Oculus today launched its new retail bundle which adds Marvel Powers United VR to the usual retail box including the Rift headset and Touch controllers. The front page of the company’s website has been updated to feature the bundle where it will be sold alongside a handful of retailers.

Update (July 31st, 2018): Oculus launched the Marvel Powers United VR Rift bundle. The product adds the game to the usual headset package (including Rift and Touch, and five other games), for the same price point as before. The bundle is available ‘while supplies’ last in select countries and retailers therein:

Original Article (July 19th, 2018): Taking a cue from the console world where it’s fairly common to see retail bundles that are coupled with major game releases, Oculus has announced its first retail bundle that makes the included content as much of the package’s marketing as the hardware itself.

The Oculus Rift Marvel Powers United VR bundle will launch on July 31st, priced at the usual $400, but with a copy of the game included for free. Oculus says that aside from the sleeve, everything inside the box is effectively identical to the Rift + Touch retail package, save for the game code—though it certainly would have been cool to see a special edition headset themed after various heroes. As before, the retail package also includes Lucky’s Tale, Medium, Quill, Dead and Buried, and Robo Recall for free.

Photo by Road to VR

For those with a Rift already, Marvel Powers United VR launches on July 26th [the game is out now, see our review here]—you can watch the newly revealed launch trailer and see the full hero & villain lineup here.

It’s clear that Oculus is putting a lot of its marketing muscle behind Powers United, which is being published under their in-house group, Oculus Studios. The project is likely the largest VR experience featuring a major IP developed to date, and Oculus hopes that the game will prove to be a system seller.

SEE ALSO
'Marvel Powers United' is One of Oculus Studios' Biggest Content Investments Yet

In the VR world, Sony has led the way in the headset + game bundle space, offering a handful of PSVR bundles for big titles like Skyrim VR, Doom VFR, GT Sport, and PlayStation VR Worlds.

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Ben Lang
Ben is the world's most senior professional analyst solely dedicated to the XR industry, having founded Road to VR in 2011—a year before the Oculus Kickstarter sparked a resurgence that led to the modern XR landscape. He has authored more than 3,000 articles chronicling the evolution of the XR industry over more than a decade. With that unique perspective, Ben has been consistently recognized as one of the most influential voices in XR, giving keynotes and joining panel and podcast discussions at key industry events. He is a self-described "journalist and analyst, not evangelist."
  • Trenix

    Bundling a system that was released two years ago? Come on now, these VR headsets are trash. Where is the new generation?

    • Firestorm185

      October dude. October.

      • Xron

        Oktoberfest?

        • Firestorm185

          No, Oculus Connect. xD

          • Trenix

            Oh I looked it up, seems like some sort of event. Sounds interesting. Thanks for the reply.

          • Bolaji Fls Flow

            You are the only one making sense here. People that understand how important 4K and great graphics are for VR growth. if we continue with this weak CV1. we wont grow. Been reading ur back and forth conversations with the other guy above, u certainly understand what VR needs to blow up right now.

          • Firestorm185

            Agreed, Trenix, you’re doin’ good

          • Firestorm185

            You’re welcome! It’s Oculus biggest event of the year, they’re bound to announce some amazing stuff this time. ^^

      • Trenix

        The headset was release in 2016, what are you talking about.

    • CURTROCK

      The new generation is the VIVE PRO, for $800.00
      Quick! Run out and buy one! :)

      • Trenix

        No it isnt, everyone knows this except oculus rift fans. Vive pro is nothing but a slightly improved vive, not new generation. It’s not even intended for consumers, but business.

        • CURTROCK

          i guess my sarcasm was lost on you…i should have known anyone who refers to Rift as TRASH….well, enough said.

          • Jerald Doerr

            Lol!!!! Curtrock… I belive I and 5 others got your sarcasm perfectly fine.. keep up the hope brother!

          • CURTROCK

            Thanks! Oculus is pacing the rate of adoption vs higher cost. Rift is still great for VR at $399.00 HTC releasing a “bump-up” for $800.00 is a cash grab.

