In the spirit of summer sales and their own “Summer of Rift,” Facebook subsidiary Oculus VR has announced that the Rift + Touch bundle is now on sale for $399. The bundle includes the headset, a pair of Touch controllers, two sensors, an Xbox One wireless controller, a remote, and cables, including connectors for Rock Band VR guitar controllers.
Oculus also offers seven free games for the Rift: Lucky’s Tale, Medium, Toybox, Quill, Dead and Buried, Dragon Front, and Robo Recall. For those lacking Rift-compatible titles, these selections provide a simple way to game on the Rift immediately.
The sale will take place for six weeks and follows the permanent price adjustments in March that cut the Rift + Touch bundle from $798 to $598. This competitively positions the Rift + Touch bundle against the $799 HTC Vive headset/controllers bundle and the $499 Sony PlayStation VR headset/controllers bundle. As it stands, Rift’s shipments, cumulatively as well as for 2017 Q1, lag behind the Vive’s according to SuperData, while both are behind the PSVR; at the top of the heap is the more affordable Oculus-powered Samsung Gear VR.
According to Fortune, Oculus vice president of content Jason Rubin stated that “This is a good time to test a mass-market price,” where Oculus is considering whether to permanently drop the price. If so, the Rift would finally arrive at the “$350 ballpark” that was originally targeted. As PC-based high-end VR devices, both the Rift and Vive require VR-capable computers, which carry a hefty price of their own.
As a reminder, Oculus offers the following recommended and minimum PC specifications to power Rift:
| Oculus Rift PC Specifications | |||
| Recommended | Minimum | ||
| CPU | Intel i5-4590 / AMD Ryzen 5 1500X | Intel i3-6100 / AMD Ryzen 3 1200, FX4350 | |
| GPU (AMD) | AMD Radeon RX 480 / R9 290 | AMD Radeon RX 470 / R9 290 | |
| GPU (NVIDIA) | NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 / 970 | NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050Ti / 960 | |
| Memory | 8GB+ RAM | ||
| Video Output | HDMI 1.3 | ||
| USB Ports | 3 x USB 3.0 1 x USB 2.0 |
1 x USB 3.0 2 x USB 2.0 |
|
| OS | Windows 7 SP1 64 bit or newer | Windows 8.1 or newer | |
On the HTC side of matters, a new Google Daydream supported Vive was announced only a few months ago, aimed at a 2017 release. Pricing was not revealed at that time.
Time will tell how much the Rift’s bundle sale will help bring high-end VR to the masses.
Related Reading
- Oculus Rift Launch Day News: New AMD & NVIDIA Drivers; Async Timewarp & Platform Restrictions Added To SDK
- Hands On With the Retail Oculus Rift: Countdown to Launch
- Oculus Touch Controllers Shipping In December for $199
- HTC & Intel Partner on WiGig Wireless for Vive VR Headset
- GDC 2017 Roundup: VR for All – Pico Neo CV, Tobii, & HTC
- Basemark Releases VRScore, a VR & VR Headset Benchmark Suite for Windows
Source: AnandTech – Oculus Announces Six Week Sale of 9 Rift + Touch Bundle