Many gamers have been keeping their eyes peeled and their spider senses on high alert for the dawn of the virtual reality revolution hinted at in giant glowing neon lights with the original unveiling of what Oculus has been brewing up. While we’ll have to wait a bit longer for the full PC compatible consumer-ready headset to arrive, today Samsung is bursting the gates wide open with its Gear VR headset.

The price for the Samsung Gear VR isn’t enough to break the bank at $99, and will give most gamers their first taste of what Oculus will ultimately have to offer. While you might consider a full Benjamin a lot of cash to fork over for a gaming peripheral, you’ll also want to factor in what you’re getting out of the box. Unlike those Rock Band drum kits and DDR dance pads many gamers have collecting dust in a closet somewhere, the Gear VR will give you access to a sizable chunk of gameplay value.

For the MMO gamers out there, starting today you’ll be able to play EVE: Gunjack which we most recently demoed during EVE Vegas last month. Gunjack can be purchased directly via the Oculus store on the Gear VR for $9.99, and is just one of the many games and apps that will be available with the launch. Over the next few weeks we’ll also be seeing more than 25 new made-for-VR releases hitting the platform, including the particularly interesting take on the Hitman franchise via Hitman Go (shown below).

In terms of compatibility, the Gear VR works with Samsung’s Note5, S6, S6 edge and S6 edge+. While not entirely unexpected that Gear VR would primarily function with the current generation phones from Samsung, it will be interesting to see how many models are released moving forward that retain compatibility. My best guess is that it will be highly dependent upon early adopters leading the charge, as is often the case with newly introduced tech.

As a good example, years back when NVidia released its first 3D Vision kits, the full setup required was a bit too cost prohibitive for most consumers given that it required a 120hz monitor which the vast majority of gamers simply don’t own. At the time, these monitors were clocking in for around $400 – or somewhere around the buy-in price for a new Samsung phone.

Those of you interested in checking out the Gear VR will have a chance to do so at select Best Buy and AT&T stores that are said to have demo locations set up. Now if only the average Best Buy employee could tell the difference between virtual reality and an egg beater we’d be all set!

If you’re looking to snag a Gear VR of your very own, you can do so now at Amazon, Best Buy, and AT&T, with T-Mobile coming sometime next week. You can also learn more about the Gear VR on the official blog and the Gear VR website.


To read the latest guides, news, and features you can visit our Gaming Tech Game Page.

Last Updated: Mar 21, 2016

About The Author

Reuben "Sardu" Waters has been writing professionally about the MMOG industry for eight years, and is the current Editor-in-Chief and Director of Development for Ten Ton Hammer.

Comments