AfterDawn: News

HTC Vive VR headset now shipping to 24 countries

HTC's Vive VR headset is now shipping to 24 countries, and demo headsets will be available in retail locations like GameStop and Microsoft Stores in the coming days.

In total, the demos will be available in 100 retail locations across North America, giving potential buyers a chance to "experience room-scale virtual reality first-hand."



Thanks to Valve's partnership with HTC, there will be a large amount of content available on Stream right from the onset.

"Since beginning preorders at the end of February and shipping in early April, we've seen incredible interest in Vive," said Dan O'Brien, vice president of VR at HTC, in a statement. "Working with our retail partners has only enhanced that momentum because more people are able to try the only truly immersive virtual reality offering on the market today."

The Vive is not cheap. The headset will cost you $800 and will require a higher-end PC, just like the market leading Oculus Rift.

Source:
VB

Written by: Andre Yoskowitz @ 7 Jun 2016 22:45

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• 4 comments

• hearme0

  These are DOPE!
  
  Wouldn't touch one anytime soon. They have so many quirks to work out and each lens really needs to be Full HD but they are indeed not. Price point will eventually come down to the 400 mark for a really nice top of the line model, maybe 450 inside 2-4 years IMO.

  8.6.2016 00:51 #1

• KillerBug

  I want a pair of 1080P (or better) monitors strapped to my face so I can have the 100" curved LED cinema experience while at the gym, so I am not limited by screen space when designing on my laptop with that tiny 18" screen, so I can play games while laying in bed, etc, etc. And yes, having support for 3D games and movies is a plus.
  
  But...the VR demos look terrible. Plus Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo all demonstrated just how terrible motion controls are...something that the devs for the new VR headsets seem determined to learn for themselves. Oculus is still oversold, but even they figured out that motion controls suck so they included a controller (I can't even imagine why they selected the xbone controller when a generic DS copy would have been better...but the point is they are already giving up on motion controls).
  
  So, if I could get just the headset for $600 I might do it...I'm not interested in paying another $200 for motion controls (or xbone controls) that I'll never use. Hopefully the $300 oculus clones will be hitting the market soon...if not, used 4K phones will be very cheap before too long and some of the "cardboard" style adapters are very nice.

  8.6.2016 18:51 #2

• Bozobub

  Enjoy your rather expensive introduction to sim sickness.

  8.6.2016 19:47 #3

• KillerBug

  Originally posted by Bozobub: Enjoy your rather expensive introduction to sim sickness. Considering that most ways of getting Sim Sickness involve simulators that cost tens of millions of dollars, it is actually a very affordable introduction to sim sickness. The military would be wise to use these to avoid wasting simulator time on wash-outs.

  8.6.2016 20:55 #4