The Oculus Rift virtual reality headset was officially made available for pre-order to the public this morning and for some, the Rift carried a surprisingly hefty price. Sitting at $600 the virtual reality headset includes two games and an Xbox One controller; according to the co-founder of Oculus, the price of the Rift is actually a bargain.
To reiterate, we are not making money on Rift hardware. High end VR is expensive, but Rift is obscenely cheap for what it is.
— Palmer Luckey (@PalmerLuckey) January 6, 2016
Whether or not the Rift is a bargain depends entirely on the market Oculus is attempting to sell their item to. In regards to the price, supporters have claimed that the $600 is no different than the $700 people spend on iPhones. Of course, the two are incredibly different pieces of technology. One is a peripheral that may or may not be used daily and the other is a mobile phone that is used daily with a variety of day-to-day applications.
What it comes down to is whether or not $600 is the right price for you.
