Oculus Rift’s $1,500 total cost: Digging into the truth behind the insane number - nicholscappereen

Even as the fervor over VR in the end started hit a fever pitch, Oculus VR in conclusion began releasing information all but the release of the consumer variant of its heatedly anticipated Optic Rift, the VR headset that kickstarted the virtual reality frenzy. Earlier this month, a launch window was announced: early 2022. Yay! The succeeding hot question: How much will the Rift cost?

Late Wednesday Night, Eye CEO Brendan Iribe provided an answer—good-natured of—in the most roundabout, obtuse, downright pathetic way possible. Talking at Re/code's Code Conference, Iribe revealed not the price of the Rift itself, but that the headset and a PC powerful enough to hunt down it will cost a cool $1,500.

Come on, Brendan. Actually? That's the price you want in people's heads when you're trying to ground a revolutionary, completely new product category?

In front you knew it, headlines like "A complete Oculus Rift setup North Korean won't cost much $1,500" began to crop up, and mainstream publication USA Today ran a piece titled "Oculus to sell Rift package for $1,500."

We have to slam into this, folk.

Break pop the Oculus Rift's price

First things first, before we dive into the nitty-gritty: The Eye Rift has always been positioned as a play twist, even after Facebook bought the company. Fated, there are an interminable number of groovy not-gaming uses for VR, simply the vast bulk of the first wave of Oculus Rift buyers will to be sure be PC gamers looking for a thrilling new know. (And it is indeed thrilling.)

You know what Microcomputer gamers already have? Powerful gaming PCs. So Iribe's $1,500 chassis is pointless to the Rift's center audience, and just serves to cut normal people who just ever hear about VR headsets when crazy $1,500 price points make headlines in the big papers.

Ugh. Ugh.

So how much will the Oculus Rift itself wind finished retailing for? Between Iribe's $1,500 bomb (UGH) and the Rift's minimum recommended PC specifications, it's possible to come up with a rough estimate. Here are the officially necessary specs, along with the rough price of for each one component:

Nvidia GTX 970 / AMD 290 equivalent or greater – $330
Intel i5-4590 equivalent or greater – $200
8GB+ RAM – $60
Compatible HDMI 1.3 video output – on video notice
2x USB 3.0 ports – on motherboard
Windows 7 SP1 or newer – $100

Of course, you need more than that to build up a practical computer. Here's everything else you'd have to buy, with a reasonable, terms-conscious calculate for each component. (Zero eye-wateringly fast Intel 750 series SSD for you!)

Motherboard – $100
Case – $60
Storage – $100
Monitor – $150
Keyboard and mouse – $50 (I hump, I sleep with. Merely remember, I'm keeping IT cheap here, gamers.)
550 watt power furnish that's actually deserving buying – $50

Supply information technology whol up, and you've got a imposing total of $1,200. Depending on the exact component configuration and what deals are available the day you'ray looking to buy, that could sway a bit in either direction, simply $1,200 is a solid, realistic estimate for a PC powerful decent to run the Rift.

ung 8786 — A fan checks unstylish a game on the latest Oculus Rift development outfit.

Reading between that lines, that suggests that the VR headset itself will probably cost betwixt $200 and $400. And what cause you know? That jibes completely with the launch price that Oculus founder Palmer Luckey previously said the company was targeting.

"That could slue in either direction contingent on scale, pre-orders, the components we end prepared using, business negotiations…" atomic number 2 said. "Any it is, it's going to be as cheap as possible."

So the Severance itself won't cost more than a smartwatch. That's great! Terrific to get wind! It's too bad that Joe and Jane Everyman will make that ghastly $1,500 price stuck privileged their brain like a sho.

Ugh.

Rather than ranting further, I'll let game developer Rami Ismail have the last word on the pricing that should consume been teased for the revolutionary device:

(If you want to convince people VR is affordable, say "$300 and a high-finish computer". Adequate people South Korean won't read past the number.)
— Rami Ismail (@tha_rami) May 28, 2022