Oculus Rift VR Bundles Now Shipping, Preorders Arrive May 28th
According to Iribe, early birds will start seeing their shipments arrive Monday, March 28th and we’re sure to receive plenty of unboxing videos and first impressions when that time arrives. Customers that dragged their feet on preorders will unfortunately have to wait all the way until July to receive their Oculus Rift.
The first Oculus Rift has shipped, deliveries begin Monday 3.28.2016. pic.twitter.com/C0MMKmezun
— Brendan Iribe (@brendaniribe) March 24, 2016
The announcement that the production VR headset is now shipping is the culmination of years of development, speculation, and anticipation on what a true, high-performance consumer VR experience would be like. If you recall, the Oculus Rift started off innocently enough as a Kickstarter campaign all the way back in August 2012. Oculus VR gained so much attention and admiration from gamers and the press that Facebook acquired the company in March 2014 for $2 billion — a move that was highly controversial at the time.
For those that need a refresher course, the Oculus Rift is priced at $599 and the bundle includes an Xbox One wireless controller, a microphone and sensor stand, a remote and a copy of Lucky’s Tale (pre-order customers also receive a free copy EVE: Valkyrie). The funky-looking Oculus Touch wireless controllers aren’t yet available for purchase, although Oculus VR says that they will begin shipping in the second half of 2016.
But before you go out and attempt to preorder an Oculus Rift (if you haven’t done so already), you might want to check out the recommended specs to ensure that your gaming rig is up to snuff. Oculus lists the recommended specs as follows:
- NVIDIA GTX 970 / AMD R9 290 equivalent or greater
- Intel i5-4590 equivalent or greater
- 8GB+ RAM
- Compatible HDMI 1.3 video output
- 3x USB 3.0 ports plus 1x USB 2.0 port
- Windows 7 SP1 64 bit or newer
Those specs shouldn’t be a problem for most hardcore gamers, and Oculus VR has already announced partnerships with a number of PC makers — including Alienware and ASUS — to provide Oculus Rift-ready machines that start at $1,500.
