The VR future is getting off to a slightly slower start than expected, all thanks to a shipping issue that's kept many folks from receiving their Oculus Rift when expected.
future is getting off to a slightly slower start than expected, all thanks to a shipping issue that's kept many folks from receiving their Oculus Rift when expected. The good news, however, is that the Oculus team is addressing the problem and it could mean some potential savings for folks who ordered the device.
In case you've missed all of the VRnews of late, the Oculus Rift finally launched this past week. Well, okay, it “officially launched,” yes, but it's taking a bit of extra time for the things to actually get out the door. Shipping delays have left many Oculus early adopters without a piece of hardware to strap to their head and, as is usually the case these days, they've taken to the internet to air their complaints.
The Oculus reddit pageis rife with frustrated individuals who really, really want their new hardware. With no word initially coming from the Oculussquad as to why shipments were taking so long, the grumblings became an uproar. This led to Oculusfounder Palmer Luckeyfinally chiming in, explaining that the lack of comment was his call. I am not going to wax poetic about this, since I have done so in the past, but bottom-line: I won't give in-depth updates on any situation without knowing it is solid, true and finalized. Until I can do so, the best I can do is remind people that I will get them information as quickly as I can.
Palmer Luckey went on to engage reddit commenters for a while, which he said serves as further proof that he's invested in his community and wants to to right by said community. Of course this is the internet we are talking about, so he received mostly venom in response.
Over on Gamespot, however, it appears that this story has a silver lining for folks who feel wronged by the delay in Oculus shipping. They've provided a pair of updates to this evolving story, starting with the fact that many folks who had purchased an Occulus were noticing the shipping fee had been dropped.
This was apparently followed by an email from the Oculus team explaining that, due to the delay in shipping, the cost of all orders through yesterday would see shipping removed from the final receipt. So, yes, they are covering the shipping and handling charges for folks who pre-ordered a Rift, including international customers.
We'd say that seems like a fair trade, but we'll have to wait and see if the reddit community agrees.
As always, we welcome comments from our readers. Were people right to get so angry over a slight delay in shipping? Either way, what do you think of Oculus' response, covering the shipping cost? Let us know in the comments section below.
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