- cross-posted to:
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- cross-posted to:
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256 GB model: $1,059 USD
1TB model: $1,299 USD
Preorder list randomized, goes out Sept 17th
Power supply not included, costs $29 (same as Steam Deck power supply)
3rd party addon available for color passthrough, Arcturus Vision Camera, $149
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The lottery is cool but too bad this time they don’t allow you to join the list for both options to increase your chances of getting one in the first batch. I decided to go with the 256GB one. I don’t think I’ll be using it standalone very much, so I don’t really need the extra storage. And while I believe there will be more people signing up for that one, there will also be more units available, making the chances pretty much equal. Obviously, saving 200+ euros is a plus too.
69€ for the pretty much mandatory “Ergonomic Accessories” pack is just dumb, imo. For a 1000+ euros product I would expect that stuff to be included.
The lottery is cool but too bad this time they don’t allow you to join the list for both options to increase your chances of getting one in the first batch.
Its an anti scalping measure. That seems counter to preventing scalping
With the Steam Machine you could sign up for all 4 of the options, but you were only given the option to purchase 1 of them, not all that you signed up for. So, yes, it was anti-scalping.
The primary anti scalping mechanisim Valve employes is randomizing delivery order. Being in line first because you have the fastest bot does not guarantee getting the goods first.
The original commentator is complaining they can’t join the waiting list multiple times for the express purpose of “increase your chances of getting one in the first batch”. That would give scalpers a potential way to get more of an advantage. And runs directly counter to anti scalping.
You are complaining you can’t decide what you want once you get through which is a different issue. Though allowing that would likely make waitlists muchore complex
I don’t fully get how this change helps with scalpers. Just like nocturne wrote, with the Steam Machine you were still only given the option to buy the one SKU where you landed highest on the list after the lists were randomized.
And it’s not that big of a deal obviously. But doing it like this created an unnecessary dilemma about which list to join. While I actually wanted the 256GB one, I was seriously considering joining the 1TB list because there are probably fewer people going for that one, which could potentially increase your chances. But then you start thinking about how some people probably have the same idea, potentially negating the effect…
The whole thing turned into an unnecessary headache lol, so I just stopped thinking about it and went for the 256GB one.
Cheaper than expected given the economic hellscape, still more than the Index. Oh well. Glad they are attempting to prevent scalping, sad that it means that there’s a random draw to be able to buy them. Still trying to buy one. I figure the 256GB model will be entirely fine, especially with the SD card expansion slot. Pity that you can’t upgrade the storage like the Deck, but oh well.
My intended use case is 100% streaming from my PC so the fixed/low storage doesn’t even bother me.
According to the Gamers Nexus review, playing locally on the Frame (i.e. not streaming) can reduce latency by 15-20ms. That’s actually noticable
Which makes sense, but the sort of games I play in VR are not going to be supported on local play. I play a lot of flight/space/driving sims with additional controllers light flight sticks, yokes, and steering wheels.
Unless you’re using it entirely as stand alone I’m not certain of needing the 1TB version truthfully.
Nice to see you finally being honest.
Why does Satan’s cum have maggots in it? Does bro not clean his dick?
Extra protein for their sex slaves.
Also, it is hell, why would anyone clean anything?
(/¯ ಠ_ಠ)/¯
How tf are you more unhinged than me
10/10 please end my sufferin’
Tbh, it’s Satan’s partner’s cum. The grammar suggests that Satan is the one letting loose the cumfart, implying he’s the bottom
Did you make a new account?
I blocked one of yours because your comments are always rage-bait drivel and I’m not 13 any more so I don’t find the funny:rude ratio good enough to waste my time with you.
Stalker vibes much?
To be fair theres like 12 of us on Lemmy
There are dozen
sof us!dozen*
Hence the strike through markup
12 and Richard, but he’s not included in the official count because FUCK YOU, RICHARD…
I like your shirt today but yesterday’s was fine too.
