Preorders for the Oculus Rift have opened, and with them comes more information: the Rift will start shipping on March 28th for $599, and it will appear in "limited locations at select retailers" in April.
Oculus announced preorders just a couple of days ago, and we've been waiting for more information since then. If you backed the Rift on Kickstarter (and spent enough for a development kit), you don't need to worry — Oculus is giving you a consumer edition for free. Otherwise, you can order a Rift online, so long as you live in the US or 19 other countries. The Rift will come in a carrying case alongside a copy of third-person platformer Lucky's Tale and, for preorders, space dogfighting game EVE: Valkyrie.
The Rift's store page also includes a downloadable compatibility tool, which will let you know if your PC meets the fairly high specs of the Rift — with the $600 Rift, the cost of both now runs somewhat over the $1,500 we previously heard.
The Oculus Rift will come with an Xbox One controller, an external tracking camera, and a newly announced Oculus Remote; most of its launch games are what Oculus calls "seated experiences." In the second half of 2016, buyers can add the Oculus Touch motion controllers, for an unknown price. Yesterday, co-founder Palmer Luckey revealed an exciting detail: preordering the Rift reserves a spot for later Oculus Touch preorders. "First in line for Rift = first in line for Touch," he wrote. Luckey also said that Rift preorders won't require any kind of payment, letting buyers cancel them up until they ship.
So, is anybody ordering a Rift?
Update January 6th, 11:40AM ET: Added exact release date from Oculus and news of the Oculus Remote and compatibility tester. The preorder date how now slipped to April, although the first units will ship in March.
Read next: Our Oculus Rift review
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