Things to Consider Before Buying
The Oculus Rift, once the lone bastion of the VR revolution, is joined in 2016 by two able competitors – each offering different flavors of hardware configuration, and each worth a look before you get in that long line to pre-order the Rift now pushed back to June.
The prices of both HTC Vive and Sony’s PlayStation VR—one of the biggest factor at play—haven’t been made official yet. There is one thing to be sure about though: if you own a PS4, you won’t be looking at nearly as expensive start up cost as either HTC Vive or Oculus Rift – considering PSVR doesn’t necessitate the purchase of an able gaming PC. With millions of PS4s already in the wild and Sony hinting at the cost as being close to the price of the console itself – lower barrier of entry is PSVR’s biggest selling point.
As for games: our friends over at PS4Daily are currently reporting over 50 games coming to PSVR—including EVE: Valkyrie, Final Fantasy XIV Heavensward, Trackmania Turbo, and the-ever-so-cheeky beach volleyball spin-off of Dead or Alive: XTREME 3 to name a few.
See Also: Leaked $800 PlayStation VR Price Was an Error, Says Sony
Sony is keeping tight-lipped for now on bundled controllers, so we’re not sure if the company will be sticking with the 2010-era Sony Move controller for input, which admittedly works well enough. For more info on PSVR, keep an eye on Sony’s PSVR microsite.
There’s still no word on release date for PSVR, but the HTC Vive is going to be available in April with one thing Oculus won’t have until the second half of 2016—and that’s motion controllers. Launch titles like Owlchemy Labs’ fantastically weird Job Simulator and Google’s Tilt Brush use the controllers exclusively, so make sure to cinch up the wrist straps.
Also in the box will be SteamVR’s Lighthouse tracking system, which provides a 15 square foot tracking volume for what Valve is calling ‘room-scale VR’. A pass-through camera is also coming to the consumer version of the Vive so people can keep a watchful eye out for kitty cats and innocent bystanders walking into your field of play. If ‘room-scale’ isn’t your thing, Vive works just fine as a seated experience using a single Lighthouse basestation.
Steam’s prolific games distribution platform will see titles like StressLevelZero’s Hover Junkers, a multiplayer ship-flying first-person shooter, and Bossa Studios’ ham-handed Surgeon Simulator coming early to the headset.
Pre-orders for the Vive are coming soon, February 29th to be exact with an unspecified April release. If you missed out on the Rift’s pre-order line, you might wake up earlier this go around!
Much more information is bound to stream out of the big three names in VR closer to their respective launch dates. Check back for more news on previews, reviews, and in depth hands-on with each of the headsets.
