On Expectations: What Our Audience Thinks About Rift, Vive, and PlayStation VR Prices

Jan 16, 2016

After a negative outcry about the $600 price of the Oculus Rift, founder Palmer Luckey admits that he “handled the messaging poorly” on setting the price expectation. The loudest voices may not be the majority however, so we set out to see what people thought about pricing for the Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, and PlayStation VR.

Using the entirely unscientific tool of Twitter polls, we set out to get a feel for how our Twitter followers felt about the $600 price of the Oculus Rift, and perhaps more important, what their current expectations are regarding pricing of the forthcoming HTC Vive and PlayStation VR, neither of which have been priced. Which side of the Rift’s $600 they fall on could play a major factor in their adoption.

Oculus Rift

Oculus Rift began pre-orders in early January and will begin shipping at the end of March

Do you think the Oculus Rift price ($599) is too high?

— Road to VR (@RtoVR) January 11, 2016

Our Twitter followers were surprisingly almost perfectly split on this, with just a 1% majority going to those believing the price to be too high. This is of course a very subjective question—what is “too high”? For some, it’s ‘too high to personally buy’. For others, it’s ‘too high that it won’t see widespread adoption’. The reason behind the answer may be as important as the answer itself, but unfortunately we can only dig so deep with simple Twitter polls.

Oculus Touch

Oculus Touch is expected to ship in the second half of 2016

If we’re going to try to compare prices, we need to be as consistent as possible. One important thing to note is that while the Oculus Rift can be pre-ordered today for $600, that price doesn’t include Touch, the company’s VR controllers which really complete the experience. For the purposes of this article, when we talk about the HTC Vive or PlayStation VR, we’re assuming these systems include both the headset and the controllers. Which brings us to an important question… how much do people think Oculus Touch will cost?

How much do you think Oculus Touch will cost? — Road to VR (@RtoVR) January 11, 2016

While this question had a clear victor in the $100-$199 range, a significant number of people (12% of those polled) expected a hefty price of $300-$399. If we are to assume that the majority of respondents to this poll are correct, and put the price of Touch at $100-$199, that makes the total Rift + Touch cost $700-$799, which will be an important point of comparison to the HTC Vive and PlayStation VR.

HTC Vive

The HTC Vive is due to begin pre-orders at the end of February and begin shipping in April

Do you think the HTC Vive will cost more or less than the Rift ($599)?

— Road to VR (@RtoVR) January 11, 2016

As it’s also a PC-based system, the HTC Vive is the most direct competitor to the Oculus Rift. 62% of respondents expected that the Vive would cost more than the Rift’s $600 price, which is probably a good bet given that the Vive will also include the VR controllers. Still, some 21% believe that the Vive system will cost less than the Rift.

PlayStation VR

PlayStation VR is due out in Q2 2016

Do you think PlayStation VR will cost more or less than the Rift ($599)? — Road to VR (@RtoVR) January 11, 2016

As the console-based contender up against the traditionally more expensive world of high-end PC gaming, PlayStation VR is hoped by a large majority (70%) to be the entry-level option, coming in at a lower Price point than the Oculus Rift. If this expectation is widely held beyond just our Twitter followers, Sony could be in trouble if they aren’t able to deliver.

In the end, these poll results only speak to our Twitter followers, and are unlikely to be accurately extrapolated to a wider group of potential customers for these VR systems. Still, it’s interested to see the expectations that have been set so far, at least in the eyes of our readership.

MasterElwood

wow. 38 percent of R2VR readers have no clue whats going on? How is that possible?
- gnarppy
  
  I assume you’re talking about Vive costing more than Rift’s $599? It’s possible it could come out at the same price or lower depending on the design even with motion controllers.
  
  The Rift has a very complex design and just having a simpler design would allow for ease of manufacturing which could pump out more units for less cost. If they did produce more units in the same amount of time, more units sold allows for more revenue and spread out costs over the number of units better than lower manufacture rates could.
  
  Even with a profit margin vs Rift’s sold at cost/loss they could sell for less than Rift and with bundled controllers depending on the design, supply chain contacts, HTC’s vast experience on making hardware for themselves as well as others, and other considerations.
  
  Do I think Vive will be $599 or less? No, considering they said it’s a premium product, but it’s not impossible.
  - Bob
    
    The Vive will not sell for less than what the Oculus is selling it at. They have repeatedly emphasized on the fact that their product is at the top end of the spectrum which means it will 99.9% cost more. They aren’t projecting mass adoption the moment they release the product and they have plans to iterate on the design over and over so it wouldn’t make any sense for them to “pump” out these first generation units. Like the Rift, they are cementing their place in an entirely new sector of the industry and hoping their brand will be associated with the “higher end” of the market provided their standard of quality is there.
    - cyberqat
      
      I’m developeing with a VIVE and I have a DK2. The VIVe is great but MUCH more complex then the Oculus requiring two “base stations” that project a laser grid for the HMD and controllers to sense.
      