          • Jerald Doerr

            Yeah… would be really interesting to know the sales info on Vive vs Vive Pro… heck Road To VR could make and keep track of quarterly sales of all VR HMD products that would be a killer post just keep coming back for. But for know I’ll have to see what I can find.

        • M0rdresh

          Agreed, it is not and nor is it intended as new generation. But calling 78% more pixels, slightly improved? It’s day and night, if it weren’t for the cost (which is a point of criticism or sure, don’t get me wrong) people would be all over it.

          • HybridEnergy

            Yep, it’s too expensive and all that we know…but having one the old resolutions now on the original Vive and Rift make me want to vomit when I put them on from the ugly.

      • unless you’re being sarcastic, the Vive Pro sucks big time. It has worse optics than the $199 Oculus Go!

        • HybridEnergy

          No, it doesn’t. The Pro is 3k res.

          • you’re in for a surprise my friend… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zT4jQH-vGzI&t=857s

          • HybridEnergy

            Sebastian’s channel lol, I saw that video a long time ago. Anyway, the GO isn’t 2880×1600 and you can super sample on the Vive Pro. So yea, try again. Of all the headsets I’ve ever used the Odyssey/Pro have the best visuals I have seen thus far and I’ve tried them all with the exception of Pimax.

          • pixel resolution is but one parameter. Equally important -if not more important- are the lenses/optics

          • HybridEnergy

            The lenses are important but not equally important. lol this guy, you know I have an Oculus Go, and I did the mod for my OG vive for the Gear VR lenses. I don’t like the fresnel but lets not kidd ourselves here and pretend it’s more important than Res. As I said before, the best I have seen on my head so far is the Pro/Samsung. Pro has super sampling out of the box so it looked a little better but the Vive Pro with some super sampling on top if you have the GPU looks next gen and unlike anything else right now . ( I have not tried the Pimax ever)

    • John

      I can see new bundles of PSVR, a product released also two years ago. You can buy the Rift now, half of the price than two years ago with better content. By the way, if something is bad is your impolite comment.

      • Lucio Lima

        The truth is hard to accept.
        But really the Rift sucks!

        • Firestorm185

          It’s not bad, it’s just doing it’s best within the limits of the technology that was available back when it released. 150 FOV and 4K would be extremely taxing on graphics cards, the current resolution is much easier for them to handle by comparison. We’ll get there eventually, but saying one product sucks just because we need goals to reach is not a good reason.

          • impurekind

            Exactly.

          • Trenix

            Eye tracking would fix the stress on the graphics card, its technology that already exists. These products are out of date from lenses, to comfort, to technology. There has been many breakthroughs but they still rather milk people with their highly out of date headsets.

        • impurekind

          It doesn’t such in the slightest.

          Yes, even better hardware is going to provide and even better experience, but the Rift CV1 is still great even as is.

        • Trenix

          The rift would be fine if their lenses handled god rays better. But we definitely need better resolution and FOV.

          • impurekind

            I agree that any kinds of improvements will def be welcome, but I’m still having a blast with my current CV1 even with its imperfections.

        • CarlosTSG

          I take it that you don’t use your Rift anymore then?

          • Lucio Lima

            Yes. The biggest problem for me is the FOV. That’s why I rarely use it.

            1º: FOV (Too small and impairs my vision)
            2º: Discomfort (my face gets very hurt)

        • HybridEnergy

          Even 3k resolution on the Pro kicks my 1080 ti hard. I have no idea where you people get your tech dreams from. VR has been out only two years, it’s gone pretty far and has made VR a functional entertainment platform, but most importantly Oculus knows something that all the VR tech companies know…that if this version of RIFT isn’t selling then neither will a 3 million FOV and 16K per eye headset…because it’s not these things holding the market back…it’s the cost and lack of interest because you have to put the actual headset on and experiment with it to really fall for VR. Fancy trailers don’t work. How do you get more people to invest in VR? you think jumps in res can? buy a PRO then.

