Affordable VR is on the way with Oculus teaming up with Samsung to create the Gear VR — a new virtual reality headset that works in conjunction with “most” major Samsung smartphones. For those that are feeling the idea of spending the price of another console on a VR headset is a bit too daunting this product is geared towards you.
The Gear was announced as the opening product at the Oculus Connect developers conference Friday and will retail at $99. The hardware is essentially a “Lite” version of the Oculus with weaker specs and capabilities, but still offering a great general experience.
While many attendees of the conference were hoping for more news on the full fledged Oculus Rift, this announcement gives fans itching to try out the VR experience something that is just a few months away from release. Gear VR will release right in time for the holiday season being globally available in November.
Those who pick it up in November will have a collection of immediately enjoyable classics in the soon-to-launch Oculus Arcade. Oculus Arcade is partnered with Sega, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, and Bandai Namco to bring games like Sonic the Hedgehog, Pac-Man, and Gauntlet to the device.