Oculus Rift launches to mixed review

Oculus Rift has launched its new generation of virtual reality (VR) headsets for sale, and though it faces stiff competition from the likes of Sony's Playstation VR and HTC's Vive, it is still considered to be a big moment in the rebirth of VR. Positives were the comfort of the device, the easy setup, and "wow" factor; the negatives were the high price and the odd complaint regarding motion sickness in some of the hardcore games.

The Oculus Rift isn’t the first of the new generation of virtual reality (VR) headsets to go on sale – that was Samsung’s Gear VR – and it will face stiff competition in 2016 from HTC’s Vive and Sony’s PlayStation VR among other devices.

Still, the consumer launch of the Rift, with its parent company now a $2bn subsidiary of Facebook, is still a big moment for the latest rebirth of VR.

First-day reviewers were broadly impressed by the headset: common themes in reviews include the comfort of the device; its easy setup process – if you have the necessary (expensive) PC of course – and the sheer wow factor of the VR delivered.

Quibbles include its high price; a launch lineup that doesn’t include some of the most exciting Rift games that have been shown off in recent months; and the odd complaint about motion sickness in some of the more hardcore games.

Oculus Rift review: Virtual Reality is always almost here – The Verge

Adi Robertson praised the industrial design’s “clever and thoughtful touches”, said it’s easier to set up than previous developer versions, and noted that VR “feels like an addition, not a transformation” for the first crop of games. The overall impression was good though:

The high cost of buying and running high-end VR headsets makes them inaccessible to many people, and the Rift in particular is relentlessly focused on gaming. Within these limitations, though, the Rift makes a good case for seated VR, and it lays a solid foundation for what’s to come.

Review: Oculus Rift – Wired

Peter Rubin liked the feel of the Rift – “there are no pain points, even after long sessions” – but also said early buyers may have to wait for the killer games and software. “The pipeline of games and experiences coming this year is frankly astonishing, and opens the Rift up to many more people,” he promised.



Comfort is more than weight. It’s experience. And in that, the Rift more than delivers on its promise. The many technical issues that have plagued VR over the years – latency, image smear, judder – are, if not gone, imperceptible. I’ve been using the Rift for a solid week now, and I’ve had one moment of real discomfort. As much as I’d like to say it was from pulling off an outer-space barrel roll in EVE Valkyrie, it was actually from playing a virtual air-hockey game that had me whipping my head back and forth. (Which, let’s be honest, maybe isn’t the best thing to be doing after a big dinner.)

Oculus Rift review: High-end VR is here, if you can pay – Engadget

Devindra Hardawar gave the Rift high marks for its comfort and immersive capabilities, but pointed to the high price of the headset plus the necessary PC as a limit on its appeal for now:

“After spending a week with the Oculus Rift, I have no doubt that its approach to virtual reality is indeed the real deal. It’s well built and easy to set up, and there are already a few games and apps that’ll make VR believers out of the most ardent naysayer. The only problem: it’s $600 and requires a powerful gaming PC. Just as with every new technological milestone, it has the potential to change the world. But at this early stage, only a few can afford it.

The Oculus Rift review – Polygon

Ben Kuchera was one of several reviewers to point out that the Rift may be a bit more awkward to use for glasses-wearers, but praised the hardware design and ease of installation. He, like others, suggested that the Oculus “loading program” – the software that boots up when you switch on – feels a bit beta for now:



“If the Rift as it exists right now was “only” a new way of displaying games to the player, it would still be an amazing accomplishment that adds immense value and enjoyment to the play experience. But launch software feels like just the beginning. Testing the bounds of what feels real and how we interact with worlds we control completely is a new frontier for gaming, and the Oculus Rift delivers on that promise. There are issues, and the software will continue to get better and offer more features, but this is a functional platform with a wide selection of available games and experiences. It changed how we think of games. It made us feel. It put us inside things that we used to only be able to see. Going back to a standard screen is hard.