    • Luke

      stop trolling please

    • impurekind

      People like you really get on my wick: Two years and you’re ready to drop the hardware and pay for the next thing.

      Do you even consider for two seconds that maybe some people actually like to get more than a couple of years out of the hardware they’ve spent their hard-earned money on before basically being made to feel like its obsolete?

      I want new VR tech too, but there’s absolutely nothing wrong with showing some love for the current-gen hardware that is only a couple of years old and still has plenty of life in it–or at least should have if everyone that forked out their money for it is not to feel abused and cheated in some way.

      • Trenix

        Yeah in two years I want the newest shiny thing. The release of VR headsets going mainstream is completely new and somewhat experimental. Many people wanted to wait and see if it was worth it and wanted many issues to be resolved and the headsets be improved to where they’re worth the price companies ask for. Don’t get all fussy because I have more self control and was more responsible than you. You’re having buyer’s remorse after two years? Do you even buy your own cellphones? Do you even own one?

        You’re very entitled, maybe don’t spend money on something you probably don’t even have the money to afford. Because after a few years, people understand that the products they buy can become obsolete. The next generation headsets will explode in sales if priced correctly, stop being selfish.

        • impurekind

          Dude, I literally have no buyers remorse at all. I was just playing Eternal Darkness on a virtual wall-sized TV in a virtual private cinema with a little virtual NES on the floor and it was awesome.

          And I hate how smartphone manufacturers have convinced all the morons like you that you need to upgrade your phone basically every single year to be relevant. It’s praying on tools who think they have to have the shiny new thing just to be cool–and it works because so many like-minded tools have now bought into that notion too, such that it has almost become a truism.

          People with too much money to waste have made this world a very materialistic and judgmental place for everyone else–and a whole bunch of weak-minded plonkers have just went along with that.

          • Trenix

            Hey moron, I don’t go around buying the next biggest thing around as they keep coming out. The only difference between me and you is that I don’t whine and cry when something new comes out and I can’t buy it. If people have money to waste, then let them. That is literally NONE of your business. You sound like a entitled brat, clearly. Grow up. If you got your money’s worth, then stop crying. When new VR 2.0 comes out, be happy that you have more people to play with instead of feeling cheated.

            You haven’t been cheated, you bought something that was out already for two years for crying out loud. I buy household electronics all the time and they get obsolete after a year or even sooner. I don’t mind, they got to make money somehow. I’m not gonna go out and buy the next better product, I’ll just wait a few years until I get the one I feel it’s worth upgrading to. Something tells me you’re still young, so hopefully you understand what I’m saying, if not, eventually I hope you will.

          • impurekind

            I’m not complaining about something new coming out, you idiot; I’m talking about people like you who are too dumb to see that constantly forcing every piece of tech to endlessly move forward with new models every year or two isn’t good for anyone other than gullible morons who don’t know when they’re being tooled by companies.

          • Trenix

            Basically its, “I bought a Oculus Rift, the cheapest mainstream headset because I’m broke and if you make a better VR headset when there have been many breakthroughs currently, that is greedy and whoever will buy the next generation of VR headsets is stupid. Release VR headsets when I want them to be released, otherwise you’re personally cheating the entitled me.”

            Seriously, go get a job and stop telling companies and consumers of how they should sell and spend, damn communist.

          • impurekind

            You are a moron.

          • B mill

            Just out of curiousity… Why is the assumption that impurkind must be broke and therefore can not afford new tech thus he must be an entitled brat as opposed to an individual that doesn’t like the way business is currently handled which is basically the cell phone replace your hardware every 2 years? How does this in any way make him actually entitled? He voiced an opinion and that makes him entitled?

          • Trenix

            Because why does he care if a new device gets released every two years? Either he is broke, envious, or both. That is why I called him entitled. A new device being released does not effect him whatsoever, only entitled brat believes the world revolves around him. No one is making him buy anything, he probably knows he is going to have trouble convincing his mommy and daddy to buy another headset after he just bought an outdated one.