Well, I thought it was funny.
Considering theres not many games and im assuming the bulk of the game devs are going to release a modified apk of their meta quest version, or scale back the PC port so it rubs via fex (less likely IMO)
Most good games on the quest tapped out at around 8-12 gigs, and im assuming that’s what a bulk of people are going to running considering most vr games made games where either made for, or designed for the quest first and foremost.
That and its the same hardware just running through valves version of waydroid which I can only assume is more performant than running a x86 pc game through fex, and using something like fsr to upscale it? Maybe foviated tracking comes in a lot more clutch than I think it will. But I don’t know honestly im just assuming.
I don’t get why people say “theres not many games” about VR. Have you looked on Steam?
I have, its still the same games I played like 2-4 years ago now, the only real big change is a lot of games I already own became vr compatible.
I’m sure theres a bunch of small indie games, or racing Sim kind of stuff that got added but just pure quantity isn’t what i mean. Otherwise I would just point at the meta quest store and say look how many clones of gorilla tag theres tons of stuff to play.
At one point we had medal of honor making vr games, and there where active lobbies for many games. We had many many growing YouTube channels dedicated around vr that where growing, and now sit stagnent at around 10k views.
If you are looking for a large back catalog of games then sure steam has a ton and many great titles. But they’re often much shorter experiences, ot lesser of a game. Thats much different from when theres actual momentum going and there’s hype around new releases of games, and people are actually there to make mods or be in lobbies for said games.
I’m not saying this because I’m saying vr sucks or theres only 5 vr games. I’m saying this because I am worried its not going to make a bump like how I wanted. In some other universe the steam frame was sold for 700 USD and everyone rushed to buy one, and devs rushed to make friendslop games for vr and it all kept getting bigger.
Yeah, but think of all the VR porn!
How could I forget the whole reason we as a species probably even tried to make vr.
Cheaper than expected given the economic hellscape
I expect this is why the accessories are so expensive. The ergo kit really should not cost that much, but they may have just increased the price of that so they could keep the base price of the Frame itself lower.
I’m hoping third parties have accessories out by the time it drops. I’d rather buy a boboVR kit at half the cost or something
Valve’s also said they’re considering releasing a strap later on with more adjustments, better speakers, and hot-swappable batteries
The price I expected for the main unit, but I’m kinda pissy with them wanting an extra $60 for a few straps. That price seems kinda bullshit.
Not just a few straps but they are required to use all of the features of the controllers.
It also makes it a lot more comfortable on your head. I was considering it until I saw that cash grab nonsense. So, yeah. I’m a little pissy too.
Less than the index once you account for inflation.
The index would cost 1300$ in today’s money, give or take.
I figure the 256GB model will be entirely fine, especially with the SD card expansion slot. Pity that you can’t upgrade the storage like the Deck, but oh well.
For the life of me I cannot imagine that anything running locally on the Frame would need enough bandwidth from storage to not be able to run it off of SD anyway. For anything using the emulation layer, it’s sure to be slow enough where one won’t notice. For anything running ARM native, it’s sure to be simple enough that one won’t notice.
the only use I can thik of for needing the larger storage capacity is for a large number of games that you want to have very short loafing times for, like playing a single round of beat saber.
I’m happy it’s here and probably will get one down the line. Equally as mad that it’s surely gone up in price thanks to all the AI and other bullshit, not only not costing less than Valve Index (as had been originally rumored, I think), but more.
Super sour about the not included PSU. Hate it about the smartphone market, too.
But as a VR enjoyer, I’m still happy.
As someone who has never played with VR much but would consider a Steam Frame in the future what kind of things do you enjoy it with?
I think some of the best VR games are unofficial ports of flat games like Jedi Outcast or Alien Isolation. In my opinion VR is the definitive way of playing Doom 3.
To add to this: there’s also mods for most new resident evil games, Minecraft, Neon White, Outer Wilds, Firewatch, and A LOT more. Beardo Benjo is pretty decent at covering these.