      It will *definitely* cost more then the Rift.
      - Lamanuwa
        
        Maybe, but development is one thing, manufacturing, resource acquisition, trade deals and distribution can be handled by different companies in different ways.
        
        If they so much as matches that price I’m switching over.
- yag
  
  some Valve fanboys are deluded…
Maria da Cunha

I think “Vive” and “PlayStation VR” will cost much more expensive! Over $ 700, at least!
- Maria da Cunha
  
  But we should not forget that currently only the followers believe in vr! Because until now vr is just a promise!
  - Sky Castle
    
    People who believes in VR are the ones that have actually experienced it. Only ones that have doubts are those that never tried it.
- crazysapertonight
  
  Why. Oculus has much more complex hardware, than PS VR
  - Maria da Cunha
    
    Because the Rift has a different history.
    Because Oculus is more dreamy and idealistic.
    Because Facebook has a lot of money!
    Because HTC is facing bankruptcy and desperately need money!
    Because Sony can not lose money!
  - The Price Guy
    
    Just FYI, the PSVR hardware, both the headset and the breakout box, are on par or even better than Oculus Rift. Both in display tech and audio tech. The only point of contention is the Touch controls, they look to be very good, but they don’t come in the box :(
- A4€ffort
  
  Playstation VR is estimated to cost $300. This is according to interviews with Sony.
  - Maria da Cunha
    
    You are a great candidate for another disappointment!
    - Maria da Cunha
      
      You’re a dreamer!
    - A4€ffort
      
      http://n4g.com/news/1851701/swiss-retailer-lists-playstation-vr-for-around-350
  - Maria da Cunha
    
    “While Sony has yet to officially announce the price point for its upcoming virtual reality headset PlayStation VR, one research group has now provided a pricing prediction. In a new report from SuperData about the virtual reality market, the research group says you can expect it to cost between $400-$600.”
    http://www.gamespot.com/articles/ps4s-playstation-vr-headset-to-cost-400-600-report/1100-6433594/
    
    They said the same thing Rift!
    - Lamanuwa
      
      I think PSVR will cost less than the PS4. I’m just guessing. They can’t just pull the price on us at midnight, they have to announce it to people/media before it goes on sale, because they are a proper company.
      
      Edit: Are you arguing with yourself?
      - care package
        
        Rifts will be sold for cost more or less. I can’t see it being TOO cheap for the PSVR. The tech is just not cheap period, in order to have a fully immersible experience. Just like Palmer from Oculus said, they could have cheapened it to be $100 less, but it would have taken away from the experience that is needed to be convincing. How Oculus spent most of its time was in research and test after test to determine what kind of tech was needed.
        Sony’s VR is going to be cheaper, but so will the tech. The Vive will probably be more expensive than the rift, but so will the tech. The Vive will be the best VR experience I think from what I’ve seen.
      - Lamanuwa
        
        Cheaper doesn’t always mean you get a bad experience. Sometimes it takes more advanced tech to get products into mainstream. That’s the goal, because if you hit mainstream the content is what shines. The technology behind it needs to disappear.
        
        It requires a feat of engineering talent to balance between ease of manufacturing, tool-chaining, resource acquisition, quality, ease of development, distribution and still come at an affordable price point. Does that mean it’s cheaper technology?
        
        I don’t think so.
      - care package
        
        Those feats of engineering are shared by all teams and part of the normal development process of course. I think the only room for movement at this point are features that will either add to or take away from the experience depending on where you want your price point.
        In Sony’s case they’ll be able to get away with cheaper tech (lowered specs), because it’s only going to be powered by the PS4, which isn’t powerful enough to power the specs presented by Oculus or Vive. The FPS won’t be native and the resolution is lower. Don’t get me wrong I think Sony has and will do a great job and I will buy one.
        If I have it my way I’ll own all 3.
      - Lamanuwa
        
        They have a wealth of experience in manufacturing. They also have in house talent on Optics, Display, Game development, OS, Distribution etc. They actually cover the entire spectrum of technology and manufacturing necessary for a this product unlike the other two. They also have more control over the entire environment.
        
        Yes. The platform is fixed from a hardware perspective. But that also brings with it certain advantages while it takes some away. The hardware also upgrades, but the lack of backwards compatibility between console generations is what’s causing us to think that way.This will change with X86 although infrequent.
        
        I want to emphasise, lowered specs do NOT correlate with real world performance and quality you perceive. You have to witness it yourself.
        
        From a price to performance/quality perspective, I think PSVR is going to exceed expectations. But with great price point it has a chance to hit mainstream, which means developers are going to follow.
        