          • B mill

            Interesting point of view, I certainly do not see things the same way you do. Carry on.

          • Trenix

            Clearly you don’t, you recently admitted to me you just bought an old device and fall in the same boat as the last idiot. When the new device gets released, I’ll be sure to rub it in both of your faces. And if it doesn’t release anytime soon, then I’ll just enjoy seeing VR fail because of stupid developers. The playerbase for most VR games are completely non-existent and dead as it is.

          • B mill

            It must be exhausting being as angry as you are over straight up nonsense. Have fun in life.

          • Trenix

            The only angry person I see is you. Just another self centered brat that wants to tell others how to live their life.

      • HybridEnergy

        To be honest, while I do hope a longer life for the RIFT impurekind. I think that intentionally hold back tech isn’t good either. If better lenses are possible then they should be done. In tech, you do what’s possible if you ask me. Thing is, it doesn’t make your old stuff obsolete, that’s all in everyone’s own head. I still own a perfectly functional Nintendo 64 and don’t have a problem with it for example. The reason why I think it’s a bad business move is because jumps in resolutions an FOV on HMDs doesn’t seem to pull the mainstream in anyway, the enthusiasts will re-buy but so what.

        • impurekind

          I don’t have an issue with things improving, but this guy talks like we have to drop the current stuff right now and always just to keep moving onto the next shiny thing–and I’m totally and utterly against that. We’ve started becoming like this as consumers, where manufacturers have convinced us we need to keep upgrading rather than giving up genuinely satisfying support and lifespans for the products we already have. The likes of smartphones and modern TVs started that annoying trend. You used to buy a TV and be perfectly happy with it for ten years or more, and you’re console would do at least five before you ever even thought about the next new thing. But now it’s just getting worse and worse, where we spends hundreds of dollars on these new devices only to feel like they’re already outdated and outclassed–and the manufacturers even make them seem like this via insidious firmware updates and stuff–and I don’t like that one bit. So, yes, keep advancing the tech, but make sure the devices already out there get a great life with loads of continued and quality support too–that’s all I’m saying here really.

    • Andrew Jakobs

      A lot of people still don’t have a GPU to power these ‘old’ headset decently, let alone higher specced new ones. Finally the prices of GPU’s are dropping to a reasonable price.

      • Trenix

        You’re actually wrong. An article just came out on here stating that an estimate of 53.6 million users have VR ready GPUs. https://www.roadtovr.com/estimated-25-million-steam-users-now-vr-ready-gpus/

        Also new headsets can be improved without stressing your computer. Eye tracking for example, can focus on improving the graphics from where you’re looking rather than the entire lens. Also I’d like a headset with more comfort, better room for glasses, more circulation, and potentially even slightly higher resolution and more FOV if possible. Maybe even giving us the ability to due away with our glasses entirely through eye tracking. Majority of the population, wears or requires glasses, so I’m surprised why VR developers seem to not even care about that demographic.

        The lens is another place to start, the ones they provide us are utterly trash and unacceptable for the price you pay for the headset. I will not stop stressing it enough that the first time you lightly wipe your lenses, you will develop god rays which are non existent in ALL newly opened VR headsets. This leads me to believe that after the first wipe on your lenses, ALL headsets get permanently damaged.

        Also controllers are another big thing, man there is just so much that they can add without going overboard and still being considered VR 2.0. Hell, even going wireless is another one. I can go on and on.

        • Andrew Jakobs

          53.6 million isn’t much in the world of pc’s, there are more PS4 out there which is also considered VR ready.. Cards like the AMD Radeon R9 290 or an Nvidia GTX 970 are also counted as being VR ready, but they certainly aren’t ready for good VR.. (and the original article is a year old, RoadToVr just updated the numbers instead of writing a new article, pretty lame).