I use VR primarily for seated simulation games. Flight sims, racing, space… VR brings a whole new level of immersion and situational awareness that makes these sort of sims better, and makes me better at playing them.
One of the few times I played around with VR was a racing game and it was awesome, but I’m not a big racing games person so my concern is that would not have much value beyond novelty.
I Expect You to Die, the game series. Funny room escape secret agent story game series. Does a great job of utilizing VR controls and room layout without requiring you to leave your seat. Also has an interesting story to it.
Looks awesome thanks for sharing
Why are you asking if your response to every example use case is “that’s just a novelty”? All games are novelties in one sense or another. What are you looking for?
Like something with a narrative or maybe simulation or strategy. But “racing except VR” is just a novelty for me. I guess what I mean is not arcade style games that exist just to be fun/addicting.
I’m not against that sort of thing by any means it’s just not enough to justify buying it for me.
“Narrative but VR”, “simulation or strategy but VR” sound like novelties to me.
I don’t think VR is for you mate, and that’s okay.
Minecraft should work pretty well in it via ViveCraft, if you’re comfortable modding. It officially supports Linux play
https://store.steampowered.com/app/451010/Kittypocalypse/
Pick something fun and short (not skyrim vr) for having something heavy on your face makes everything exhausting and sweaty. Beatsaber sounds dumb but its the perfect fit for the medium Hmm actually cut that, the perfect fit for the medium is porn
Do you liek trains? Derail Valley Simulator, a game that started out as funny physics meme turned hyper realistic train engineer job simulator. You get to realistically drive big chugga chugga choo choo - or a diesel electric if you’re boring. They also have the funny pump handle cart
Lmao imagine asking someone on Lemmy if they like trains OF COURSE I LIKE TRAINS GREAT RECOMMENDATION
I loved The 7th Guest VR
The VR game is Beat Saber, hands down. Hands up. Hands down. Hands up. Hands down.
Oh I would 100% get that one but also I’m not looking to spend $1k purely on VR novelty games
I agree with the other guy. Beat Saber is not a novelty game. It’s easy to have short, self-contained experiences with it, but that’s not the same thing. It’s extremely fun on its own merit and worthy of putting dozens to hundreds to thousands of hours into it. I would also put it at the very top of the “exercise game” genre (see a lot of stuff on the Wii), because of how well it masks being very active behind just being fun and because getting better at the game ties more directly to you physically getting better than just about any other game.
That said, I think it’s only a 10/10 game if you’re willing to mod it to add custom songs (there’s literally hundreds of thousands the community has mapped) and a 6/10 game if you aren’t. I haven’t bought any of the DLCs, so maybe it’s an 8/10 with those. I think the modding is extremely easy, but I also know there are a lot of people not interested in doing that even when it’s literally a couple clicks.
Former vive owner here. Beat saber isn’t a novelty it is legitimately something to spend dozens of hours on. I’m buying either a frame or a used index specifically for beat saber.
Dozens? 👀
I’m the number one beat saber player in the world because nobody told me these things!
That’s impressive. Would you recommend this game to newbies?
Absolutely! Beat Saber is the best!
I’m in the GENX clan where we have grandmothers capturing maps for the clan by getting some absurd level of accuracy on 1-5 ⭐ (aka super easy) maps. Clan Wars on BeatLeader is a silly thing that doesn’t mean anything in particular but it still amazes me that someone in their 60s can play a VR game and actually make a real, quantifiable difference.
On our Discord you can see the BeatLeader Clan Wars announcements in the “Battle Dispatch” channel. On any given day you really could see something like:
EvilKittyMom captured BREAKSH!T Hard for GENX, getting 98.17% ACC(That’s an imaginary name I just made up to protect the totally guilty party that often steals my thunder 🤣)
It’s so much fun, I love it! ❤️
How…how many dozens of hours you spend on it to be #1?
Dozens of dozens!
