HTC Vive will be sold online-only at first, retail might be Q1 next year. HTC hoping to have some st - Polidicks

There's a long Polygon article: [url]http://www.polygon.com/features/2015/7/21/9009027/vive-wireless-controllers-hands-on[/url] [QUOTE]Currently the plan is to release a consumer version of the Vive by the end of the year. "I don't know if we're necessarily going to hit retail for holiday, but we're still very committed to that," he said. What that means is that the first retail Vives will be sold through HTC.com and HTCVR.com. Gattis added that they've been having a lot of meetings with "excited" retailers ranging from big-box stores all the way down to niche retailers like GameStop. "Everybody is excited about this: They see the potential for the market, the potential to sell the things around it," he said. "They see it as a great traffic driver to their stores. "Retail will absolutely be a part of our strategy, but that would be closer to a first-quarter [2016] strategy."[/QUOTE] [QUOTE]Valve directly backing a virtual reality headset can't help but lead to some big questions, all of them centered around which games will be coming to the Vive — and if any of those titles will be exclusive to the VR headset. "Our hope is to have some Valve stuff for the Vive," Gattis said. "Nothing has been committed to in terms of the product lineup yet. "The games will be distributed from the Steam VR store, that is the storefront by which people will get the initial content." That said, the Vive will run on an open platform, which means other storefronts could pop up over time.[/QUOTE] and for those who don't know, HTC will have an event in October to announce the CV, specs, price, content etc [QUOTE]"As we get closer to October, when we we're planning to unveil a lot more information about our consumer [name], consumer controls and pricing, the specs, and the content lineup," he said, "we'll be in a much better position to give you more direction around that."[/QUOTE]

Isn't that around when the Oculus is coming out, CV-wise?

I don't see any significant impact from this news, as most will buy it online anyways.

[QUOTE=gk99;48262233]Isn't that around when the Oculus is coming out, CV-wise?[/QUOTE] Yes.

Is there any actual reason to get either the Vive or the Oculus over one another?

[QUOTE=MasterFen006;48262357]Is there any actual reason to get either the Vive or the Oculus over one another?[/QUOTE] Someone correct me if I'm wrong but I think the Vive has STEM-esque controllers that you can get with it whereas the occulus doesn't.

[QUOTE=MasterFen006;48262357]Is there any actual reason to get either the Vive or the Oculus over one another?[/QUOTE] Vive costs more Vive has full room tracking You probably don't have a giant empty room Both have have tracking controllers Oculus likely has far more games [editline]21st July 2015[/editline] [QUOTE=Elspin;48262430]Someone correct me if I'm wrong but I think the Vive has STEM-esque controllers that you can get with it whereas the occulus doesn't.[/QUOTE] Oculus has controllers which track hands and also fingers

[QUOTE=bitches;48262438]Vive costs more Vive has full room tracking You probably don't have a giant empty room Both have have tracking controllers Oculus likely has far more games [editline]21st July 2015[/editline] Oculus has controllers which track hands and also fingers[/QUOTE] Wait hold on the prices haven't been announced have they? How are you so sure that they aren't competitively priced?

[QUOTE=MasterFen006;48262357]Is there any actual reason to get either the Vive or the Oculus over one another?[/QUOTE] I've used both and I much prefer the Vive's tech, but I don't think I'll be using the room tracking even though it is really cool. I just don't see the potential for application in actual games. Valve is basically the equivalent of Sony and Microsoft at this point and I feel they need to start playing the part. Fund some third party titles in addition to VR games like Oculus is doing, or else Oculus will win by default.

[QUOTE=Velocet;48262550]I've used both and I much prefer the Vive's tech, but I don't think I'll be using the room tracking even though it is really cool. I just don't see the potential for application in actual games. Valve is basically the equivalent of Sony and Microsoft at this point and I feel they need to start playing the part. Fund some third party titles in addition to VR games like Oculus is doing, or else Oculus will win by default.[/QUOTE] Valve could go the Nintendo route and just carry the platform with first party titles as well, but that's optimistic to say the least. But yea, hardware isn't going to matter nearly as much as the overall experience, and the games are a big part of that.

