If the Oculus Rift $600 pricetag has you feeling a bit indecisive about which virtual reality headset to claim as your own, you won't have to wait much longer to compare the competition: pre-orders for HTC and Valve's Vive VR open on February 29, with the first sets arriving sometime in April.
There's still no price or exact release date, though I suspect these things will be revealed closer to the end of February, if not the day pre-orders go live. After all, when Oculus revealed a $600 price for the Rift, it was divisive. Considering that the Vive comes with special controllers and a system that lets you walk around and be tracked in 3D space (technologies that the Rift lacks), I wouldn't be surprised if the Vive ends up costing significantly more than its competitor. If that's the case, a prudent business move might be to ride the hype train and give enthusiasts less time to decide against splurging.
With the Rift and Vive both feeling at least semi-tangible, that leaves PlayStation VR (the only headset that doesn't require a beefy PC to use and thus the most accessible) as the final major competitor in the burgeoning VR biz to get a price and release date. The right price and marketing could make all the difference.
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