I play about an hour every day unless I’m sick, away, or (painfully) injured. I think my most recent play streak was over 6 months of playing every day without a single day off.
I’m a 48yo, BTW 😁👍
Half Life: Alyx, Beat Saber, Superhot, Budget Cuts, Space Pirate Trainer, Waltz of the Wizard etc. are all great VR games. If you like horror games, the FNAF series, The Forest, etc. also has some great VR games.
There are other tangentially fun things to do with VR, too. I watch movies in BigScreen with friends and family sitting on a virtual couch together. VRChat is fun to just meet and chat with people. This headset also plays 2D games, which I’m intrigued by, both on headset and streaming. I can stream Steam games on my Quest headset, too, but it’s lower resolution on the Quest 2.
If you’ve never tried it, Google Earth VR is tons of fun! I don’t know what it is about looking at little miniature cities, but it’s just so compelling. Also fun is when you turn on human-scale and actually have to look up at the buildings and such as you walk or fly through the city, or the Grand Canyon, or whatever!
I’m happy with the fex coming out that someone is very likely to get all the unreal engine vr mods to play nicely with Linux. So many community projects showed up on github when the steam deck came out, just having a dedicated community based around a standard piece of hardware seems to bring enough hype to get shit done. Really excited for the possibility of arch64 Linux phone distros that people make due to this.
Other than that I’m worried theres not enough vr games, and I’m highly certain the steam frame isnt going to bring a new wave of vr devs like the quest 2 did.
Most the vr games I played consistently where multiplayer and have all died off, and for me theres not much else, the other titles its more of a novelty. Majority of titles are the equivalent of walking the plank simulator and charge 20 bucks still, while still feeling like an shitty free game off the google play store.
I’d want it for all the other things like 3d modeling, or other weird applications that are more tinkering focused. I’m excited that its Linux I might be able to set up some kind of UI/HUD, or actually engage with the hardware in some meaningful way. I just don’t see vr taking off again to the point where I can justify 1k USD purchase, I pretty much only played 1 game when I had a quest and the measly 300 dollars the quest costed was hard enough to justify so I could play a single 10 dollar multiplayer game.
I think it’s fine if VR stays niche. The tech alone is compelling enough to not disappear even if Valve themselves never make another headset, and the work by hobbyists and tinkerers keeps getting better and more expansive every year, so the path is upwards regardless.
I’m blown away that no one has mentioned lone echo 1 and 2. IMO they are the crown jewel of the best use of the VR medium for immersive gameplay and story telling, surpassing even half life alyx.
I’m blown away that no one has mentioned lone echo 1 and 2.
Because they had asked for recommendations on what to do with a Steam Frame, but those are Oculus exclusives.
I really enjoy VR chat. My IRL friends go to movie worlds there to stream anything we want and watch it together regularly, although you don’t need a headset for that just makes it more fun.
You can also do No Mans Sky and Subnautica in VR. I did it for the Forest and that was fun.
For me at least I don’t use any of my original usb device chargers. I have a GaN charger with 2 cables by the sofa and one by my desk.
I totally use the 45w charger that came with my steam deck oled. It’s nice. This looks to be the same one.
Super sour about the not included PSU. Hate it about the smartphone market, too.
I have like 3k of these things, so personally I’m very happy to not have to spend another $30 on a worse one that’s just going to get chucked in a drawer anyway.
I feel the same way about smartphones not including chargers. The third-party charger that I already have is likely better than whatever charger comes with the phone, so the one that comes with the phone will just go unused. I understand that manufacturers are not going to “pass the savings onto the consumer” when they don’t include a charger, but at least it doesn’t feel like e-waste. I felt the same way about the headphones that would come with devices for a while. Just a waste that I will never use.