[QUOTE=bitches;48262438]Vive costs more Vive has full room tracking You probably don't have a giant empty room Both have have tracking controllers Oculus likely has far more games [editline]21st July 2015[/editline] Oculus has controllers which track hands and also fingers[/QUOTE] You don't need a giant empty room for vive... [editline]21st July 2015[/editline] [QUOTE=Velocet;48262550]I've used both and I much prefer the Vive's tech, but I don't think I'll be using the room tracking even though it is really cool. I just don't see the potential for application in actual games. Valve is basically the equivalent of Sony and Microsoft at this point and I feel they need to start playing the part. Fund some third party titles in addition to VR games like Oculus is doing, or else Oculus will win by default.[/QUOTE] Valve has been funding games, just like occulus except they're smaller but their tech supposedly should make porting from occulus easy

What I'm imagining with the 'giant empty room' thing. Ignore the caption. [IMG]http://i.imgur.com/fYYhuxO.jpg[/IMG]

[QUOTE=MasterFen006;48262357]Is there any actual reason to get either the Vive or the Oculus over one another?[/QUOTE] oculus wants closed vr standard, they are trying to fund a [URL="http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/247979/Oculus_VR_is_funding_about_two_dozen_Riftexclusive_games.php"]bunch of games to make them rift-exclusive[/URL]. they are actively attempting to fragment the market vive wants open vr standard. not to mention a better tracking system. steamvr is open and it also uses openvr (compatible with pmuch all headsets) the standard hasnt been set yet, consumers must decide if we want a walled garden or a open field

The day Valve releases a new game will be a cold day in hell.

I still agree with Jeff Gerstmann's take on the whole thing in that VR is super cool, but unless you let people try it before buying it (via setting up booths and stuff at stores) that it will stay a niche market more than anything.

[QUOTE=Fish_poke;48262799]I still agree with Jeff Gerstmann's take on the whole thing in that VR is super cool, but unless you let people try it before buying it (via setting up booths and stuff at stores) that it will stay a niche market more than anything.[/QUOTE] Good thing that's exactly what both HTC and Oculus are doing.

will we even have consumer-ready games for the average gamer to enjoy by the time vive comes out? I don't seem to recall any "killer" or AAA VR games for vive in the pipeline.

[QUOTE=Wii60;48262707]oculus wants closed vr standard, they are trying to fund a [URL="http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/247979/Oculus_VR_is_funding_about_two_dozen_Riftexclusive_games.php"]bunch of games to make them rift-exclusive[/URL]. they are actively attempting to fragment the market vive wants open vr standard. not to mention a better tracking system. steamvr is open and it also uses openvr (compatible with pmuch all headsets) the standard hasnt been set yet, consumers must decide if we want a walled garden or a open field[/QUOTE] Don't spread wrong information. They are funding games so there are more VR-compatible games. They've said that they are not stopping the devs from making their games available for other VR-systems. ([URL="http://www.ign.com/articles/2015/07/13/oculus-luckey-offers-explanation-for-exclusive-rift-games"]source1[/URL], [URL="http://www.pcworld.com/article/2948412/software-games/oculus-founder-responds-to-flack-over-exclusive-games.html"]source2[/URL]) There isn't a decent VR standard available, openvr is working on that but it's still lacking. So oculus isn't trying to fragment the market, once openvr is up to par, oculus will most likely support it like the rest.

[QUOTE=Foda;48262872]will we even have consumer-ready games for the average gamer to enjoy by the time vive comes out? I don't seem to recall any "killer" or AAA VR games for vive in the pipeline.[/QUOTE] Unless Valve is going to do "The Orange Box 2 is coming out this November", Vive isn't going to have anything beyond a couple Greenlight games, meanwhile Oculus has 12 games in the works at their own studios and tons of third party support.

[QUOTE=bitches;48262438]Vive costs more Vive has full room tracking You probably don't have a giant empty room Both have have tracking controllers Oculus likely has far more games [editline]21st July 2015[/editline] Oculus has controllers which track hands and also fingers[/QUOTE] There's no information on pricing and there's always the option of selling the Vive without the Lighthouse equipment. The Vive will very likely have superior specifications (as the dev version already did compared to the Rift) There's already better first party support (Valve games) and numerous indie developers signed on making games, as well as major film studios like [B]HBO[/B] and [B]Lionsgate[/B]. There's already a good deal of VR games on Steam and in the coming soon tab. That's only going to increase as Valve is supportive of an OpenVR system and Facebook is [I]not[/I]. I wouldn't go with Facebook that's marketing their work on hindering progress (Closed software), focusing on the console market (and bundling Xbox controllers) that's notorious for shady tactics and lying to consumers.

Anything Valve puts their fingers on gets delayed. I'm hoping they wont, but there's a big part of me screaming that we wont see Vive this year at all. Honestly I wouldn't be surprised if we got it in 2017 going by their track record.