          • Trenix

            53.6 million is a lot when there are 125 million active steam accounts. Give it time, it will only grow. The release of next generation VR headsets might even make this rise significantly more. For example, I might buy a new GPU to support the next generation in case I can’t, and my current GPU I can upgrade my wife’s computer with.

    • B mill

      Why not? I bought mine is August of 2016, 2 full years ago. To this day, this VR headset still wows me. Rarely does any product that I buy hold my interest like this for this long. It blew me away when I got it. Every single person I’ve demoed this to has been wowed by it, and a few went out and bought one for themselves. Marvel is a perfect franchise to partner with to sell a product since so many loyal fans will get it just because it’s marvel. Look at the Oculus reviews for the game if you want to see blind loyalty fanbois praising a garbage game. I.E. “This game is repetitive and gets boring, I hope they add content like a campaign or something single player, this gets so boring” – 5 stars <<—- WTF? People like this have no standards and there are a SHITLOAD of these types of reviews for this shit game. But superhero's sell, so why the fuck not bundle it? The tech is so good, it is still amazing for those that have never tried it, they don't need to wait for a 2nd generation HMD. They'll probably have an equally terrible Marvel game to bundle with that one when it comes out.

  • impurekind

    Marvel Powers United VR, Lucky’s Tale, Medium, Quill, Dead and Buried, and Robo Recall: A great selection of games to get people started. And there’s plenty more great free games and experiences to find on top of that on the Oculus Store.

  • Andrew Jakobs

    Shame they didn’t at least do a new itteration of the headset, with improved lenses for instance (as I remember having read the Oculus Go has improved lenses over the Rift).

    • Jerald Doerr

      Yeah… I’ll tell you what.. I did the Gear VR lens replacement to my Vive and that put new life into my Vive for far less than the cost of a Vive Pro and I’ll bet (never put one on) If you use the normal Vive with the lens mod vs a Vive Pro stock you would go with the normal one. My point is.. like I’m guessing your suggesting even a little upgrade can be a great upgrade.

      Make Oculus Rift Great Again! Ug couldn’t help myself!

      • HybridEnergy

        You’d lose that bet. I have both, and risked the original Vive to do that lens trick following a youtubers instructions. They are nice as there is no rings I can notice now, but hands down the higher resolution still wins out no competition. Now to do that lens mod with the Pro , maybe I shall see. lol

        • Jerald Doerr

          Awesome so do you still feel the $800 is worth the upgrade to the Pro? Or is it a better lowercost upgrade to do the lens upgrade? Also did you print your own lens caps?

          • HybridEnergy

            I bought the lens caps following a link on SweViver’s channel. 800 Dollars is too much, it’s worth it for me because I wanted the resolution jump with out ging the Mixed reality route but to other? I don’t know, the headphones leave a lot to be desired. Things can be both, an awesome product but still a bit over priced, I think that’s where it ended up. In other words, I hated to spend that much, but I’d claw your face off if you tried to take it from me now and force me to use the regular one lol. I go back to my OG vive for sweaty games like Sparc and Beat saber.

          • Jerald Doerr

            Great… make sure you come back and let me know what the lens update is like on the Pro… I wet myself thinking about it now…

          • HybridEnergy

            I’m too scared to do it on the PRO, lol maybe in the future. :)

    • Trenix

      This is why people aren’t buying VR headsets anymore. So many new VR improvements and they’re still taking their time while selling old products. These companies are killing off what could have been. Lenses are a big issue, hell at least make them be easily replaceable. I don’t want to spend hundreds on a product that gets permanently damaged after a single wipe.

      • Andrew Jakobs

        uhh, your lenses are damaged after a single wipe? what are you using, sandpaper?

        • Trenix

          God rays are damage caused by a single wipe. I’ve tested it with multiple brand new headsets. God Ray literally dont exist in any new vr headset. I take care of my stuff, everything I own looks like it’s new. I’m a perfectionist, but keep defending this garbage generation of headsets which the majority dont want.