        Even if you bought all 3, the one you use the most is the winner.
      - Mirimon
        
        Psvr uses an external pcu…
      - MasterElwood
        
        It´s already confirmed by Sony that the PSU does NOT assist the PS4 in rendering. That´s not its function.
      - Mirimon
        
        No, it’s confirmed that it doesn’t ALL of the rendering…. it does assist .
      - MasterElwood
        
        Riiiiiiight…
        
        “core graphics rendering for VR all takes place within the PlayStation 4 hardware itself and it’s going to be down to developers to work within existing limitations to get the best results.”
        
        Eurogamer after talking to developers with psvr dev kits.
      - Mirimon
        
        Are you having a hard time reading “not all” and “assist”????
        
        Do you know what “core” means? Do you understand how core is not the same as all???
        
        Seems like not only do you need to get educated on vr, but bone up on basic English.
      - MasterElwood
        
        Told you so. Its doesn’t do ANY rendering – just warping, interpolation, and converting. And 3D Audio. NO rendering.
        
        http://vrfocus.com/archives/30189/sony-clarifies-what-playstation-vrs-breakout-box-does/
        
        But i am sure like a little weasel you will spinn his words and make that somehow “assist rendering” ;-)
      - Mirimon
        
        Lol, get an update brah…. you can do better than gen1
      - Mirimon
        
        Psvr: real time, 360 tracking, no screen door, fastest frame rate, lightest unit… can be played on any ps4.
        
        It has many things better than rift, for less…
      - care package
        
        what is real time? Rift has 360 tracking and no screen door. Native frame rate for the psvr is 60 fps. I hope to own all three (PSVR, Vive and Rift). Then I will make up my own mind.
      - Mirimon
        
        Rift does have screen door. What they did was increase resolution and add in a diffusion filter to blur light into the gaps between pixels, though it still has it. Psvr actually eliminated it by using a sub pixel array rather than a standard pen tile…. (basically, there is another disply behind and offset, filling the “screen door”with actual pixels, with visual data….
        
        120 fps, vs 90
        
        Again, the rift only has slightly higher resolution, and +10 fov.
      - care package
        
        Again, PSVR is only native 60 hz. They’re achieving the 120 through duplication, which is the same way Televisions sets do it. I don’t doubt it’s going to be great, but you need to adjust your facts a bit.
        Rift has separate OLED displays. I think the PSVR is still using one full screen like the DK2.
        You didn’t answer me about real time. What is that in VR?
      - Mirimon
        
        No, rift uses pen tile displays, them being separate means nothing.
        Is this some math trick or something? Sub-pixel array>pen-tile array for th purposes of solving screen-door effect. Rift could have done it, AND kept a higher resolution at the same time, just like they could have made better 3d audio support, better weight distribution, better occular accomidations, better frame rates, better pricetag and broadened the target market by using an epcu.
      - MasterElwood
        
        “Is this some math trick or something?”
        
        No – it´s a manufacturing trick! The displays of the RIFT are custom made from Samsung especially for VR – with an extremely high fill factor = way less “black” between the (sub) pixels = way less Screendoor Effect.
        
        “them being separate means nothing”
        
        Yes it does. You need TWO displays for a real IPD adjustment. You can NOT achieve that with software alone.
        
        https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interpupillary_distance
      - Mirimon
        
        Lawl… need two displays for “real” ipd adjustment????
        
        Haha, no…. what kind of horse shit religious belief is that?
        
        Ipd is done with linses, no matter how many displays there are….
        
        Thats how it had been done for years prior on all of the vr headsets made, that is still how it is done today. The number of dospkays has nothing to do with ipd…..wow that was a clueless post…..
      - MasterElwood
        
        Please do a little research before stating crap like that. On the rift a display and a lense is a unit and they move TOGETHER when adjusted. You cannot change the angle/distance between lense/display without introducing artifacts.
      - Mirimon
        
        Herp derp… your precious two display cb1 uses lenses, just like all the others do… and in fact purposefully introduces (your misuse of artifacts)….
        
        Do you even know what ipd is????
        Get a clue kid.
      - MasterElwood
        
        Where in the world did i say the CV1 doesn’t have lenses??? Of course it does. I said they are a unit. Fixed. Not moving in relation to each other.
        
        When you use the IPD adjuster on the CV1 it moves the lenses AND the displays TOGETHER.
        
        Dude – you REALLY should brush up on your Rift knowledge. At LEAST go and watch the “evolution of the Rift” session from connect 2.
      - Mirimon
        
        Srsly….. you are soo lost in this, you sling terms around like jargon, clueless of what they are and how they work…
        
        Maybe you should go get one, like I have.
      - MasterElwood
        
        Well – i give up. I think we all now can agree that you are a paid troll – or a super-duper sony fanboy on a mission to help your beloved company.
        
