Did you get your HTC Vive this morning? Pre-orders for the $799 headset began today, and eager VR enthusiasts will get their hands on the product April 5 — mere days after competitor Oculus Rift ships.
The pre-order bundle is costly, but arguably it comes with more goodies to sink your teeth into: along with the headset, users will get two wireless controllers as well as base stations and other accessories. The Vive will also come with three apps — games ‘Job Simulator’ and ‘Fantastic Contraption,’ and Google’s ‘Tilt Brush’.
The pre-orders only apply to select countries, so make sure you’re included when you preorder. Some Oculus pre-orders were cancelled due to bad transactions or attempts to ship outside of supported countries, so it’s unlikely you’ll be able to dupe HTC into sending your headset to a country that’s not included.
More or less, it’s clear that this Spring will be the kickoff of the great VR hardware race. Oculus and the Steam-powered HTC are bringing a lot of appeal, and have the edge in hitting shelves before Sony’s PlayStation VR. But it will be hard to see how the devices compare and contrast until users have them in their hands.
Things are heating up.
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