VR was a big part of congress this year, with many companies announcing their own version of the Oculus headset. The HTC VIVE
has perhaps been the most anticipated of the bunch, after a much touted collaboration between themselves and Valve. Today, the
company announced that the consumer edition would officially be available to pre-order from 29th February, with full availability
starting in early April. Priced at 799 USD, it puts the VIVE in the same category as that of the Oculus Rift and other premium VR
headsets.
The device will be powered by SteamVR and integrates directly into your smartphone, allowing allowing you to receive and respond to both
incoming and missed calls, get text messages and send quick replies directly through the headset. Of course, this is only part of the
package, as the headset itself also integrates a front facing camera that can scan the space around the user for a more
immersive experience. Add to this those updated wireless controllers and you have quite an attractive package that
definitely puts it slightly above what the Rift is capable of.
When the device ships, HTC will be bundling two games with the headset... Though they’re not really
anything to cry home about. Job Simulator: The 2050 Archives hardly sounds inspiring, while
Fantastic Contraption is nothing more than a tech demo if anything. Still, it’s nice to have some
freebies initially shipping with it at purchase.
Of course, HTC has said that they are doing their best to
“foster the creation of content”, though we’re sure that
Valve already has this sorted to some degree.