch of almost-free sensors, mediocre mic/headphones and some plastic and glass. I have a hard time believing that all costs much at all in bulk.
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I'm not sold because I'm not interested in such a thing,not because it's not impressive (it is) . Why do I call it a gimmick? Because I'm pretty sure it will be like all the gadgets trying to bring a "revolution" to the gaming experience,kinda like the motion-control brought by the Wii (then followed by the kinect) . It was fun for sure,but in the end it wasn't that great as it wasn't absolutely perfect (and to be fair,I'd rather sit in my couch after a long day instead of using my whole body) . It was also the same with tons of addons for the NES and SNES back in the day. Best case scenario? It will make a flop like the dreamcast did back in the day and in a few years it will be seen as the greatest thing ever and every surviving consoles will want to have virtual reality capabilities.

I'm sure the price is not too high for what it is,but it is too high in itself. To put in the same way as you did : 600$ for a phone might be worthwhile ,but I wouldn't like to pay so much for a phone ,even if it does everything better. The same way I wouldn't pay for something costing more than every consoles I own combined...
 
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#17
Aleflippy said:
I'm not sold because I'm not interested in such a thing,not because it's not impressive (it is) . Why do I call it a gimmick? Because I'm pretty sure it will be like all the gadgets trying to bring a "revolution" to the gaming experience,kinda like the motion-control brought by the Wii (then followed by the kinect) . It was fun for sure,but in the end it wasn't that great as it wasn't absolutely perfect (and to be fair,I'd rather sit in my couch after a long day instead of using my whole body) . It was also the same with tons of addons for the NES and SNES back in the day. Best case scenario? It will make a flop like the dreamcast did back in the day and in a few years it will be seen as the greatest thing ever and every surviving consoles will want to have virtual reality capabilities.

I'm sure the price is not too high for what it is,but it is too high in itself. To put in the same way as you did : 600$ for a phone might be worthwhile ,but I wouldn't like to pay so much for a phone ,even if it does everything better. The same way I wouldn't pay for something costing more than every consoles I own combined...
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Yeah sure we've had plenty of gimmicks that faded away after a lot of hype, but on the other hand we've also had stuff like telephones and cellphones - those had their opposition too. I don't think we can tell whether it's a flop or not before we've tried. Personally I'm eager to try this VR thing, not as eager to buy right now though

If this really provides with a real-feeling visual experience of being somewhere else, then I'd consider it a big deal. if it takes off, we'll get closer to solutions that fool our other senses too. Some day we might not be able to tell the difference between VR and reality - that would be great

If you think 600 is too much, sure. But I believe many of the people who complain also have expensive phones and spent tons of money on pubs etc.
 
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#19
moleculo said:
Yeah sure we've had plenty of gimmicks that faded away after a lot of hype, but on the other hand we've also had stuff like telephones and cellphones - those had their opposition too. I don't think we can tell whether it's a flop or not before we've tried. Personally I'm eager to try this VR thing, not as eager to buy right now though

If this really provides with a real-feeling visual experience of being somewhere else, then I'd consider it a big deal. if it takes off, we'll get closer to solutions that fool our other senses too. Some day we might not be able to tell the difference between VR and reality - that would be great

If you think 600 is too much, sure. But I believe many of the people who complain also have expensive phones and spent tons of money on pubs etc.
Click to expand...

Comparing this like the telephone and cellphone to the Oculus is a big leap. Telephones offered real time long distance verbal communication on a scale not possible before, something very useful. Up to that point, real time long distance communication had to be done in code - time consuming, cumbersome, and impersonal. Cellphones allowed to extend the range of cellphones even further by allowing use in mostly everywhere covered by a tower. Against, when it comes to communication, this was unheard of and huge.

VR might become huge in the future, truly the next step, but in comparison the oculus right now is simply a gimmick, and will likely remain so for it's current iteration. It's basically a pair of LCDs strapped to your head. Yes, fancy LCDs with motion tracking and a large FOV, but still. It'll probably become a well established niche (nothing wrong with that either), but it will likely be far off from becoming standard technology for videogaming.
 
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#20
UserSD said:
Comparing this like the telephone and cellphone to the Oculus is a big leap. Telephones offered real time long distance verbal communication on a scale not possible before, something very useful. Up to that point, real time long distance communication had to be done in code - time consuming, cumbersome, and impersonal. Cellphones allowed to extend the range of cellphones even further by allowing use in mostly everywhere covered by a tower. Against, when it comes to communication, this was unheard of and huge.

VR might become huge in the future, truly the next step, but in comparison the oculus right now is simply a gimmick, and will likely remain so for it's current iteration. It's basically a pair of LCDs strapped to your head. Yes, fancy LCDs with motion tracking and a large FOV, but still. It'll probably become a well established niche (nothing wrong with that either), but it will likely be far off from becoming standard technology for videogaming.
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Yeah but what else do you really need to see 3D image? You have 2 eyes, so a monitor for each eye up close should be able to give you total immersion of being somewhere else, visually. I don't think there's really anything else to it, from now on just keep improving the same idea. What's most important here in my opinion is the potential. Sure, saying it's like a telephone vs mail is wrong, but comparing a "normal" phone to a mobile phone might be pretty close IMO - with "normal" screens you get the information of what's going on, but with glasses you also feel like you're actually there. Sure both work but the latter is clearly "the next step".

I just hope this doesn't turn out to be as lame effect to me as 3D TVs are. From what I've heard it shouldn't be, but then again people praised 3D Tv too.
 
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