Is there even a price range for the Vive yet? Last we heard about the consumer version of the Rift, they were aiming for around $300, which is pretty damn good I think. The Vive definitely seems like the better of the two in terms of tech and specs, but I don't have any room to walk around in and want more of a sitting experience, so I'll probably go with the Oculus for the first "generation" of this new VR trend. Well, unless the experiences Valve and other SteamVR devs will also be sit down experiences in some way, in which case, I may just save up for a Vive. Also, what happened to the hype around the OSVR headset that Razer was working on?

[QUOTE=Rahu X;48263135]Is there even a price range for the Vive yet? Last we heard about the consumer version of the Rift, they were aiming for around $300, which is pretty damn good I think. The Vive definitely seems like the better of the two in terms of tech and specs, but I don't have any room to walk around in and want more of a sitting experience, so I'll probably go with the Oculus for the first "generation" of this new VR trend. Well, unless the experiences Valve and other SteamVR devs will also be sit down experiences in some way, in which case, I may just save up for a Vive. [/QUOTE] you can use the Vive without walking around / using the motion controls

[QUOTE=judgeofdeath;48262878]Don't spread wrong information. They are funding games so there are more VR-compatible games. They've said that they are not stopping the devs from making their games available for other VR-systems. ([URL="http://www.ign.com/articles/2015/07/13/oculus-luckey-offers-explanation-for-exclusive-rift-games"]source1[/URL], [URL="http://www.pcworld.com/article/2948412/software-games/oculus-founder-responds-to-flack-over-exclusive-games.html"]source2[/URL]) There isn't a decent VR standard available, openvr is working on that but it's still lacking. So oculus isn't trying to fragment the market, once openvr is up to par, oculus will most likely support it like the rest.[/QUOTE] Wii60 seems to be pretty anti-Oculus for no good reason. And he never seems to return for discussion whenever the fact he isn't exactly correct is pointed out.

[QUOTE=EliteGuy;48263061]There's no information on pricing and there's always the option of selling the Vive without the Lighthouse equipment. The Vive will very likely have superior specifications (as the dev version already did compared to the Rift) There's already better first party support (Valve games) and numerous indie developers signed on making games, as well as major film studios like [B]HBO[/B] and [B]Lionsgate[/B]. There's already a good deal of VR games on Steam and in the coming soon tab. That's only going to increase as Valve is supportive of an OpenVR system and Facebook is [I]not[/I]. I wouldn't go with Facebook that's marketing their work on hindering progress (Closed software), focusing on the console market (and bundling Xbox controllers) that's notorious for shady tactics and lying to consumers.[/QUOTE] I don't believe Valve has committed anything to when it comes to Vive gaming. Meanwhile Oculus has entire studios working on games for them. Valve has given the devkits out to third parties but I don't believe they're funding anything themselves.

Yeah, Valve has yet to announce any games, they've been only doing tech demos and talking about experiments.

[QUOTE=NixNax123;48263145]you can use the Vive without walking around / using the motion controls[/QUOTE] But aren't the games that developers like Valve are going to make be more optimized for a whole room walking experience? I imagine you will be able to play just sitting down, but given the thing has whole room tracking, I would expect that most devs would take advantage of that and make games around that mechanic.

[QUOTE=Rahu X;48263369]But aren't the games that developers like Valve are going to make be more optimized for a whole room walking experience? I imagine you will be able to play just sitting down, but given the thing has whole room tracking, I would expect that most devs would take advantage of that and make games around that mechanic.[/QUOTE] The thing with room-scale is... it'll be a niche within a niche. Lot of VR enthusiasts with small rooms. Most devs will likely target the bigger group. But really anything is speculation at this point. The first half of 2016 is going to set the playing field, the years after will determine how the industry will evolve, and who will be catered to.

[QUOTE=Rahu X;48263369]But aren't the games that developers like Valve are going to make be more optimized for a whole room walking experience? I imagine you will be able to play just sitting down, but given the thing has whole room tracking, I would expect that most devs would take advantage of that and make games around that mechanic.[/QUOTE] But why would you create a VR game that caters to one market specifically rather than both by providing the traditional "sit down and play" experience? This is why Valve absolutely needs to fund these games themselves or else we're just going to get games that you could play on the Oculus instead, but without receiving the Oculus exclusive games. The technology behind Vive is significantly better, but without the software to support it, who the hell cares?

[QUOTE=Scot;48262753]The day Valve releases a new game will be a cold day in hell.[/QUOTE] Do you think they'll ship their hardware without games?