On the other hand, having a stock charger could aid in troubleshooting by offering a baseline of sorts. Being able to say “I can’t do X, even with the stock charger” can go a long way. Without the stock charger, tech support could wonder if maybe your third-party charger is to blame for your issue. The other benefit of included chargers are when the device uses some weird charging technology or something that makes the included charger actually better for that device than the third-party one that I already have.
Super sour about the not included PSU. Hate it about the smartphone market, too.
Tbh, we’ve collectively been getting so many usb chargers and cables with devices over the years that most people probably don’t need more of them. I’m generally fine with it being an optional accessory so long as 3rd party options work since it reduces E-waste and somewhat reduces the price for people who already have chargers
Oh. Great. Only €1K. Super…
😢
A couple months ago, when I posted news about the FCC approval, people were whining that it was going to start at $2K. They didn’t quite hit their initial target of “less than the Index” but I still call this a win.
deleted by creator
Price is alright given the market conditions, but the lottery really ticks me off.
Imo the lottery is the most fair way of doing it. Instead of people being lucky to be awake/available right as the announcement dropped, everyone has the same chance of being placed early in the queue.
The lottery is fine, it’s the fact it’s even necessary I abhor.
Please suggest an alternative, then, that prevents scalping and doesn’t only favor the specific demographic that you are in.
Oh no, the lottery is the most fair way to deal with expected demand far exceeding supply, no question about that.
I just long for a time when there was enough supply right from the start. I can’t remember having to queue or wait weeks for sought-after electronics in my youth. I don’t even blame Valve here, it seems to be more common everywhere now.
Even if we ignore the silicon shortage, it doesn’t make sense for Valve to set up the facilities and supply chains to fully satisfy the day-one demand, only to shut them down months later when the demand falls off and no longer justifies the expense of operating them. The up-front cost of setting up additional factories, especially for the custom high precision optics, would be a massive waste. The other option would be to build up a larger stockpile before the product is released, but then you’d still be waiting all the same.
In terms of hardware, Valve is not a significant player. They sell niche products meant for enthusiasts, and the lottery is the most pragmatic way to get them into hands.
Certainly the device could register to a specific account and notify them if/when a different primary account takes control. If I’ve been playing steam games for 20 years using the same account I should be able to be verified as doing that and order hardware without them being concerned about scalping, especially if the hardware will only work if my account is the primary one allowed to use it.
Would you rather their entire stock gets bought up by bots to be scalped?
No, I’d love there to be enough supply for the vast majority of prospective buyers.
I don’t understand this comment at all… Surely valve would also want to have enough supply for every single person who wants one to give them their money. But we live in the real world with real material and logistical constraints, so isn’t the lottery the best solution to getting the limited devices in the hands of people who actually want to use it?
I tried to pre order a zelda anniversary and was too busy and ended up trying to buy it an hour after orders opened and I couldn’t buy it (unless I paid 2x the price on ebay). Lottery is the much better way to do preorders.
Or, you know, producing enough to meet demand from the start. People have gotten so used to sought after items being in short supply, the thought that companies can actually gauge demand quite well and could produce enough stock doesn’t even cross their mind anymore.
I feels like you’re underestimated the word “enough” here. It’s a niche product, no one know what’s the actual demand vs scalper, and certainly no one can know what amount is “enough”.
Also ram is hard to get.
Ah. Yes. Yet another soon to be dead VR headset, because nobody gives a fuck about that. Reminds me the inevitable 3D TVs.
Our Valve Index has been going for many years. I’ve put a considerable amount of money into it, but that happens with children.
nobody gives a fuck about that
dev literally still making games for VR
Valve made half life on it
Just because techbros stop pushing it doesn’t mean niche product cannot still exist.
Have you ever even used a VR headset? They’re fucking amazing.
Is that why they have a lottery system to order one? Because the demand is just so low?
A shame - I feel like VR really needs a loss leader to actually build more foundation for developers to actually care… but at least its out now I guess
I think Valve has realised that it’s really just for a certain niche of gamers and that’s who they’re targeting, unlike Meta, that thought everyone would want to live, work and play in the ‘Metaverse’ which was never going to happen.
