Virtual reality. Just saying the words is enough to get anyone excited at the possibilities. More specifically, the gaming world has been falling over themselves with excitement since a Kickstarter campaign raised $2.4 million for production of the Oculus Rift in 2012.

Recently, Oculus founder Palmer Luckey spoke with roadtovr.com and gave us all an update on the price of the Rift and when it will actually hit the shelves. When asked if the virtual reality headset was still expected to retail at the $350 mark, Luckey said: "We’re roughly in that ballpark…but it’s going to cost more than that. And the reason for that is that we’ve added a lot of technology to this thing beyond what existed in the [early] days. [We want this] to be the best possible experience that we were able to make [and that] no compromises were made in terms of quality."

Despite some claims that the Oculus Rift’s technology was ‘borrowed’ from other developers, the headset’s production is going full steam ahead and is expected to be ready for purchase in early 2016. Luckey went on to discuss why the Rift’s price tag was justifiable: "The Rift is a lot of custom hardware. It’s using lenses that are some of the hardest to manufacture lenses in any consumer product you can go out and buy. It’s using custom displays we worked on with Samsung that are optimized for virtual reality, in a lot of ways even beyond what you’re actually seeing on these prototypes on the show floor. I would say I think people are going to be happy with what they get for the price because I really do think it’s going to be that best VR headset you can buy."

In related news, the latest Windows 10 version of Minecraft has been reported to be compatible with the Rift, which seems like a match made in heaven for players to enjoy the world-popular game in a novel way. The Windows 10 edition is additionally supporting the use of multiplayer, in which users can build, mine, and explore with other gamers. Cooperative play has been a huge mainstay of Minecraft, as ways to host online multiplayer games are hugely popular in the game’s community.

For more on the Oculus Rift, check out the video below from the latest E3 conference, in which Luckey and Nate Mitchell, Oculus’ vice-president of product, spoke in even greater detail about the upcoming Rift headset and types of controllers that will be available.


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Last Updated: Mar 14, 2016

About The Author

James, a lifelong gamer, is a freelance writer who occasionally contributes to Ten Ton Hammer.

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