SteamVR's HTC Vive Priced, Pre-Orders Start February 29th With Release 'Early April'

HTC and Valve have finally unveiled the price for the SteamVR hardware Vive and it's going to gouge wallets something fierce. For the pleasure of viewing your gaming worlds in a whole new way you'll be asked to fork over $800 with pre-orders starting next week.

Ouch. Yes the Vive is at a high premium compared to the Oculus Rift which caused a stir when it came out with a $600 price tag. The actual reason for the backlash for Oculus was due to previous comments made over its affordability. Valve and HTC meanwhile never made early promises about how much the hardware would end up costing. Vive is powered by Valve's own SteamVR.

Pre-Order Madness

The VR gold rush is imminent for Vive with pre-orders beginning next week on February 29th - yes, it's a leap year. So confident are they people will be punching their cash through monitor screens that HTC has even released the exact time they'll start cleaning out your bank accounts. The pre-orders go live at 10.00am EST / 3.00pm GMT on Monday, February 29th.

What's In The Box?

Spending $800 is no joke for some fancy tech, so what do we get for all those bills? Aside from the Vive headgear itself we also get two wireless controllers and Lighthouse sensors to detect where we'll be flailing our arms. This is great for those with room to spare to set up a virtual reality room, or arena if you're feeling dramatic.

For a limited period of time they're also including two games: Job Simulator and Fantastic Contraption.

That's No Moon, It's A Coffee Table

A major difference between Vive and other VR consumer ready offerings is that the Vive includes the option of using an external camera to show you what's going on around you without having to physically remove it. This isn't a gimmick either as it partners with software that can detect and warn you of objects you could collide with, whether it by a chair, a person or a wall. It also opens up other possibilities as it lets you blend the virtual and the real together; being able to see your PC keyboard and mouse for example.

"Experience room-scale gameplay with precise motion tracking and natural controller gestures. Get a glimpse of the real world when you need it thanks to the front-facing camera. Open apps and games without taking off your headset. This is fully immersive VR."

Check out the official HTC Vive website to learn more. HTC Vive will be bewitching eyeballs in 'early April'.

• The Vive (SteamVR) (Hardware)