        Either way – i am out.
      - Mirimon
        
        Paid troll? Because I know wtf I am talking about and you don’t? Get a grip kid, you should have bowed out last week.
      - care package
        
        Sounds like Oculus should have hired you. You could have revolutionized the whole thing and prevented them from making so many mistakes. The worst part is how embarrassed they should be taking so long to develop it when all they had to do was ask you.
      - Mirimon
        
        Lol, to be fair, most of the improvements were simply taken from others, but that is a good thing. For vr to tak er off we need standards, they need to be on the same foundation to allow developers to crank out games and consumers ease of purchase. Once the market is established they can compete to their heart’s content but such massive diversity out the gate will only hurt itself.
        
        Say and think what you will, but my points have weight.
      - care package
        
        You seem like the prideful type who’s ‘points’ always seem to have more weight in your own mind than anyone else’s. I know what I’ve read, and I know the nature of men. You know more than I do, but not as much as you think you do. I’ve read some mistakes you’ve made.
      - MasterElwood
        
        Are you high? Sorry – but you either don’t know what your are talking about – or you work for Sony.
        
        The Psvr DOES have SDE – and still way more compared to the RIFT. Just try it and don´t repeat marketing ps.
        
        You can’t compare “real” 90hz to “interpolated” 120hz. Real time interpolation ALWAYS introduces nasty artifacts.
        
        Also: The rift has not reduced the SDE via diffusor but via using custom made displays with extremely high fill rates. *facpalm*
      - Mirimon
        
        You haven’t used any of them, and you tell ME to try it???
        
        Do you even know what the effect is and how it is created? It is created by the lack of data between rows and collums of pixels, by filling those gaps with data it is gone. By merely diffusing the light between them it is only blurred……
        
        Now you claim “fill rates”… its a display, not a water tank, those pixels don’t pack them selves in even more by increasing fill rate, why do you keep trying to use derms you clearly don’t understand?
        
        You should probably stop smacking your head so hard, you clearly already suffer from some tbi…..
      - MasterElwood
        
        Sorry – you are right: i used the wrong word. Of course it´s fill-FACTOR – not fill rate.
        
        But the point stands: Palmer said they use custom made displays by Samsung – especially designed for VR – with a very high fill FACTOR – to massively reduce the blacks between the (sub)pixels – or in other words: the SDE.
        
        Or in layman’s terms: MORE PIXIPIXI LESS BLACKIBLACKI ;-)
      - Mirimon
        
        No, they simply used an increased ppi, with again, a diffusion grid. The increased ppi is what reduces the screen door, while the diffusion grid is what blurs what remains in the hopes people using it don’t have better than 20/20…..
        
        (Just got my new rift upgrade in today, and dispite the official rift tool application ny 3960x @4.8ghz runs it fine.)
      - MasterElwood
        
        So… Palmer is lying then? About something everyone can check in a few weeks? Riiiiiiiiight…..
        
        BTW: A increased PPI says NOTHING about SDE. You can have lots of Pixels Per Inch – and STILL a shitload black around them – resulting in a very bad SDE.
        
        The only thing what really matters in terms of SDE is the RATIO between ” the space filled with pixels” and “the space NOT filled with pixels”.
        
        Or in other words: the FILL FACTOR.
      - Mirimon
        
        No, ypu aren’t understanding him, are confusing the terms in general, and running off half cocked. You are getting upset here because you don’t understand the terminology or what it all means and thus you are not able to articulate even the concept of a point.
      - MasterElwood
        
        Nice try. I am working with display-tech for almost 20 years now – i know my stuff. The only reason i mixed up Fillrate- and factor is because in my native language it is just one word for both. A simple translation mistake – that’s all.
        
        But if YOU really think that a display with a higher PPI AUTOMATICALLY has a lower SDE – and also that it loses its SDE in the EXACT ratio – then you my friend are really really mistaken…
      - Mirimon
        
        You sit on a couch.. “work with display tech”.. gtfoh..
        
        Don’t quit working at the gas station anytime soon kid…
  - The Price Guy
    
    This estimate is beyond hopeful, there is not a chance PSVR is going to be so cheap, I wish it were, but the tech offered is at minimum on par with the Rift, and that is not selling for $300. Sony have not released pricing info yet.
    - A4€ffort
      
      This isn’t the article I was thinking of but it will do.
      
      http://n4g.com/news/1851701/swiss-retailer-lists-playstation-vr-for-around-350
    - Mirimon
      
      The r&d, and production is all in house. The hardware is already in user hands, the cobtrols have long since been available, and like the device that will use it Sony will target mainstream with a mainstream friendly price. Sure, they could validate it costing even more than rift since tw psvr comes with an external pcu for it (and takes up 1/4 of the plugs the rift does, oddly enough).. but they need this to work, and of all the vr out there, this is the most promising to succeed and mighr find its way to pc as well.
      
