At the Game Developers Conference (GDC) 2016 a few weeks ago one of the major highlights of the event came from Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE), with the long awaited details on price and release date for the PlayStation VR head-mounted display (HMD) for PlayStation 4. SIE revealed a price of £349 GBP / $399 USD for the device, with a not exact October time frame for the release. And videogame retailer GAME which has started taking pre-orders for the HMD has praised the unveiling.

Talking to MCV, GAME’s CEO Martyn Gibbs has said the company has seen a great deal of interest in virtual reality (VR), and the SIE’s PlayStation VR announcement was: ‘exceptionally strong’. He also referred to console launches, which are notorious for stock shortages, adding: “We saw very similar dynamics to when a new console is announced, actually. Do I ever think there will ever be a new console that comes out that will meet the demand? No. And this is, for all intents and purposes, a console and a platform. I am not scaremongering, but we have all been around the block and we can see that stock for VR will be pretty tight.”

Gibbs also spoke about the Oculus Rift HMD and its recent launch earlier this week, saying: “Their phase one approach is very much, I’d go as far to say, beta-esque.”

“What they are doing is utilising their own channels to get to a first wave of customers. But we have been engaged with them on that strategy for upwards of 18 months, so I wouldn’t read anything into that at all. You should think of it more as them doing a beta-type approach through their own website. Do I think that is a retail exclusion tactic? No.”

But Oculus VR hasn’t been shy around the fact that they also see the launch as a beta. The Oculus Home app has it clearly labelled, and the company has long said this technology is ‘first-generation’, so there’s going to be lots of improvements to come as the entire industry grows and develops.

VRFocus will be there to bring you all the latest VR news and announcements as more advancements are made.

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