Isn’t that what meta’s been doing for a decade?
Doesn’t seem to be working too well for them
Doesn’t seem to be working too well for them
Yes, because they didn’t focus on gaming or useful capabilities but instead tried to develop a PG-rated (as in, for kids) platform for work. Meta’s management literally thought everyone would want to strap on a VR headset and wear it all day for work.
Meanwhile, loads of fantastic games had people buying headsets just to play the game they want.
Basically, Meta invested all their time and money in all the wrong things. All the stuff nobody actually wants to do with their VR headset. I mean, come on: They wanted to do away with the controllers! That’s how anti-gaming their focus was.
They tried so hard to push this as a workspace thing due to covid and the apple vr head set. Meta really wanted vr to be for everything but gaming which was the only thing that did well.
They could of been successful too, the first big wave of vr came from the success of the quest 2, and they used all the success to buy all the game devs only to shut down all the games, and force them to work on the meta verse.
It worked pretty good for the quest 2 it was like the first big wave of vr users and devs. Its died off sense then mainly metas fault.
Meta bought up all the popular vr games, did nothing with them and either shut then down or made then work on the meta quest.
Thats of course when mark decided to go all in on this metaverse idea seeing a slight success with the quest 2. They essentially wanted to be the roblox of vr because most of the users only bought the quest to play roblox, and that monkey game that has 3000 clones now.
In a different universe palmer lucky didn’t sell oculus to Facebook, we have a good headset still and hes not out there making ai drones that autonomously shoot down innocent fishing boats off our coast.
I hope these won’t sell out/queue up as much as Machines and Controllers do, since I can only safely afford it after a few months after a recent PC purchase.
But since this doesn’t have competition like the Machine (if you hate Meta), I’m worried.
I hope the prepared enough considering that wayy more people are gonna be queueing for the cheaper one, probably
Ahhhh ehhhhhhhhhh
If I didn’t have a Q3 already maybe. But for $1k I can’t swing it.
Excited to see where all this x86->ARM translation work goes though. And hopefully some new VR games market’s been stale.
The Meta headsets were a no-go for me due to the huge privacy concerns. I’ll gladly pay a premium to have hardware I actually own.
Actually not terrible. Wow.
$1050 is not terrible for you? Ok…
It can do more than some $3500 headsets (run desktop class applications natively)
That’s so extremely vague that I don’t even know how to respond. What’s desktop class for you? x86? What type of “apps” would you want to run on a vr headset?
Basically games that were only written to run on Windows. If someone likes the idea of playing, say, Ori and the Blind Forest, on a virtual movie theater screen, this is a way to do that, no porting from the original authors needed.
Afaik, the list of titles you can do that with is around 130. On top of that, the “great on frame” baseline is 30fps at 720p. If you also take into account the fact that the snapdragon 8 gen 3 is already 3 years old and how little the Steam Frame battery lasts, then the whole idea starts to sound a lot worse.
Is it cool you can do it? Sure. Would you actually want to do it and will you have a good time? Not sure, but doesn’t sound like it.
Okay, but what are your other options?
Pcvr?
your negativity wont stop us from running firefox and text editors on it. a wayland compositor placed in 3D space, anyone?
That’s not a thing exclusive to the steam frame. But sure, have fun.
it still seems like a good experience for flights
Better bring a few battery packs. Battery on standalone lasts like 1.5hrs.
Go look up the price of what the last ram kit, ssd, or SD card you bought costs right now, I guarantee you’re going to be surprised. No one likes the price, but I was ready for it to be way worse.
That doesn’t make this price not terrible. It just alligns with the terribleness we exepect nowadays.
Price is relative
Price is objective. Cost is relative. The price is high and the cost is poor when compared to other offerings.
The cost is high, the price is relatively cheap because materials cost too much due to the slop bubble
Do you have the BOM to substantiate your claims or are you just winging it? This device does not seem to be that much better than a pico 4 ultra to justify the price difference.