      Honestly, rift needed to come with its own breakout box so that the average pc gamer can actually afford it.
ctrl-z

Keep in mind that the Rift also requires a high end computer to run, putting the cost to use well over $1000.
- Mitt Zombie
  
  So does the Vive I take it, actually came looking for the minimum specs for that.
  - benz145
    
    Valve hasn’t given and specific minimum specs to my knowledge, but it seems like the Oculus min spec may be the defacto standard for the time being. Doesn’t make much sense for Valve to jump to something else.
A4€ffort

I play on PC and just got a PS4 for the VR. While i have a good computer I would have to start from scratch for PC vr.I have to say I’m impressed. I may drop PC gaming for PS5. But that’s doubtful cause let’s be honest it’s PC gaming.
- user
  
  who knows what’s on the market when ps5 is released :D
- care package
  
  I’m in the same boat, except I jumped back to console a year ago. PC gaming is still better graphically but I didn’t want to miss out anymore on 10′ of screen and guaranteed big surround sound.
Kisai

None of these first generation VR systems are going to be any good. Better buy motion sickness meds before you play.

Anyone who wants to not get sick and have an enjoyable experiences needs to have top of the line PC with at least the second-highest tier video card, and those cards cost more than a PS4. So no, even a PS4 experience is going to be awful, I predict that PS4 VR is going to operate at half the resolution just to keep the frame rate up.
- -ValeK-
  
  As someone who has spent many continuous hours in the Dev versions of rift I can say that yes dk1 was a bit bad for motion sickness. However dk2 and crystal Cove are fine and I have spent a solid 5 or so hours in Crystal Cove and not had one bit of motion sickness.
- yag
  
  Did you try the CV1 before bitching ? Or at least the DK2 ?
  - yagoff
    
    what a bitch you are
    - yag
      
      And yet another troll… Ben, can you do something ?
- The Price Guy
  
  These first gen VR systems are already proven to offer convincing, compelling experiences, literally thousands of people have tried all 3 major VR headsets and continue to sing their praises.
  
  What’s required for good, motion sickness free experiences is already a known quantity, native full HD resolution, great anti-aliasing solution, very high refresh rate, late latch sensor data, and they can all offer these things and more:
  
  Vive and Rift offer 2160 x 1200 res screen at 90 hertz refresh, they use diamond pentile sub-pixel displays so you lose some pixel resolution but it should at least equal a native 1080p display.
  
  PSVR offers 1920 x 1080 res screen at 120 hertz refresh, it uses a traditional 3 sub-pixel per pixel display so you don’t lose any resolution.
  
  They all offer asynchronous time-warp to ensure a smooth, high refresh rate (90 hertz and 120 hertz) and late latch sensor data for 1:1 lag free tracking.
  
  These headsets may be the first major effort into VR space but they all hold up very well and offer some great VR experiences. Sure some software releases will likely fall short, but that happens in every market, the good experiences will be great!
  - Joe
    
    What is late latch sensor data? Tried googling it but couldn’t make sense of the results..
    - The Price Guy
      
      Try searching for “vr late latching” or “asynchronous time-warp and late latching”, this yields more readable articles instead of white papers, patents, and breast feeding tips haha.
      
      At a basic level:
      
      In a traditional vsync enabled game with traditional controls user input is constantly added to an input buffer in the background during execution, each frame starts by polling the input buffer for up to date user input AT THE TIME OF POLLING, it then applies that data to the current simulation, this produces updated position data for everything on screen, this data is then sent to the GPU in preparation for rendering and then… everything WAITS.
      
      Why does it wait? It’s waiting to sync to vertical blank (vsync), the time when your monitor can receive your newly rendered frame without the possibility of screen tearing. After this, the process starts again.
      
      As you can see, the time from user input polling to screen update can be quite a while. For a game simulation running at 30 hertz you can get about 33ms of ADDITIONAL latency (on top of screen latency). For a lot of games this is acceptable, you’ll only input a handful of commands per second from your controller or mouse or whatever. For more intensive games (fighters, shooters etc.) an increased simulation speed is desired, 60 hertz can add around 16ms, 120 hertz can add around 8ms and so on.
      
      The problem:
      
      VR has an additional, extremely important, extremely latency sensitive input device, the headset (and to a lesser extent, the motion controllers). The headset is a constant stream of user input, the gyroscopes and accelerometers run at over 1000 hertz in order to provide extremely up to date user input data. The problem is we can’t use it, not with our traditional game loop.
      
      We only poll for user input at the start of our frame, then we add many milliseconds of latency in processing time and waiting time and display time. Even running our sim at 120 hertz, which is a massive ask of our hardware, still results in adding around 8ms in additional latency.
      
