Begun the VR wars have.
Today HTC has announced their final consumer production model of their VR headset the Vive. In a blog post on their website, HTC announced that the Vive pre-orders will open Monday Feburay 29th (yes that’s leap day) at 10am eastern time. The price will be $799USD, the unit will ship in April of this year. Also important to note is that HTC’s post says
“Vive will be delivered as a complete kit allowing users to instantly jump into a fully immersive virtual environment using two wireless controllers, 360 degree tracking and room scale movement sensors”
This is different from the choice made by their nearest competitor Occulus whom chose to price their unit at $599 (200USD less), but with out the inbox sensors, and controllers. Getting the touch controllers for Occulus will set the consumer back another chunk of change(price has not yet been announced), probably bringing the prices for the two units closer together.
The HTC Vive will also ship with two VR games, Job Simulator and Fantastic Contraption, and with the recent addition of the front facing camera HTC is stressing that this is not just a gaming machine. They are targeting multiple sectors including entertainment, retail, education, design, healthcare and automotive that will ultimately transform people’s lives.
Cher Wang, chairwoman and CEO, HTC is quoted in the blog post as saying
“From the beginning, Vive has been at the forefront of virtual reality, with HTC pioneering several ground breaking technologies, Since announcing Vive this time last year, we have worked tirelessly with Valve to deliver the best VR experience on the market, winning multiple awards and receiving critical acclaim from media, consumers and the industry. With the Vive consumer edition we are now able to realize our ultimate vision; bringing Vive into homes around the globe so that people can experience immersive virtual reality in a away that fires the imagination and truly changes the world.”
So what do you think? Is HTC going to take down Occulus or vice versa? Hit the jump to see their intro video that was also in the blog post