Oculus Rift Pre-Orders Begin, Expect the Virtual Reality Gaming Device on March 28

Jan 07, 2016 02:08 PM EST

The most awaited device is now coming. Pre-orders for the virtual-reality headset are now live on the company's website. In fact, the site is having problems due to a large traffic created by interested buyers. Here's what we know so far about Oculus Rift's release date, specs and features.

Pre-orders are now available in more than 10 countries around the world and limited to one unit per buyer. Oculus will start shipping the headset on March 28. Not only that, the company also plans to bring the headset at "selected retailers" in April, according to a blog post.

The shipping price is $30 while the Oculus Rift has $599 price tag, which does not include sales tax.

Every buyer of the headset will also get fun and exciting games. Together with Oculus Rift, they will have Lucky's Tale, a 3D platform in the vein of Super Mario. The game is developed by Playful and published by Oculus Studios. Also, they can have Eve: Valkyrie in virtual-reality. Some VR fans said the game is the most entertaining during demo events.

Oculus VR co-founder Palmer Luckey noted that buyers who pre-order the device should not have to deposit money until they receive their headsets.

Oculus also said that all backers of the Oculus Rift Kickstarter who pledged for a development kit will receive a free "Kickstarter Edition" of the device. Not only that, the company is also giving away a downloadable Rift compatibility tool for buyers to know if their Windows PC can support the Rift.

Here are the recommended PC system requirements of the Rift.

  • Intel Core i5-4590 equivalent or greater
  • 8 GB+ RAM
  • three USB 3.0 ports and one USB 2.0 port
  • Nvidia GTX 970 / AMD 290 equivalent or greater
  • HDMI 1.3 video output

Similarly to the "GeForce GTX VR Ready" program that Nvidia announced recently , Oculus will be certifying gaming PCs as "Oculus Ready." The company said they would ensure that the Rift compatibility will deliver "great experience" for gamers. For buyers who to have a Rift and an Oculus Ready PC bundle, it will be available for the price of $1,499. Its pre-orders will start in February.

The Oculus Rift headset has a resolution of 1080×1200(on each eye), a 90 Hz refresh rate, and a wide field of view. The device also has headphone for surround 3D audio effect.