      Too much latency between head movement and expected visual feedback means motion sickness, and it’s the worst. We need to get our additional latency as close to 0 as possible, we need to be able to use the constant stream of up to date sensor data we have as late in the frame as possible, after input polling, after processing, after waiting, just before we sync with vblank, so we can use it instantly on our position data and then render.
      
      The solution:
      
      Late latching of sensor data. This more or less allows us access to constantly updated sensor data as late in the frame as possible in order to apply it to our position data just before rendering. This wasn’t even possible until relatively recently, it required not only VR vendor support, but also GPU vendor support (NVIDIA and AMD). It also opens up other possibilities, in conjunction with asynchronous time-warp, to greatly reduce load on our hardware.
      
      This turned out way bigger than I expected, I took some liberties, quite a few, I waffled a bit, but I hope this helps some.
      - Joe
        
        Thanks a lot, that’s really helpful! I’m left a little wondering how having access to the user input is useful late in the cycle when you need it to have done your simulation etc, unless it is just to get the head pose for the final render? I’ll check out the video when I get a block of time.
    - The Price Guy
      
      This video is pretty informational, it’s specifically about PSVR but some of the info would more or less apply to all vendors.
      
      It’s aimed at potential developers so it’s pretty dry and devoid of humour but it has some interesting information:
      
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Su45ND3pDc
  - yag
    
    “they use diamond pentile sub-pixel displays so you lose some pixel resolution”
    You’re right it’s a problem, tho that still can be mitigated if devs judiciously use green colors (for example green HUDs are much more readable in the DK2 -> see Elite D.)
    - The Price Guy
      
      This makes sense, Samsung’s latest pentile displays have shared alternating blue and red sub-pixels, but multiple green sub-pixels, so displaying green would offer the highest resolution.
      
      Here is a close up of an s6 display as an example (assuming I can link it):
      
      http://www.displaymate.com/Samsung_Diamond_Pixels_2.jpg
      
      I’m not aware of the exact pixel arrangement they will use in Rift or Vive but I assume it will be similar.
- benz145
  
  I spent something like 2 hours straight in a Vive the other day. No motion sickness to speak of. VR headsets can easily make you sick if the content is poorly designed, but this is no different than flashing colors on a TV causing eye-strain, or sharp loud noises in a music track hurting a user’s ears when wearing headphones, or low-contrast text on a newspaper making it hard to read. It takes time for content creators to learn what is and isn’t comfortable for any medium.
  
  As immersion goes up, so too does the ability to cause discomfort because our senses are being so powerfully convinced. Imagine someone who gets sick riding a rollercoaster — if VR is able to create an exact recreation of a rollercoaster, then that same person will get sick!
  - Kisai
    
    Indeed. My concerns are generally about what happens when bad hardware combinations (Eg iGPU’s found in all laptops) are used in combination with VR kit.
    
    There will no doubt be counterfeit devices made, just like when the iPhone was released, all these devices look similar, and people don’t know better. So it’s up to software engineers to make sure the hardware is capable (both the GPU and Headset) and refuse to operate instead of giving a poor experience.
    - benz145
      
      Of course, but this is not unique to this technology. Did that issue prevent the iPhone from catching on? Of course not. In fact, the reason there are counterfeits is because the tech is successful and there is demand for it.
      
      Imagine my grandma who wants to play her VHS movies on her new HDTV. She won’t be getting the best experience, and it’s up to the platforms to help educate her and make it easy for her to access good content that plays great on her TV. This is no different from the challenges facing VR. Platform providers will need to make it easy to get a good experience, which is why Oculus has recommended specifications and even a tool you can run to make sure your computer meets those specs:
      
      http://www.roadtovr.com/oculus-rift-compatibility-check-tool-checks-pc-ready-rift/
- care package
  
  Motion sickness from VR is really a thing of the past at this point, except of course by getting sick from heights or something like that. If you are expecting a holodeck experience that ya, they aren’t any good.
nathan

oculus rift is made by a company that dosnt make any parts them selves so buying them at consumer bulk cost and assembling them thats why the cost is high. but sony makes almost everything in house at production cost meaning it will be cheaper plus they can subsidize the cost. the htc/steam vive will be the same as sony except for the subsidize.
my price guess
oculus rift $599
htc vive $599 + $150 for vr controllers. better product but cheaper production cost leads to a price closer to oculus which will devastate oculus in the pc market not to mention steam access for vr games
psvr $399 + $100 for vr controllers true production cost before subsidizes $499
- nathan
  
  winners will be in first with higher total sales psvr, htc/steam vive in close second when gtx 970 gets cheaper. oculus tho im not sure will survive if vive hits the same price point and psvr being cheaper then both of them to get started plus possible third party support to bring psvr to pc requiring lower pc specs.
- yag
  
  Actually if we look at the first reviews, the CV1 looks a bit better (better displays and lenses, overall better image quality).
  So the Vive would do better to not be too much more expensive (because we all know it will be more expensive, even Valve recognized it).
- PhillyAllDayBabygoSox
  
  You said what I said but just betttttterrr ;)
Lamanuwa

I think they are lying. Oculus Rift is not being per-oredered fast enough, and most of those orders will drop out closer to actual release. They seem high because there is no competition or comparison yet.