I think a lot of people were worried that it would be ~2k from the way they were talking.
So still terrible but slightly less so? Specially considering the accessories (except the charger) are required according to reviewers. So the “real” minimum price is like $1400. And on top of it all it has monochrome passthrough? I really don’t see why people would buy this thing. I really wanted to get one but can’t justify the price.
The accessories are only $50 total besides the charger. So no, the “real minimum price” isn’t $1400. Quit fucking lying
Accessories kit - $60 Charger + cable - $30 Headstrap + headphones and battery - announced, no price yet. Please note that, for some reason, there is no 3.5mm jack. If you want to use an external battery and headphones, you’ll have to buy some sort of splitter.
So yeah, far lower at $1149. It’s still way too expensive.
Lastly, take a chill pill. Sounds like you need it.
The accessories kit is really the only “mandatory” thing on this list due to the hand straps for the controllers. The top strap for the headset seems to be personal taste with some people hating it and some people needing it.
Charger + cable - $30 Most people already have chargers and cables for this, even for 45W.
Please note that, for some reason, there is no 3.5mm jack This has been a thing with smartphones and motherboards for years. This is too old to actually ve an argument anymore. If someone wants to use 3mm jack they most likely already have a splitter
Headstrap + headphones and battery - announced, no price yet That’s not really even announced yet. It’s an “fyi we’re wanting to dp this in a few months” they told reviewers
Quite being pedantic just because you got called out for being wrong.
You need to use a double linebreak after a quote to separate your response btw.
Most people already have chargers and cables for this, even for 45W.
Do you have any type of source for this? I know plenty of people that only have a 15/20w charger for their phone.
This has been a thing with smartphones and motherboards for years. This is too old to actually ve an argument anymore. If someone wants to use 3mm jack they most likely already have a splitter
It’s been a problem for years, yes. That doesn’t make it less of a problem. Also, I’ve yet to see a single motherboard that doesn’t have a 3.5mm jack. Lastly, why would you assume that they’d have a splitter? Now you’re not only expected to have dongles but also splitters? For a device that costs over 1k? Honestly, you’re playing yourself if you really think this isn’t an issue.
That’s not really even announced yet. It’s an “fyi we’re wanting to dp this in a few months” they told reviewers
That’s irrelevant. If you want to use it standalone or for a long period of time, this “accessory” will be a requirement.
Quite being pedantic just because you got called out for being wrong.
Having a different opinion is not something you can be right or wrong about. There’s this wonderful thing called “points of view”. You might want to look into it.
Why is everyone so concerned with passthrough these days? MR apps are the worst XR apps of them all
For now. Software is constantly changing. Plus, even my very old gearvr had color pasthrough.
And, when you consider that valve is partially putting out this device to stoke vr/ar/mr enthusiasm, I would have liked to try a headset with great pasthrough. I tried the apple headset right as it came out in a store, and the headset was awesome, but lived in a closed wall garden. The passthrough on it was awesome. That xr keeps taking steps backwards is tragic every single time.
I guess now I know what it must’ve been like in the 80s when vr was this cool tehcno fantasy that went nowhere until basically palmer lucky spits on floor.
Edit: i forgot to really answer. Because passthrough is part of vr. Also because it’s cool. Also because it’s still novel to me and I want to play with it. Also because maybe I would have made something with it. Also because backwards progress is sad and annoying and feels bad.
IYKYK…
All jokes aside, one reason is MR to watch a movie while being able to see outside. Another is when you kneed to step out of the room for just a moment or talk to someone that just came in or maybe even just grab the controllers while seeing what you’re doing.
Do you really think cameras with color are that much of an ask in 2026 on a device that costs over $1k?
The addon costs $150, if they increased the price by $150 and had color passthrough included in the box, you would be happy, but everyone who would be forced to buy cameras for a use case they are not interested in wouldn’t be.
