Opinion: Oculus Rift has lost its touch by pricing itself out of the VR market

By Gerald Lynch

Oculus Rift began life as the poster child for the virtual reality revolution. Born from the garage musings of teenage tech prodigy Palmer Luckey, its early Kickstarter campaign inspired people to give VR another chance, shaking off the relics of its 90s arcade past.

But recent months have seen its crown (or should that be visor?) slip. And the news that its Oculus Touch controllers will cost £190 at launch has seen its position become even rockier.

Losing touch

In the US, those Touch Controllers, priced as a straight conversion, come in at $250, and AU$325 for Australian VR fans.

Local pricing of course could come in a little lower, but once you factor in the £499 ($600, AU$649) cost of the headset itself, Oculus Rift pretty much loses the lead in price it had over its biggest competitor.

Many balked at the price of the HTC Vive, Oculus’ main rival in the PC VR space. It came pre-packaged with a pair of large but intuitive VR controllers, at an initially eye-popping £689 ($799, AU$899) price.

But with a combined cost of £690, the Oculus Rift is on a par with the Vive. Even if the …read more

Source:: techradar.com – Gaming