“If something’s even US $600, it doesn’t even matter how good it is, how great of an experience it is – if they just can’t afford it, then it really might as well not exist.” – Palmer Luckey, 2013.

Reference: http://www.kotaku.com.au/2016/01/remember-when-us600-was-too-much-for-an-oculus/
The Price Man

I hope your right man, I really do, but I find it hard to see how Sony can sell their headset for so cheap considering the PSVR tech compares favourably to Oculus Rift, it even offers improvements in some areas. Sony will have to eat some loses per sale if they want to sell for under the Rift.
- PhillyAllDayBabygoSox
  
  My reasonsing for this is one, SONY stated that it will cost the same as a new console, which for the ps4 was $449, so This is a solid and marketable number to its targeted audience. Also, Sony handles all R and D, manufacturing, Marketing, and distribution wen it comes to their VR products So that way Sony can keep its prices a bit lower by reducing overhead. Whereas certain competitors only are manufacturing or developing their VR products, and not necessarily distributing it and what not. Lastly, Sony is developing a peripheral to a platform that has locked down specs, so now Sony’s VR products can now be optimized incredibly to te only platform it needs to run on, ps4. This will most likely make Occulus overall better and “beefier” than project Morpheus due to Occulus having to cover lots of specs and different components so it’s peripheral will properly run, whereas Sony does not have this problem. Cheers man.
- PhillyAllDayBabygoSox
  
  It also doesn’t sell with headphones, which is awesome cuz I have some AKG studio recording headphones anyways, so that’s another way SONY can keep the price low.
  - Mirimon
    
    That, and it gives the user the option to use via bt or 3.5mm jack w/e they want… the rift ones are giant fixed 80’s walkman headsets…. (the audio for rift is still being worked out as well…)
    - care package
      
      80’s Walkman headsets? You clearly have an axe to grind. Saying crap like that loses your credibility.
      I would give Oculus more credit than that.
      I’ve used headphones with the DK2 and was thrilled to see they were adding headphones to the Rift.
      Not only does wearing headphones with the headset start to feel like you are wearing a full on helmet, I started overheating quick and just settled on the PC speakers for sound. In other words, using headphones was NOT an option for me. I’m a pretty healthy guy too.
      - Mirimon
        
        I have thw dk2, waiting on my cb, have you even tried them on? No.. go ahead, take a look at the FIXED earmuffs on it….srsly, go ahead and look at them. While they were wise to take a page out of sony’s book on that part, they read it wrong, all they really had to do was support audio, not take away options by giving a poor permanent one. They did readjust weaight displacemebt a bit as well, and reduce it also back to dk1 lvls, but any length of time with those sitting on the bridge of your nose is poor as well.
        
        Headphones are important for vr, because TRUE 3d audio from the perspective of the viewer is important for immersion.
        
        There is no axe to grind, it has flaws, I point them out rather than run about praising brand names. Imo, sony’s flaw was not incorporating eye tracking into the head unit… they had the opportunity.
      - care package
        
        I have seen them. Earmuffs is another exaggeration. Oculus spent a lot of time with the audio side of things and I have no doubt they implemented the best solution. I think it looks great. Like I said, regular headphones are too much, but I don’t want to be plugging in earbuds into a jack every time I put them on either.
        I think the built in headphones is the one thing the Rift has over all the other ones personally. Those 80’s headphones can be taken off of course for the audiophiles that want to use their own, so it’s not permanent. Another one of your ‘facts’ is off.
      - Mirimon
        
        Spent time? They threw them on, and the coding for virtualized 3d audio is still incomplete for them. Those headphones are there..you can’t change it.
        
        Its good they copy as much from sony as possible, but it isn’t up to snuff yet.
        
        Look, you like them ” just because” , I get it, but you really don’t know much about this..
      - care package
        
        I’ve already said specifically why I think the attached headphones that can be taken off look like a great implementation. Maybe you can go back and read them again smart guy.
jacob preston

Sony are not a company for backwards compatibility so we will probably have to buy a new VR headset for the PS5 and this one wont be compatible whereas the PC ones will always be compatible and updated for new operating systems.
Backwards compatibility is the only thing that annoys me as a console games but I can’t afford a high end gaming PC and all my friends play PS4.
- Kev
  
  I was reading that ps4 isn’t backward comp because the ps3 used cell processors, which was a whole different animal. Now that they’re using x86-64 it may be a different story.
- ronEuk1
  
