Oculus announced five PCs that are part of its “Oculus Ready PC” program – computers powerful enough to run its VR headset.
The VR giant said that bundles are already available to pre-order. They will include the Rift VR headset, a PC that’s certified to run it, an Xbox 360 controller and two early games, Eve: Valkyrie and Lucky’s Tail.
The starting price for the cheapest bundle is $1499, but systems can run up to well over $3,000.
The first partners to join the program are Asus, Alienware and Dell. PCs that are officially ‘Oculus Ready’ include: the Asus ROG G20 and G11; Alienware Area 51 and X51; and the Dell XPS 8900 SE.
The Oculus rift headset itself costs $599, but consumers will need to own a PC powerful enough to render VR content smoothly for the headset to work properly.
The first ‘Oculus Ready’ PCs:
Oculus posted the following update on its website:
“Today we’re excited to introduce the first Oculus Ready PCs from ASUS, Alienware, and Dell! These PCs have been battle tested and certified by Oculus to deliver an incredible Rift experience. We’re also thrilled to announce that starting February 16 at 8am Pacific Time, you can pre-order Oculus Ready PC and Rift bundles from Best Buy, Amazon, and the Microsoft Store, starting at $1,499 USD for a limited time only.”
The Amazon and Best Buy pages both have shipping dates of April 23rd and Oculus said that preorders for the bundles will ship to “select countries” in “limited quantities” that same month.
The first consumer-ready headsets are expected to begin shipping in March.
Some consumers may already own PCs capable of running VR content smoothly by either meeting or exceeding Oculus’s recommended system specifications.
Consumers can also use the Oculus compatibility tool to check whether their current PC is ready for Rift. Simply download the tool, and it automatically tests the computer against Oculus’s recommended system specifications.
