Doubt the final product will be above 300 dollars. Scale up production lower cost. Not like 1080p panels are anything out of the ordinary, would be a diffrent sotry if it was 4k resolution panels. 1080p on what 3-4" ? 279$ launch on xmas 2013 😉

Higher resolution (smaller cells) on smaller film (subtrate) costs more than same resolution on large piece of film. Checkout the cost difference between 720p, 1080p, or 144p cell phones or tablets yet with the same insides and size. 😀 Don't get me wrong. I'm not hating on Occulus. I really hope they will do well but at a higher level, not cheaper level. I rather the device cost 500-600 USD, supports a super high resolution, super light like titanium framed glasses with kickbutt performance than a low res, low performing cheaply made item for 300 USD.

Absolutely interested, but will wait for v2 before buying, I imagine the initial release will still be used as a mass Beta test

Higher resolution (smaller cells) on smaller film (subtrate) costs more than same resolution on large piece of film. Checkout the cost difference between 720p, 1080p, or 144p cell phones or tablets yet with the same insides and size. 😀 Don't get me wrong. I'm not hating on Occulus. I really hope they will do well but at a higher level, not cheaper level. I rather the device cost 500-600 USD, supports a super high resolution, super light like titanium framed glasses with kickbutt performance than a low res, low performing cheaply made item for 300 USD.

Well if there is a market for it they will do it if not they won't 😉 I think we will be looking at a plastic product at around 300 USD mark for xmas, followed by possible deluxe version, leather strap, metal frame and so on if the vanilla version picks up. Still 500 bucks is simply too much for this piece of kit at this point in time I think, who would use it? Really only flight sim, and some platform / fps games would benefit from it. I could see sport game like basketball, football and handegg also be benefiting from a "more real" feel without breaking playability/control/view comfort.

Well all it is really is a fast cellphone screen with a extensive software kit behind it. Even at $300, they would be making a tidy profit.

The success of this depends on how many devs get behind it and give support for it. The technology we have now is more than powerful enough so its all down to the devs. I cannot see it taking off tbh, i think it will be a niche market for certain games like Flight simulators etc, abit like TrackIR is now. It never took off in the early 90's because of two things.... 1.Technology was very limited for the mainstream casual gamers so VR was a very ambitious project to get successfully running. I mean running VR headsets with Megadrive and SNES was never going to happen. Even the Jaguar Headset was canned around 1995-6. 2. Alot of controversy hit the console gaming community in 92-93 labelled on newspapers like the News of the World "Mario Killed my son". Basically some poor lad had an epileptic fit and died while playing console games. The media jumped on it and said that video games were dangerous etc. However study revealed that the epileptic fit was caused by the brain receiving flashing signals through both eyes which caused the fit, the poor lad must have chocked to death while having a seizure. If he would a covered one of his eyes he would a been ok as signal through one eye is fine apparently. So epileptic fits could be caused by flashing lights on a TV or being out at a Disco or Rave and not just computer games as it was proven at the time. Unfortunately at the time VR was just announced and because the VR headset covered both eyes and that poor lad died it was never ever going to take off especially with the very limited 16bit technology. I remember all of this happening at the time in 92-93 as if it was last week.

Which is fine and dandy, but it's not the 90's anymore. That being said, Oculus really has to push for either Sony or Microsoft to integrate the technology (probably Microsoft with its Kinect) and make it mandatory for devs to support to varying degrees. Unreal, Unity, Source, ID Tech 5 and several other engine groups already announced plans to fully support this in their upcoming engines. If they manage to lock down a single console, the chicken or the egg scenario will be almost fully eliminated. What they need to do is work on a wireless version using WiDi or something similar and that has a 3.5mm jack for audio. Battery life of 8 hours shouldn't be difficult to achieve with a minor battery pack on the opposite side of the head for balance.

The success of this depends on how many devs get behind it and give support for it. The technology we have now is more than powerful enough so its all down to the devs. I cannot see it taking off tbh, i think it will be a niche market for certain games like Flight simulators etc, abit like TrackIR is now. It never took off in the early 90's because of two things.... 1.Technology was very limited for the mainstream casual gamers so VR was a very ambitious project to get successfully running. I mean running VR headsets with Megadrive and SNES was never going to happen. Even the Jaguar Headset was canned around 1995-6. 2. Alot of controversy hit the console gaming community in 92-93 labelled on newspapers like the News of the World "Mario Killed my son". Basically some poor lad had an epileptic fit and died while playing console games. The media jumped on it and said that video games were dangerous etc. However study revealed that the epileptic fit was caused by the brain receiving flashing signals through both eyes which caused the fit, the poor lad must have chocked to death while having a seizure. If he would a covered one of his eyes he would a been ok as signal through one eye is fine apparently. So epileptic fits could be caused by flashing lights on a TV or being out at a Disco or Rave and not just computer games as it was proven at the time. Unfortunately at the time VR was just announced and because the VR headset covered both eyes and that poor lad died it was never ever going to take off especially with the very limited 16bit technology. I remember all of this happening at the time in 92-93 as if it was last week.

