On stage today at Samsung’s Unpacked Event in New York, the new Gear VR with controller finally got a launch date and price. The new 2017 Gear VR and Controller combo,announced alongside the Galaxy S8, will be available April 21st for $129. A Controller, which can be purchased separately for people that already own an older Gear VR headset, will set you back $39.
Pre-orders for the new Gear VR and Controller combo, as well as separate Controllers, will be available on the Samsung website.
Oculus, the principle partner of the Gear VR mobile platform, will also be rolling out their “biggest mobile platform update yet,” saying they’ve rebuilt Oculus Home from the ground up. The company says that this has reduced load times by up to 3x.
Oculus is promising 70 new titles with controller support “coming soon” with nearly 20 titles to choose from in April, and 50 more to follow over the next few months.
Oculus say zombie shooter Drop Dead, puzzle game Rangi and SingSpace will be receiving support for Controller, including Oculus Rooms.
The single-handed controller, much like the Daydream VR controller, will provide motion tracking. Engagdet’s Devindra Hardawar got a hands-on with the controller, saying “the motion tracking felt fairly accurate, but mostly I was struck by how it felt in my hand. It has a slightly angle orientation, and your fingers naturally fall on the large trackpad on top and the trigger button on the back. That trigger, by the way, differentiates it from the Daydream View remote, which only has a trackpad and a few buttons. It makes the controller more in line with the Oculus Touch and Vive gamepads, and it’s a big help for most VR shooting titles.”
This story is breaking. We’ll be updating with new information as it comes out.
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Source: Samsung: New Gear VR and Controller Launching April 21st for $129
