File photo - A woman checks a pair of Vive Virtual Reality goggles, produced by Taiwan's HTC, during the Gamescom 2015 fair in Cologne, Germany Aug. 5, 2015. (REUTERS/Kai Pfaffenbach)
If you can't wait to get your hands on an HTC Vive virtual reality headset, you can start to get your wallet ready. HTC CEO Cher Wang has announced that pre-orders will begin on Feb. 29 and that its Oculus Rift competitor will start shipping in April.
The official pre-order date was confirmed in an interview with the Telegraph. Wang didn't mention how much the Vive will cost, which is the elephant in the room following competitor Oculus' announcement that it's VR headset, Oculus Rift will cost $599 (plus the cost of owning a computer that can handle VR).
Some were blindsided by the cost of the Rift, but the Vive could be priced highter because HTC will be bundling its controllers along with a laser-guided system for mapping out your play space. At CES, we tried the Vive's new front-facing camera, which will help prevent crashing into people or objects in front of you.
MORE: HTC's Vive VR Headset Spoiled Real Life For Me
The Vive was developed by HTC in a partnership with Valve, best known for Steam, the PC gaming platform and store. The Vive will allow for room-scaling, which will let you walk around a room while using the headset and be warned before you crash into walls.
The HTC Vive is also going to be packed with Touch controllers so that you can use your hands while experiencing VR. Oculus has similar controllers that will not launch with the Rift - they were delayed to the second half of 2016. This gives the Vive a step-up in features, but we may see it built into the price.
HTC's Vive and the Oculus Rift will come out on each others' heels, and we can't wait to review them both to let you know which VR system is the best one to buy.
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