Oculus Rift to ship starting March 28

Oculus on Wednesday disclosed the long-awaited preorder details of its Oculus Rift VR headset, which will cost $599, and first begin shipping on March 28.

Don’t forget that the price tag also comes with an Xbox One controller (compatible with PC) and two games: EVE Valkyrie and Lucky’s Tale. If not, Oculus is bundling what it calls an Oculus-ready PC with the Rift headset.

Of course, that’s assuming you’ve got a PC with enough horsepower to support the Oculus Rift. Hardcore gamers already spend hundreds and thousands of dollars on gaming peripherals this just seems like a price that’s expected from a device that’s had a lot of hype for the last couple of years.

As expected, the launch of pre-orders for the Oculus Rift has revealed when the virtual reality headset will start reaching consumers, as well as how much they will have to pay for it.

Oculus has announced that backers of its Kickstarter campaign will receive free sets of the consumer headset.

He also defended Oculus against those criticism its Facebook acquisition. In a blog post, Oculus notes that “dozens of full-length, AAA games designed for VR are coming to Rift, with more than 100 titles available by the end of 2016, including Minecraft!”. “Imagine enjoying a court side seat at a game, studying in a classroom of students and teachers all over the world or consulting with a doctor face-to-face – just by putting on goggles in your home”.

But perhaps more reassuring for current PC users, “The PC spec for Rift won’t change during the 1st generation”, he concludes.

The company also released its recommended specifications for a computer ready to run Oculus Rift experiences.

Those who pre-order won’t be charged until their unit ships, and for Australians that basically puts you at the mercy of the exchange rate at that particular point in time.