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[Alexios]

I didn't really care to make a thread, I prefer posting VR news in existing threads and waited on this thinking someone else will but he'd also insert_personal_hot_take_about_failure_of_whatever_or_absurd_correlations_or_unrelated_VR_bs_passed_as_fact_to_guide_the_narrative so here, the news

Lowering Prices on Meta Quest 2’s 256GB SKU + Meta Quest Pro

Good news, everyone: We’re lowering prices for Meta Quest 2 and Meta Quest Pro! Starting March 5, the 256GB Meta Quest 2 SKU will cost $429.99 USD, while Meta Quest Pro will be priced at $999.99 USD. Whether you’re looking to play immersive games, get creative, or collaborate with colleagues...

www.meta.com

Granted, Quest 3 is on the way so this could be done to get rid of stock as far as 2 is concerned. The 128GB model remains as it was at 399 which I guess means they are pushing more people to the 256GB given the small difference while it's available. If you're buying make sure the store is updated.

 

[diffusionx]

Didn’t they raise the price not that long ago? Anyway $1000 is a much more appealing price for the pro.

 

[DenchDeckard]

seems like the market is rebalancing now...Hopefully everyone will follow suit and reduce pricing where available.

I guess this isnt a drop to the price it was at though, but close?

 

[nightmare-slain]

Facebook couldn't pay me to use this shit.

 

[AV]

Sorry hold on what? Didn't they raise the prices literally months ago or was that something else?

 

[danklord]

Even at $1000, it's hard to get excited with the Vive XR Elite launch imminent.

 

[Alexios]

Even at $1000, it's hard to get excited with the Vive XR Elite launch imminent.

The most expensive feature is the eye tracking, which Elite lacks. After that it's the blind-spot-less controller tracking as they're self tracked and don't rely on the HMD cameras which of course will vary on importance by user and scenario. The rest of their specs are comparable (and comparable to Quest 2), though Elite has better passthrough, which makes sense, it's newer, Quest 3 will likely match or top it (as it also cuts costs by not having eye tracking and we'll see what controllers it will utilize and if they're more similar to 2's or the Pro's - or if they will even make new controllers as 2 is apparently also compatible with Pro's though the latter would be too expensive to make 3's default). Neither is really at a mainstream consumer price tier, the non Pro Quest is still alone in that alongside the Pico 4 (which has instead very limited availability) and some similar low key rivals.

Sorry hold on what? Didn't they raise the prices literally months ago or was that something else?

The 128GB model remains at the increased price and the 256GB model is still more expensive than before by ~29 (instead of ~99 with the previous change). The Pro launched at its previous price and this is the first (huge) change. It's really not a consumer facing product imo and was more for devs to get dibs on features like color, depth corrected pass through and eye tracking that every next gen kit is bound to have so they can learn how to utilize them by then (sadly it looks like Quest 3 and competitors won't have eye tracking though, still too expensive). I don't think it's worth it for games, especially sicne it's not much more powerful than 2 and similar products as there really wasn't any superior snapdragon available to use at the time, but they did make a new generation of snapdragons just after that which Quest 3 will likely use and be more powerful yet cost way less which is silly.

 

[DenchDeckard]

Even at $1000, it's hard to get excited with the Vive XR Elite launch imminent.

Say this Vive XR though, I guess you ant use that with the Meta Quest store? So its all just a mess being fragmented right?

 

[Alexios]

Say this Vive XR though, I guess you ant use that with the Meta Quest store? So its all just a mess being fragmented right?

I mean, of course Meta won't let other companies use their ecosystem and vice versa, same as Sony. The only somewhat more platform agnostic VR avenue is PC VR where you can use Meta, HTC, Valve and other brands of hardware on Steam, EGS, Viveport and other PC stores, though compatibility can vary by software. Also I'm not sure how HTC handles their stand alone store vs their PC store but it's probably similar to how Meta does it between Rift and Quest, though in this case it's probably reversed with more games available on their PC side which Meta has all but abandoned instead. So I'm guessing if a game happens to have versions on both it's not necessarily crossplay/buy on either side and that's something that has to be enabled by the developer specifically or something. Edit: yeah Viveport is the same store and there are filters for PC and (their own) AIO devices.

 

[DenchDeckard]

I mean, of course Meta won't let other companies use their ecosystem and vice versa, same as Sony. The only somewhat more platform agnostic VR avenue is PC VR where you can use both Meta, HTC, Valve and other brands of hardware on Steam, EGS, Viveport and other PC stores.

Not sure how Vive handles their stand alone viveport vs PC but probably similar to how Meta does it between Rift and Quest, though in this case it's probably reversed with more games available on their PC side which Meta has all but abandoned instead.

That's what annoys me, Meta seems to be the only one that works on all stores....Sadge.