          • Andrew Jakobs

            that’s weird if there weren’t any godrays before your wipe, as the godrays are an artifact created by the way the fresnellens works, so it is there from the start. But i thought you were referring to scratches and stuff like that.
            Well both the vive and the rift have the godray problem, and they have different designs/suppliers, I don’t really think the lenses are the worst one can find, ofcourse they can be much better, but that will increase the price of a headset significantly and propably also the weight.
            I’m not defending the current headsets, but it’s price etc that’s the factor in these headsets. You can create perfect headsets for thousands of dollars, but the general public which the current headsets are targeted for won’t buy those..
            But I do wonder why the current Rifts don’t ship with improved lenses if the Go has improved lenses, maybe the lenses from the Go don’t work with the design of the rift (they both have different displays).

          • impurekind

            Eh, God rays very much exist before cleaning the lenses.

            Luckily they’re hardly noticeable once you’re in and playing most games. A bit of a pain in the ass when watching movies in VR though.

          • Trenix

            I’m telling you, god rays are non-existent or barely noticeable at all, upon the first use. After you wipe the lens for any headset, the god rays will finally become noticeable. Again, I tested this with multiple brand new headsets and got annoyed that none of the lenses were the same after the first wipe.

            I’m just making an assumption, but it can possibly be that there is some special polish they put on these lenses that gets removed after a single wipe. The directions also say to wipe lenses with a dry cloth only, so maybe it’s not the wipe the damages it, but the sweat or grease that gets on it. All I know is that the lenses you first get, aren’t even remotely the same quality after the first wipe.

            Most people seem to shrug this issue off or act like these god rays always existed. No, I’m telling you they most certainty weren’t always there. Again as I said to someone else, go test this out for yourself. It’s the biggest reason why I gave up on VR, because I’m not buying a product that is damaged after the first use.

          • impurekind

            Well, they’ll hopefully get rid of them in future lenses so things should get better. . . .

          • B mill

            Mine had god rays from day 1 2 years ago prior to wiping anything down. That’s not caused by wiping the lenses, It’s caused by the lenses themselves, no need to wipe first. I don’t even see them now, they bothered me for like a day when I first got this thing. Devs have since learned that high contrasts cause them and they develop their games to try and avoid them. I don’t see them now,but I can actually enjoy a game for it’s content, graphics are fine but if you need absolute perfection, just go back to flat screen for about 10 years, then when you come back you MIGHT be ok with it. OR start enjoying games for their actual content…..

          • Trenix

            Apparently Oculus Go already fixed god rays entirely. Goes to show what can happen over the course of two years, but what do I know right? At least you’re happy with your outdated product.

          • B mill

            Damn right I’m happy with it. Go has new lenses, it’s a newer product, fucking shocking I know….

    • impurekind

      Yeah, that could have been a nice little tweak for the retail release of the system.

  • I hope the Oculus Rift + Touch price will drop globally. Right now it costs 499 euro in Greece :(

    • Renato Wisocki Jr

      US$ 680,00 in Brazil

    • Sandy Wich

      I suspect due to the slowly growing market of VR that once a true Oculus Rift 2 drops, they won’t black out the previous generation and will likely keep selling it at a far reduced price to keep consumer numbers up. We may very likely see the Rift on sale for 200 USD in a couple years.

      …But will you still wanna buy that version when we may see a vast improvement in OR2?

  • impurekind

    Shame the game is apparently kinda sh*t, but it’s nice to see this being treated like and actual console you can go out and buy in retail.

    • B mill

      There’s no kinda about it, the game is straight up 1990s marvel arcade button mashing garbage with LESS replay value than the beat ’em ups of the 90s. This game has the depth of a kiddie pool.

  • John Eric

    Poof went my back issues when I got this cool racing gaming chair by Neo . It provides all the support and comfort I need while I work on computer.

  • John Eric

    Poof went my back issues when I got this cool racing gaming chair by Neo . It provides all the support and comfort I need while I work on computer.