3 ms·

It seems history is repeating itself. This VR hype is going to be killed by lack of business innovation. We've seen this exact scenario with 3D printers. Awesom

It seems history is repeating itself. This VR hype is going to be killed by lack of business innovation. We've seen this exact scenario with 3D printers. Awesome tech, but with a pricetag that has kept those devices from going mainstream. With VR, the guys are delivering innovative tech, but with the oldschool business model, trying to make money on the hardware. Sony would lead the game if they would lose money, offering a simple to use VR headset for $99 -$199, dominating the market and then make money on games and apps.

skewart 11y ago
I totally agree that a different business model with low-priced devices might be needed for consumer gamer VR to take off any time soon. That said, I wouldn't be surprised if we saw adoption of expensive VR/AR devices for industrial/enterprise applications in a much bigger way long before consumer stuff takes off. In a lot of ways gaming us a bad place to introduce VR - immersion doesn't necessarily make for a "better" gaming experience once the novelty fades, motion and speed and high quality graphics are hard to deal with, and buyers are fairly price-sensitive. 3D printing is doing relatively well in industrial usage, despite the consumer hype having faded.
randyrand 11y ago
VR hype will be killed. What will remain is vr without the hype.
gwern 11y ago
What sort of VR headset do you expect for $99? At that price, you get Cardboard and Gear, at best, and those have underwhelmed the market and people who have tried them & Vive/Rift/PS.
- JavaScriptrr 11y ago
  The question is: why not lose money on the hardware, to accelerate distribution and put an awesome device in people's hands and then make money on software. So my suggestion would be to sell the $399 devixe for $99. Not push out something crappy
  - goshx 11y ago
    Come on Javascript (no pun intended), they'd lose money very quickly. They are already below the price tag of the competition.
  - petra 11y ago
    Currently they are the cheapest, and it's easier to reduce prices than to increase them, so maybe they are saving that for later, especially when they learn more about game sales and the business ?
  - imtringued 11y ago
    Occulus VR doesn't make money from selling you a Rift.
petra 11y ago
According to [1], the parts costs of the PSVR is $350. That's without manufacturing,retail, etc. [1]http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1174769 http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1174769
guidefreitas 11y ago
That's the release price. I'm sure they will make a bundle or reduce the price after a few months.

skewart 11y ago

I totally agree that a different business model with low-priced devices might be needed for consumer gamer VR to take off any time soon. That said, I wouldn't be surprised if we saw adoption of expensive VR/AR devices for industrial/enterprise applications in a much bigger way long before consumer stuff takes off. In a lot of ways gaming us a bad place to introduce VR - immersion doesn't necessarily make for a "better" gaming experience once the novelty fades, motion and speed and high quality graphics are hard to deal with, and buyers are fairly price-sensitive. 3D printing is doing relatively well in industrial usage, despite the consumer hype having faded.

randyrand 11y ago

VR hype will be killed. What will remain is vr without the hype.

gwern 11y ago

What sort of VR headset do you expect for $99? At that price, you get Cardboard and Gear, at best, and those have underwhelmed the market and people who have tried them & Vive/Rift/PS.

JavaScriptrr 11y ago
The question is: why not lose money on the hardware, to accelerate distribution and put an awesome device in people's hands and then make money on software. So my suggestion would be to sell the $399 devixe for $99. Not push out something crappy
- goshx 11y ago
  Come on Javascript (no pun intended), they'd lose money very quickly. They are already below the price tag of the competition.
- petra 11y ago
  Currently they are the cheapest, and it's easier to reduce prices than to increase them, so maybe they are saving that for later, especially when they learn more about game sales and the business ?
- imtringued 11y ago
  Occulus VR doesn't make money from selling you a Rift.

petra 11y ago

According to [1], the parts costs of the PSVR is $350. That's without manufacturing,retail, etc. [1]http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1174769 http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1174769

guidefreitas 11y ago

That's the release price. I'm sure they will make a bundle or reduce the price after a few months.