True, even though today we have the technology and more than enough horsepower it will not take off if developers choose not to support it. On the other hand if they would give it a try and be successful, VR will take off for good and it would be great because it will be a gaming revolution, I have no doubt.

I've been pretty excited about it ever since I heard Carmack talking about it mid last year. Personally, I can't wait to try it out. 😀

If they get it to support plenty of games it could be successful but devs are lazy as well all know, i mean where is TXAA the new Anti-Aliasing thats going to change the world. The only game i know its in is Crysis 3 and tbh other AA modes work and look better, even smaa in C3 looks better. So in other words Occulus not only needs to be supported be it needs to be implemented well. It needs to be made where in an FPS game for example using Occulus should give you an advantage over a tradtional mouse and keyboard user because if it dont it will become a niche product. Ill probably buy one just for some Flight Simulators etc as long as there supported:)

If enough of us want this technology,the developers will have little choice. Welcome to the future.

Not neccessarily, just because something has alot of demand for it doesnt mean automatically if its any good we will all see soon if its anygood.

Proper use of Occulus in this new demo. I have to say this looks great. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iSoj9EU7pWs#at=150

Proper use of Occulus in this new demo. I have to say this looks great. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iSoj9EU7pWs#at=150

Yeah it has lots of potential, will keep my eye on how it progresses.

I don't know but I really enjoyed playing Koronis Rift by Lucasfilm Games back in the mid-eighties on my C64.

i havnt really given my opinion, so here goes....... Currently its lacking positional tracking, however the hack to get around this is to use a Razer Hydra strapped to the rift. Its quite effective and whats shown in the Hydra Deck example. So yep using it is rough around the edges at the moment, but i will say( and this is from gaming from around 1981 ), its one of the best experiences ive had in gaming in a very long time. If they sort out the rez( >1080p would be best ) and the positional tracking and get some devs on board this will make gaming absolutely awesome. Best experiences so far are: - Using the HL2 VR mod so it has positional tracking with the hydra and has 1:1 mapping with your hand for shooting. The scale of everything is amazing and not something you can see with a monitor. Even seeing the size of the rooms in game is weird but cool. - Playing Dirt 3 - i have trackir, but i never noticed your co pilot doesnt actually do much physically but reacts to crashes etc. Its unbelievable weird when using a wheel and seeing your in game hands are in the same position as your physical hands. - Any demo where you have a body and you look down, hard to describe but that is some weird experience. - size of NPC's in game vs your size makes them intimidating if theyre taller. I really really hope it pans out because there are so many 'feelings' that you have using the rift that you never experience. Its like playing your first game that you get a serious adrenelin rush from( mine was BF2 ), but you practically get this from most of the demos/games e.g. Doom BFG, HL2, Dirt 2/3 etc. Im probably biased because i really enjoy the experience, ive heard people that have a crap experience because theyre eye spacing(IPD)/head/nose sizes just dont fit the current design. Im waiting on VorpX which is supposed to make a lot of the latest games like Bioshock Infinite, BF3 etc. compatible with the rift. Its not available yet and has been constantly delayed, but lets see. I uploaded a vid of my mrs freaking with one of the demos if anyones interested, not posting the link here but if you search "Wife Freaking Oculus Rift Ocean Rift" on YouTube youll get it, its a good laugh lol. BTW feel free to rip my opinions apart, I think its more interesting to see what the general concensus is.

I don't know but I really enjoyed playing Koronis Rift by Lucasfilm Games back in the mid-eighties on my C64.

Yeah i remember that, i also used to play Rescue on Fractulus also from Lucasfilm games quite alot which was around the same time.

I uploaded a vid of my mrs freaking with one of the demos if anyones interested, not posting the link here but if you search "Wife Freaking Oculus Rift Ocean Rift" on YouTube youll get it, its a good laugh lol.

Haha i looked at that video of your wife playing, was funny to watch and good to see the effect this VR helmet has on people, looks very promising, Total Immersion judging by your wifes experience:)

This really needs to start with us. We need to show interest in moving this technology forward. If the gaming community can show developers we're serious about this technology, they'll get behind it too. We have to show them it will be profitable before they'll want to invest in it. I'm interested in it because even if I don't end up getting it, I feel that it's important that it be successful. It's a stagnant niche that's been put down for years because of it's own stagnancy.

Not looking so good after 5 straight hours of use but the reviewer does have one of the older 640x480 versions:

As I neared the end of Episode 1, I noticed a final side effect: physical pains. While not even a pound in weight, the Rift was starting to take its toll after being perched for nearly six hours upon my head. My neck was more than a little sore and my cheeks hurt where the majority of the Rift's weight had been resting.

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