Imo all of your use cases for color passthrough are weak. You want distractions from a movie? You need to step outside, take the headset off lol.
If they launched at $1200 way more people would be complaining about the price
They’re already using a literal phone soc that HAS CAMERAS. Having two color cameras on board probably would have cost much much less than an external, $150, third party module, like maybe a tenth of that at scale so like maybe $15 more. OoooOOOOOooooo scary
They likely made compromises like this all over the device to keep the price as low as possible, this (and the ergo pack) is just one that they errored on and probably should have just included.
Like the other guy said, using color cameras would not have costed much more. This is an expensive device with some budget entry-level features. There’s no excuse.
I just assumed they were more performant for their actual task of tracking. Everything else is secondary.
This is just an assumption, but, if true, give me the improved tracking over color passthrough any day.
Not that color passthrough wouldn’t be nice. But I don’t think it’s a cost saving technique
Well, I happen tl have dabbled a bit in image processing and applying a mask to make the image grayscale has a negligible (if not inexistent) impact in performance. I do admit that I’m unaware if there’s another characteristic this cameras have that make them better for tracking. If they do, it’s pretty weird that Valve hasn’t mentioned it.
I really wanted to get one but can’t justify the price.
So what was your, uh, upper limit on the budget there?
They said they were going for a price under the Index 999€ price point.
Then the rampocalypse happened, and they said they weren’t going to make it. I was expecting a 1200€ minimum.
So only being like 50€ over their target is not really bad.
Well, it is highly likely that at least some of the accessories were at one point just part of the base product. So I think they were off by quite a bit more than $50. Even so, being above an already pretty high target price IS bad imo.
Since this is an ARM device, can we play traditional x86-64 games on ARM64 now? Like, on other hardware besides Steam Frame?
There are SteamOS builds for several arm64-based handhelds already and they can play many x86-64 games through FEX. Look at Armada OS, which is basically Bazzite for arm64.
Wine has CPU emulation hooks since some time, and now protonGE is split into Arm and x86_64 branches. So yes? I think LTT even tested windows games on Steam Frame and it kinda worked
I didn’t try it yet but yes, FEX is open source: https://fex-emu.com/
Wasn’t there also supposed to be a sale on VR games today?
Yup, I picked up a few wishlisted items for like 65% off
I meant a sale event. There are always a bunch of games on sale at any given time, but I thought there was supposed to be a big event this week. That was one of the main reasons people predicted the reveal of the Frame was going to be yesterday.
Tbh, I’m not going to buy any VR games until I have a headset in hand. I wishlisted a bunch of VR games last night in preparation, but I’m not going to screw myself out of (at minimum) half of the refund window in case any are duds. Especially when the order queue starts off as a lottery.
This is good logic 🫡
I’ve had a Quest 1 for years and it’s starting to show its age. I’m excited to get this as my new headset.
Ugh, I really hate those bullshit controllers. Index controllers are the best and I feel like I’m just going to use tethered HMDs forever because of it.
They sell a kit for 60 bucks with straps to turn them into the same style of controller as the index.
I saw that but it seems like they’re just hand straps and the grip is still a button instead of capacitive touch, which is exactly why the index is so immersive. It might not be awful but I’m still gonna hold off given the price and battery life. I already have a triple lighthouse setup and wire tethers, so the best bang for my buck would be upgrading my hmd only. Though the index is still solid, so honestly I’ll probably just keep rocking it until it dies.
the grip is still a button instead of capacitive touch
The Frame controllers have full finger tracking. According to reviews, this isn’t very useful without the hand straps, though.
Well, considering all thats an incredible price. Youre getting 16 gigs of ram in it, thats actually like half of its price 💀. This is very heavily subsidized, theyre not making a penny of of it. Still as i said before im looking for a car right now and a used car is about 5 steam frames so i dont think i will have money for it for a while. Whelp. Also i have to tune up the car so thats prolly another 3k…