 

[HotSauceEnema]

Meta is the only VR device worth buying at the moment, the others are still stuck on wired and it's awful. Excited to see what the Quest 3 brings to the table.

 

[Alexios]

That's what annoys me, Meta seems to be the only one that works on all stores....Sadge.

They can't use Viveport AIO side or Pico store games. But of course most if not all of those are ports from Meta, but both HTC and Pico have some paid exclusives too, they've just been at it for less time (and less all in) than Meta.

Meta is the only VR device worth buying at the moment, the others are still stuck on wired and it's awful. Excited to see what the Quest 3 brings to the table.

There are various non wired and wired competitors with pros and cons. Sure they all have faults just like Meta which is more established all these years but they all pave the way for a VR future where you don't have to restrict to one brand, even if one is most popular, kinda similar to smartphones.

 

[Quixz]

Wonder if Sony forced Meta's hand PS VR2

 

[Gameplay Gods Bless]

Didn’t they raise the price not that long ago? Anyway $1000 is a much more appealing price for the pro.

Yes the 300 model was raised to 400 and the 400 model to 500. Now they are lowering the 500 model to 430 which means for $30 you can double your storage memory.

 

[Alexios]

Wonder if Sony forced Meta's hand PS VR2

No.

 

[Data Ghost]

The Quest 2 has been 'reduced' to more than it was a couple of years ago. They had previously put it up by £100. Just wait for the bargain bins in a couple of years time or snag one on eBay when people will be almost giving them away. As a Quest 2 owner I do not really recommend overall.

 

[Alexios]

The Quest 2 has been 'reduced' to more than it was a couple of years ago. They had previously put it up by £100. Just wait for the bargain bins in a couple of years time or snag one on eBay when people will be almost giving them away. As a Quest 2 owner I do not really recommend overall.

Not exactly gonna be a great buy then when Quest 3 or even 4 are out and they're phasing 2 out with cutting support for updates and new titles like they already did with the original Quest.

That's another thing for folks to wait and see, how the different companies doing their own VR consoles handle their upgrade paths and schedules, when things stop being so fluid in the space. If they all want folks to buy a new one every year or three instead of the average console cycle, meh.

 

[Umbasaborne]

Fucking lol, howd that price increase work out for them?

 

[Alexios]

Fucking lol, howd that price increase work out for them?

Idk, at least it lets them make you think they're doing some crazy good offer you wanna imply is a desperate move bad for them when it's still more costly than before (and the cheaper variant gets no discount if you read the OP) and the successor model(s) get closer and closer though

 

[Danknugz]

FoV needs to match or excel the index 130 degrees horizontal or i'm not interested. Not crazy about this thing facebook does with all their headsets and limit the FoV, I think it's for two reasons,

1. performance and pixel density
2. motion sickness issues

It's a shame because arguably, VR isnt technically VR if you've got any kind of black edges around your field of view.

 

[Eddie-Griffin]

Lol, OP being selective.

Anyway, $1,499 to $1200 to $999 in less than two months is pretty bad. Quest realied they need to be cheap to sell, explains the two headset approach this year.

 

[mckmas8808]

Wonder if Sony forced Meta's hand PS VR2

Of course it did. That's what competition does.

 

[baphomet]

Quest Pro not even worth what they're asking for the Quest 2s.

 

[sachos]

Quest Pro now at 1k is more competitive with the PS5+PSVR2 1.1k experience. Still looks like you get more out of the PSVR2 experience though.

 

[sendit]

Quest Pro now at 1k is more competitive with the PS5+PSVR2 1.1k experience. Still looks like you get more out of the PSVR2 experience though.

Standalone VR headsets won't match the fidelity of PS5+PSVR2 until the next generation of consoles arrive. The Vive XR will be interesting though, as it has built in wireless capabilities to your PC.

 

[daffyduck]

The most expensive feature is the eye tracking, which Elite lacks. After that it's the blind-spot-less controller tracking as they're self tracked and don't rely on the HMD cameras which of course will vary on importance by user and scenario. The rest of their specs are comparable (and comparable to Quest 2), though Elite has better passthrough, …

Nah, the most expensive feature is it’s from Meta/Facebook.

 

[MR ARCADE FOREVER]

Didn’t they raise the price not that long ago? Anyway $1000 is a much more appealing price for the pro.

$1000 to play beat saber

 

[Buggy Loop]

Interesting

They’re lowering inventory for Quest 3 most likely as it’s imminent.

I don’t think we’ll ever see a Quest pro at $1500 ever again. Their success is cheap VR headsets. Quest pro though, feature was is pretty damn neat, if it had launched at 1k, might have had more success. It’s not cheap to have controllers with their own camera and chipset to track independently from headset, they are the only one doing it and it’s a step above the current tracking systems for sure.

Hopefully Quest 3 doesn’t cheap out too much on tech.