The Oculus Touch controllers' high price has been revealed

midian182

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We’ve been waiting a while for the Oculus Rift’s Touch controllers, and now it seems that they’re almost upon us. For owners of the VR device, the big question has been: “how much.” Judging from a pre-order sign spotted in the UK, the answer is: “quite a lot.”

Engadget UK’s Nick Summers spotted the pre-order ad for the Oculus Touch controllers at a branch of UK-based retailer Game. The display shows that the controllers will cost £190. After deducting local taxes – and taking into account the Brexit effect – expect the US price to be around $200.

Oculus CEO Brendan Iribe said July that the Oculus Touch would ship in Q4. An in-store Oculus rep confirmed this, saying the controllers would be getting a “winter release,” presumably for both the US and the UK.

It’s worth remembering that the Oculus Touch controllers do come with an additional camera that will improve tracking, which probably factors into the high price. It now means that anyone who wants the whole Rift setup – controllers and all – will be paying pretty much the same price as an HTC Vive: $800.

Several sites have reported that the US price will be a direct conversion of the UK’s, which would see the controllers retail for around $250, but as this seems pretty unlikely as many tech products are now more expensive in the United Kingdom. The HTC Vive, for example, costs just under $1000 in the UK.

Even if the Oculus Touch controllers do arrive in the states at $200, it’s a high price to pay. It'll be interesting to see how many Rift owners decide to splash out on them. We’ll no doubt learn more at next month’s Oculus Connect.

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They need to sell the full system including the controllers for around £300-£350 before I would even consider purchasing this technology. Its just to expensive considering the £600-£800 quid system required to even adequately run the thing.
 
Seems occulus missed the VR hype train a bit here.

Even if they didnt though, why would you buy this and a rift when the vive is the same cost and isnt locked down to facebook's games, nor does the vive give monetary support to facebook's DRM policies.

Mostly because of brand recognition. Everyone - including non-gamers - knows about the Oculus. They don't know about the Vive. So Oculus has the advantage.
 
Seems occulus missed the VR hype train a bit here.

Even if they didnt though, why would you buy this and a rift when the vive is the same cost and isnt locked down to facebook's games, nor does the vive give monetary support to facebook's DRM policies.

Mostly because of brand recognition. Everyone - including non-gamers - knows about the Oculus. They don't know about the Vive. So Oculus has the advantage.

True. But then someone who knows better tells them about the Vive.
 
They need to sell the full system including the controllers for around £300-£350 before I would even consider purchasing this technology. Its just to expensive considering the £600-£800 quid system required to even adequately run the thing.


It would be a while before we see complete units for 350 (including controllers). I broke down the rift headset, and the profit margins were next to nothing on component parts. We just need much more competition, so production levels can ramp up and costs come down. I still think it hasn't really taken off and its a very small niche market still.
 
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