Sony's PlayStation VR bundles go up for pre-order and quickly sell out
Several retailers started taking orders for the PlayStation VR Launch Bundle on Tuesday at 10 a.m. Eastern. As of this writing, those bundles are sold out through Amazon, Walmart, and Target. Best Buy is still taking pre-orders, as is Gamestop, which requires a $100 deposit according to Polygon.
The PlayStation VR Launch Bundle costs $499 and includes the headset, cables, stereo headphones, a demo disc, a PlayStation Camera, two PlayStation Move motion controllers, and a PlayStation VR Worlds disc.
Sony also plans to sell a “VR core” bundle for $399, with just the headset, cables, headphones, and demo disc. Pre-orders for this bundle will begin on March 29 at 10 a.m. Eastern.
Keep in mind that neither bundle includes the PlayStation 4 itself, which currently sells for $350. But those who don’t already own the console may want to consider holding off; anonymous sources recently told Kotaku that Sony is working on a new version of the PlayStation 4, with 4K support and more processing power for VR. (Sony would not comment on the rumors, of course.)
For those who miss this round of pre-orders, Sony says not to despair, as it’ll offer a second wave this summer.
Why this matters: After what seemed like endless delays, VR is finally getting real, with the $600 Oculus Rift set to launch on March 28, while HTC’s SteamVR-powered Vive will follow in early April for $800. The fact that Sony is taking pre-orders on its own headset before its rivals hit the market is probably no coincidence, as the three platforms jockey for mindshare from players and developers alike.