  VR tech and it’s surrounding industry is moving forward at such an amazing rate that by the time tech companies are in a position to launch HMDs’ with plus 180 degree FOV, 4k screens (each eye) with eye tracking , room scale tracking and foveated rendering to boot, then again, when that time comes, then people will be happy to get rid of their current or 2016 HMD for a new one say in 2018 or maybe before. I see the PS4 VR solution as possibly a middle of the road solution for people who want to experience good VR but can’t or are not prepared to stump up the money for something more expensive. Either way, they will all be superseded in a very big way in about 18 months anyway.
  - Mirimon
    
    Whats better on pc? To get better in game graphics the user will have to caugh up far more than the rift min spec…atn the only thing the occulus has better is resolution and +10 fov…
    Frame rate, acreen door, tracking, weight, comfort, audio, and accessability is all under the psvr domain.
    - care package
      
      You keep speaking as if you’ve tried them all. PSVR will probably end up king, but it’s still a weaker VR than Rift or Vive. Have you tried them all?
      - Mirimon
        
        I have, and currently have the 1st edition vhu still, still waiting on my rift upgrade in the mail, I don’t have vive but have used it several times.
        
        While ps4 is weaker than pc, psvr, with exception to resolution and field of view, better. Better performance (except for those two items), better feel (weight, comfort, control) better audio (currently), better tracking than rift (vive has insane tracking, for a crazy peice and done in a way the mainstream user will NOT accomodate), and better solutions to vr iasues (having actually resolved them) coming in at a more comfortable price point using existing hardware.
        
        It is in they way that of all the vr out there, sony has struck the right balance of ingredients. Now we just have to get mainstream consumers to taste it.
- Lamanuwa
  
  I think the PS5 will be backwards compatible. This is one of the main reasons they went with X86 architecture.
jacob preston

Also guys, do you know if there will be anywhere to test the PSVR before buying it to test if I will get motion sickness when using it. I don’t want to buy it then get motion sickness and have to sell it for less than I buy it.
- James
  
  You realize all electronics get 14 days virtually everywhere? If you can’t figure it out in 2 weeks, you deserve to buy it.
  - gay james
    
    with a 15% restocking fee and/or shipping jackass.
  - \BeyondTheVoidCast//
    
    I don’t think that’s a bad question. I’m super worried about that. Especially since the frames on some of the games.
    - Wagoo
      
      I’m mainly worried about if it has physical IPD adjustment or not, can’t really find any info.
      
      Also the RANGE for Rift/Vive still seem to be a mystery – odd for such critical, for some, info (I know the fresnel layer helps with the sweet spot, though)
      - Mirimon
        
        Psvr accommodates for that.. it is actually the most accommodating for our visual differences, including for thoae with corrected vision.
- Lamanuwa
  
  They should have one at the local game stores like GameStop, EB Games, if you ask me. Although that could happen soon. I hope we don’t have to wait till E3 for more news on it.
- Mirimon
  
  Motion sickness…. there are some software tricks, and the visual trick of adding a nose…other than that, psvr has higher frame rates for that. But yeah, try before you buy imo..
Mitt Zombie

The market would be lucky to support 1 system at these estimated price points, nevermind a whole bunch of them. Going to be lots of losers and orphaned systems.

If you really want to early adopt realize you might be getting the next Xbox360 HD.
- matt
  
  Also recognize that these headsets, even if abandoned, can be made to do many things on their own from hacked together solutions or just regular old programs. Not to mention that the Vive is backed by Steam, the largest distribution platform for pc
Joe Aywas

Most people already pay upwards of six hundred dollars for their phones, so go and drop another six on top of that. Get the Samsung Gear VR or anything of that sort if you want VR, one of the other major advantages to go along with price is portability. Yeah it might not be as high as quality experience, but its not gonna be one worth 600 dollars more either.
- Mitt Zombie
  
  Average crapple phone is over 600, average android phone is 254!
sirlance

I have a dk2 my computer is a i5 6600k 16 gigs ddr 4 ssd drive and gtx 980 ti.. I can imagine how the Playstation will be able to push any real graphics in vr…a game like elite dangerous will be a judder fest on the Playstation. …..your more than likely to see games like legend of dungeon on the ps4
- Mirimon
  
  Stop using imagination then?
  
  We already know how it is already doing it, via an external pcu, or breakout box. This is why it is smart: less than 7% of all pc gamers even have the specs to run vr on their pc…..
  
  Had Rift come with an external box they could have targeted mainstream consumers, but it is already dead in the water due to high unit price, high hardware demand for a limited platform, and lack of real support. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy ED on my dk2 (still waiting for new unit ), but psvr already has a good sized and diverse library, conteols in place, and any ps4 owner can use it. It is also possible, given more development, that it will work on pc as well in the future… still, psvr will be cheaper, target the mainstream, and in all cases except for resolutiin and 10 FoV, it is better than the rift as a vr headset goes.

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