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Oculus VR on why it delayed the launch of Touch controllers

One of the big reasons we opted to recommended the HTC Vive over the Oculus Rift in our testing earlier this year, was because of the wand motion controllers. It turns out though that the Rift could have shipped with them, but Oculus wanted to give developers more time to work with them.

“[If we launched Touch then] there would have been a bunch of demos and a few good titles (like Job Simulator and Fantastic Contraption) […] we wanted to give our developers enough time to really create a launch line up, a good slate of titles that would last hours as opposed to minutes of enjoyment, and we think that that takes time. So more than tweaking the hardware, we wanted to give the software some time,” said Oculus' head of content, Jason Rubin in a chat with RoadtoVR.

luckeytouch

Source: EveryDayVR/Flickr

Because of a lack of supporting content, Oculus chose instead to push units out to developers and continue tweaking ergonomics and other factors internally, to make the controller a more well rounded device.

At this point in its development, we're told that it's nearly complete and developers have been really pleased with what they're able to do with it. There's also said to be a chaperone-like system in the works for Touch's release, which would bring the Rift up to par with what the Vive has to offer in many respects.

We're now potentially just months away from the release of Touch too, which should make the Rift more competitive with the Vive, even if it does increase its overall price.

KitGuru Says: Are you looking forward to the release of Touch? I'm interested to see how it can compare to the Vive's system, especially when it comes to content. There's a lot of experiences for the Vive already and the Rift is really playing catchup.

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6 comments

  1. More spin doctoring. There’s NO WAY they would have held back on releasing the controllers if they were ready, not considering that the Vive WAS ready. Nice attempt at spin there Lucky.

  2. yea sure,, they were trying to figure out who to moniteze the movement of the controllers… candy crush with every movement

  3. Irishgamer Gamer

    Am! Kinda straight out of Oculus PR departments press release.
    Spin unchallenged. Not journalism at all.
    They done Fecked up and got nailed by the vive, so they are scrambling to catch up.

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  5. I think that if this was true, they would have said it at launch.

    A more likely reason (not least because its been on their website for the last few months) is that it isn’t an approved product for general sale yet by the Federal Communications Commission.

    One has to wonder though, is it *not yet approved* because it is also *not yet submitted* or is there something specific about the touch that’s held up approval?

  6. LOL easy there folks… It’s not exactly a big leap to realize that they were/are still working on the hardware, but before you jump down Oculus Rift’s throat, remember that they basically created the VR market by designing and publicizing the first viable consumer example. Yes, Vive released a more feature-packed device, in the massive wake of OR who paved a smooth path.

    I’m really not a hardware fanboy, I’m not a David vs Goliath saint, and I love and support the free market. HOWEVER, to suggest that OR, a startup in a brand new market, is somehow inferior to HTC, a multi billion dollar established hardware company with 14,000 employees headquartered in a country where labor costs a third of what it does here, because it’s playing catchup is just a bit absurd, isn’t it? Oh yeah, they’re playing catchup alright. They just spent the last 4 years slogging through the muck of an undefined market, chopping bamboo and laying tarmac with no roadmap, so that Usain Bolt could come sprinting up on the new road in brand new track spikes. What would you do? Especially with perspectives like yours with which to contend?