The first round of virtual reality pricing wars have begun, with the breaking news that the HTC Vive is going to cost early adopters $800 when it goes up for pre-order later this month. That doesn't factor in shipping and taxes of course, so expect a little more there for international orders, though HTC has said it will ship the headset in the U.S. for free, which is a nice touch.
Speaking of Touch, although the Vive is more expensive than its Oculus cousin, it will ship with two wand motion controllers and a pair of base station Lighthouse sensors. In comparison, the Oculus Rift won't be getting its tracked motion controllers until the second half of 2016. It will come with Eve Valkyrie and Luckey's Tale though.
The HTC Vive will have a pair of free release titles itself: Job Simulator and Fantastic Contraption,
It won't however come with a remote control, nor a gamepad. Developers have promised it will support room-scale experiences right off of the bat though, making it perfect for bespoke titles like Arizona Sunshine, Hover Junkers and TiltBrush.
The Vive is also said to ship with a bluetooth module built in, so you can connect it to your smartphone, making it possible to take calls and receive texts while in VR. Combine that with the chaperone system and Vive users shouldn't get too scared when someone from the real world taps them on the shoulder.
