Virtual Reality has been making a steady comeback over the past few years, but 2015 is the year when it’s really going to explode. Oculus VR is expected to finally launch the Rift, along with Sony’s Morpheus and a handful of other third-party manufacturers. So it’s not that surprising that other big hardware names are getting in on the action, right?
Razer has finally arrived at the party. The PC peripheral manufacturer is one of the top in the world, and now they’re dedicated to growing the Virtual Reality space with their own, cheaper headset. The Open-Source Virtual Reality headset, or OSVR, isn’t meant to be a competitor to the Rift, but rather a cheaper alternative to help build the market for years to come.
There’s proof of that not only in the specifications, but price too. The $200 headset features a 1920×1080 FHD display, with 401ppi and only 60FPS. It also comes with the necessary integrated accelerometer, gyroscope, and compass, but not a camera for position tacking. That’s a step down from what the Rift is pushing out, but also at a much lower price. Razer wants more people creating experiences for VR, giving potential developers and cheaper and more accessible route to making their visions come alive.
For that reason alone, the the dev kit that comes with the headset will be as open as possible in order to allow virtually any developer to use it. Anything developed in Unity 3D or Unreal Engine will will be immediately supported, while also working with the Oculus DK2 dev kit. The OSVR headset only omits Mac users, with support on Windows, Linux and Android.
With interchangeable parts and a price to beat, Razer’s OSVR headset could make massive strides in developing the VR ecosystem that will be needed for this trend to survive. It’s also the first step towards a more varied VR landscape, which gives us a lot more choice when purchasing the future gaming hardware. I’m sold on a VR future; are you?
Last Updated: January 7, 2015
geel slang
January 7, 2015 at 13:14
I agree with Palmer, too may people entering the VR market with inferior products will only harm VR. I believ the oculus is the only way to go.
ElimiNathan
January 8, 2015 at 13:49
Ridiculous thing to say, more competition has always been a good thing for the consumer
geel slang
January 8, 2015 at 14:20
No its not, a market flooded by sub par VR headsets will not help VR. Fist time you put on a VR headset and you get motion sickness whats the chance youll try another?
Ghost In The Rift
January 7, 2015 at 13:19
Razer??Cheap??Ill call their bluff!!
Matthew Holliday
January 7, 2015 at 13:30
it depends on when they release their products in relation to their competitors.
their headsets have always been a good R300 cheaper than their steelseries cousins and their mouse prices are pretty comparable aswell, with more variation from the brand.
theyr by no means a cheap brand, but their prices are comparable to their direct competition, steelseries, corsair etc.
Ghost In The Rift
January 7, 2015 at 13:34
Lol cool,here in Namibia we only get Razer and Steelseries,mainly because Musica and Nanodog only sells Razer,and its kind of hard trying to find other brands that is good and performs.
Matthew Holliday
January 7, 2015 at 13:38
musica is driving localised prices up because they bought the retail store rights to the brand. they have been the only store with razer products in them for the past 2 years.
steelseries is usually slightly more expensive than razer, but you pay for quality.
i generally dont buy my pc stuff from stores, raru.co.za or takealot.com are my go to sites.
online distribution is much easier to browse through.
Ghost In The Rift
January 7, 2015 at 14:03
I still struggle to trust online stores,i feel like their are eyes everywhere when it comes to banking stuff of the net,we got a few nice online shops and that are not that expensive,like the steel series rival mouse for R700,not sure if that is considered cheap though.
Matthew Holliday
January 7, 2015 at 15:08
R700 is a good price for a rival, theyr usually around R750.
nothing about gaming is cheap anymore, R700 for mice is like the casual mid range now, up from R450 2-3 years ago.
the 2012 Razer deathadder was R450, while the 2014 one was R800. in gaming, ignorance is bliss, if you dont know how good other options are, you’ll never complain, but once youve tried them, nothing else will ever do.
Ghost In The Rift
January 7, 2015 at 15:37
I sure know what you mean,i used a normal mouse for gaming,all was good,then i got a havoc cheap gaming mouse and it was out of this world,so smooth and responsive,then it broke,now i cant find a decent enough mouse to replace it,so im gonna have to move on to razer or steel,only problem,when that breaks the cycle starts again lol
Blood Emperor Trevor
January 7, 2015 at 13:23
Gosh, I hope they don’t explode…
PS. VR is a gimmick.
RinceThis
January 7, 2015 at 13:40
Damn…
Raptor Rants A Lot
January 7, 2015 at 13:27
VR VR VR VR VR VR VR
You hear that? That’s the sound of the VR Hype train engine starting
RinceThis
January 7, 2015 at 13:40
Iza gimmik!
Tiaan Pat
January 7, 2015 at 13:51
Have they sorted the massive strain on users eyes yet? Or is that still a problem?
Skyblue
January 7, 2015 at 14:09
Is Razer worth 2 billion dollars as well now?
Sgt. M
January 7, 2015 at 14:13
Excited about the concept of VR Gaming but I’ll be cautiously optimistic
Franz
January 7, 2015 at 14:33
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BacchusZA
January 8, 2015 at 05:56
VR headsets are definitely going to be a “marmite” bit of kit. If they do what you want, you’ll love them passionately. But if you’re not playing the kind of games these shine in – flight sims, Elite Dangerous & Star Citizen, driving games, & so on – then it’s going to be very hard to see the point.
Looking at the specs I think I’ll probably rather wait for, and pay more for, the Oculus Rift, as the ppi & resolution on this Razer product really seem too low to do VR well. That said I’ll still keep a close eye on them, as Razer *do* make good kit, and they might just do VR well enough that it’s worth looking at as a more budget friendly alternative that won’t need as beefy a machine to run on as the OR will likely need.
And competition and choice are always good for the end user.
Butterflys & Hippomoths
January 8, 2015 at 14:55
PS4 GTA V in First person using VR
CALLING IT!