The pre-order period for the long-awaited Oculus Rift virtual reality headset kicked off last month, an order window that was quickly stampeded by enthusiast buyers, resulting in the device's immediate sell out.
But for many would-be users the more important date to watch for has been the pre-order period for the Oculus Rift bundle that comes with a VR-ready PC. Now, we finally know that date: Feb. 16.
[seealso slug="virtual-reality-in-2016"]
The exact time pre-orders will open -- important, because these things sell out quickly -- will be 8 a.m. PT (11 a.m. ET). It will be available on Amazon, Best Buy and in the Microsoft Store.
Included in the initial three Oculus Rift PC bundle sets are setups from Dell (Intel i7 5820k, Nvidia 980, 2TB hard drive, 16GB of RAM), Alienware (Intel i5 6400, Nvidia 970 or 980, 1TB or 256GB hard drive, 8GB or 16GB of RAM) and Asus (Intel i5 6400 or i7 6700, Nvidia 970 or 980, 512GB or 256GB hard drive, 16GB of RAM).
Each bundle will also include the Oculus Rift headset, along with its remote and sensor, as well as an Xbox One controller and game titles Lucky’s Tale! and EVE: Valkyrie Founder’s Pack.
Although the pre-order page for the bundles states that bundle prices start at $1,499, based on the price configurations currently listed, when you add the lowest cost Asus model and ($949) the Oculus Rift (priced at $599), the cost is $1,548. Oculus did not immediately respond to a request for more information on this point.
Nevertheless, even at just over $1,500, the price is still in the ballpark of what many expected, so interest will likely be high. Those who have already snagged the Oculus device will be offered a discount code for the Oculus-ready PCs on Feb. 16.
Interestingly, it looks like the bundles will ship earlier than the standalone Oculus kits, as the bundles ship to select countries beginning in April while the standalone Oculus device won't ship until July.