Oculus Rift review: prologue to a new reality – Road to VR

Ben Lang works for a site that’s covered the Rift in the most depth since its days as a Kickstarter project, and his review is suitably comprehensive, while noting that the Touch controllers will really see lift-off for the device:



Oculus will of course be shipping their own motion input controllers (called Touch) in the second half of 2016, but with the HTC Vive including motion controllers in the box right from the get-go (and launching next week), the Rift is left with what feels like a significant missing piece for anyone that has already experienced great motion input. The good news is that anyone who is getting into VR for the first time (not having tried motion input prior) will probably be blown away by the Rift even without Touch. And then when Touch joins the party a little further down the road, those new users will be further surprised at how much motion input adds to the VR experience.

Review: the Oculus Rift – TechCrunch

Lucas Matney had mixed views, calling the Rift “a complete feast for the senses” but noting that he wasn’t a fan of the Xbox One controller included with the headset: he like others can’t wait for the delayed Oculus Touch controllers to come out later in the year. He agreed with Rubin that the launch games are “largely just OK”, with the best titles coming later in 2015 too:



The Oculus Rift is a crazy device that is more than the sum of its parts. As the first consumer high-powered virtual reality headset, it deserves props for just existing, but incredibly it manages to kick ass as well. Whether you should buy now, just try it out or wait until Oculus Touch arrives depends mostly on your patience and cashflow.

Oculus Rift expands PC gaming past the monitor’s edge – Ars Technica

Kyle Orland said it took a few days to get used to the Rift headset, and noted some “early rough edges” that were reminders of this being a first-generation (for consumers, at least) device. However, he agreed with other reviewers on the comfort of the headset even when worn for long periods:



After decades of incremental improvements to the way PC games and apps are displayed on monitors, the Rift feels like an entirely new way of thinking about how we look at the computerised world. It’s unique enough that a lot of the things we take for granted in computing and gaming are struggling to catch up with the new rules necessitated by its entirely new viewpoint. That means this first step still feels a little rough and uncertain in many ways that lessen its sheer impact.

Oculus Rift review: VR’s rising star isn’t ready for the mainstream – Wall Street Journal

Geoffrey Fowler was the most downbeat of the launch-day reviewers: “A week with the Rift showed me it still needs to dig itself out of some deep holes,” he wrote, suggesting that only serious gamers will want to own one for now:



Everyone talks about VR’s sensory overload, but the most troubling part for me was the sensory deprivation. It’s a blindfold. You need to clear an area to move around, yet the Rift doesn’t do a very good job of telling you when you’re nearing the edges. Unless we start building adult playpens, teeth will be lost on the sides of coffee tables. Oculus warns users during setup to ”allow adequate space all around and above you” and that “loss of balance may occur”. When I’m on the inside, I also can’t shake a feeling of paranoia. There’s no way to tell what people around you are saying and doing.

Oculus Rift review – Mashable

Chelsea Stark acknowledged that the Rift would be snapped up by early adopters now, but may take time to reach the rest of us – contrasting its current appeal to hardcore gamers with the “consumer-friendly” Samsung Gear VR:

The Oculus Rift is a masterwork of design that makes virtual reality both jaw-droppingly beautiful and necessarily comfortable. But it still isn’t for everyone. That’s by design; those with powerful Windows PCs will be the ones leading the virtual reality charge, and they’ll most likely be instrumental in spreading its doctrine to those who aren’t immediately interested in strapping on a giant headset. But those who have been drinking the VR Kool-Aid these last few years will be excited to finally step into virtual reality that feels seamless. And after a long run of being relegated to conferences like CES or E3, the Rift proves that immersive virtual reality is finally on the path toward true accessibility.

Oculus Rift review: this shit is legit – Gizmodo

Mario Aguilar suggested that the high price and hardcore nature of some of the launch titles are positioning the Rift as a hardcore device, but ended up seduced by the sheer fun of playing in virtual reality:

