Oculus CEO Brendan Iribe has suggested that a new PC capable of supporting Oculus Rift plus the headset itself will set you back around $1,500, which is around £1000.
“We are looking at an all-in price, if you have to go out and buy a new computer and you’re going to buy the Rift,” said Brendan. “At most you should be in that $1,500 range.”
The Independent have speculated that the headset price may be around around $500 (£325). This takes in to account the cost of purchasing a new PC based on the recommended specs for a Rift-compatible computer, which include a Nvidia GTX 970, Intel i5-4590, 8GB+ RAM, HDMI 1.3 video output, two USB 3.0 ports, and Windows 7 SP1.
Oculus Rift will launch next year, around the same time as Project Morpheus. If Sony can keep the cost down they have a chance to lead the VR race as they have a market of over 20 million consumers with PS4s who don’t need to upgrade their hardware to play VR.
Source: Independent / Recode
JR.
That’s a pretty reasonable price if accurate. Hopefully Morpheus will be cheaper still.
The problem I have with Sony and their pet project of the month, is that they release these expensive devices with promises of greatness but when they don’t sell ‘enough’, they completely abandon them. Look at the Move and PS Vita – all but forgotten about now. And does anyone else remember Wonderbook?
Morpheus could be an incredible device (the Vita certainly was before it was cast aside like an old glove) but can we rely on Sony to support it if it doesn’t exceed sales expectations in the first year – hell, even the first quarter? Given Sony’s track record I’m not so sure and it’s not a risk I feel comfortable or willing to take at the moment.
I read an article recently which estimated that the Vita has sold approximately 10 million units world wide. And this isn’t enough to invest in any new AAA exclusive games. As someone who is excited about the potential of VR gaming, I honestly don’t believe 10 million people will buy into Morpheus or be even the slightest bit interested in the VR experience. So what guarantee do we have that Sony will continue to support Morpheus if it sells even half that number? If Vita can shift 10 million units and be deemed a failure, what hope is there for a VR device that sells 5 million units (if that)?
I hope I’m wrong about all this and I wish nothing but success for Morpheus and VR in general. Virtual Reality gaming has the potential to be something special. I just hope they don’t squander it.
SamBeThyName
I think the difference is once you’ve tried VR you become an evangelical convert and the same cannot be said about Vita or Move
Avenger
It matters sod all to be honest. JR. is pretty much spot on. Sony have a reputation for abandoning pet projects down the line, and whilst VR is a more attractive prospect than motion controllers and snazzy cameras, Sony still abandoned an entire console. If they don’t make the sales on Morpheus (and they are combating a lot in terms of R&D costs), support could end up dwindling away and everyone will say in a few years, remember one of those infamous PS peripherals.
Sales could be great and Morpheus could continue, but the chances of Sony abandoning Morpheus later down the line is quite high.
rept0n
I’ve had an Oculus since the start of the year, and whilst I think that Morpheus stands a better chance of connecting to core markets, it be will remain a gimmick unless gaming, TV and sports combine to produce a decent amount of content.
To me, VR is more like 3D than a traditional peripheral. I loved almost all 3D content that was delivered – but that is still struggling to get anywhere (what with TV dropping it over the past couple of years) and it being all but absent on the new generation consoles.
Zoddi
From a marketing perspective it’s easy: Do the products return their money you spent in R&D and so on. If not or barely the costs are returned every company will cut the support.
10 million Vitas aren’t enough for a cheap but powerful device. R&D costs were high and the parts weren’t the cheapest. To reduce costs it’s brilliant to place it as an indy console and keeping it alive. From an average consumer perspective it’s dead.
The same progress will be with Morpheus. If people are waiting to buy this costly thing it will have the same fate as all those cams and other gimmicks.
Andrewww
Have to agree with Zoddi on this one, it’s just normal rational behaviour in an economically driven market, to phase out products that don’t generate profit.
And I disagree that Sony has a worse track record than other companies. MS abandoned their first XBox fairly quickly, and they did it with Kinect when unbundling it from the XBone. And the latter case shows that such a move can even be very customer-friendly, just not for the few who had already bought a specific piece of kit.
Avenger
Not quite sure about any of that, including Zoddi’s comment. The marketing plan for Vita was to make a loss for the first three years, and then to start making profit on the actual console for the subsequent years (plus generate income through long terms plans on accessories and games from day one). That was part of a life cycle ecology of course, but if Morpheus’ marketing strategy is equally long term, then they’ll make a loss for the first year or two and then gain profit from then on. It’s whether the first year of sales will go according to their targets though and who knows what their marketing plans really are. But it’s a bit more complex than profit = continuation of a product.
As for Sony’s track record, to date: Play TV, PS Move, Wonderbook, 3D TV (more the paraphernalia around it than the tech), PS Vita, the “Other OS” feature on PS3.
MS have abandoned a few things as well, like HD DVD and Kinect, and recently the custom headjack on their controller. To be honest, all sorts of companies do some wild things with products and then end up abandoning them, but Sony have a bit of a bad habit going when it comes to the changes that aren’t customer-friendly.
Andrewww
Fully agree with you, Avenger, but temporarily negative entropy doesn’t falsify the law of thermodynamics. ;o)
Of course, there may be periods of losses which can be acceptable in hope of long-term profit.
stonyk
This is a different kettle of fish to the Vita or Move. Mainly because if there are developers for Oculus Rift you would expect them to be able to develop similarly for Morpheus. Therefore indirectly if one is successful then the other will likely to be too.
Then we can get into the whole ‘My £10,000 machine has better VR frame rate than your £299 machine’ debates all over again.
jayboy31
I know its a top bit of kit but $650 Aus! The Ps4 is $500 here. It all depends on whether its here to stay, if it goes the way of the MOVE that a lot of cash to play a few games.
beeje13
Unfortunately, like other goods I think the exchange rate will put it at £399.
camdaz
Sony will need to price Morpheus around the same as the Oculus but with the price of their 3D headset, around £1000, they may price it higher. If it costs around £350-£400 it will make the 3D headset well overpriced and destroy the market for it.
RudeAwakening
Sony has stopped production on their HMZ headset I believe. Morpheus most definitely will not be priced at 1000 or more, in fact Shu said they are looking to have it priced lower than the PS4.
camdaz
Come to think of it Sony seems to have learnt their lesson in pricing from the PS3 days.
Andrewww
PC gaming has always been way more expensive than console gaming, as far as hardware is concerned, but, of course, you also get a couple more pixels for it, and some other things you can do with the machine.
But, I consider the $1500 extremely optimistic, if I look at hardware requirements of current AAA games. You’d probably just barely reach minimal system requirements with that to join the party, but you wouldn’t get the best experience.
funkyellowmonkey(ps3 id)
the gtx 970 includes a hdmi 2.0 output i believe, so if you have that then that’s sorted then right?