Google Announces Daydream View VR Headset
By Denny Connolly 04 October 2016
Google announces the Daydream View VR headset as a budget, mobile alternative to the more expensive VR experiences. The $80 headset has a November launch window.
Some gamers may feel like they are being felt out of the virtual reality future due to financial limitations, but the budget VR market continues to grow. Not everyone can afford a high-end PC and an Oculus Rift or Vive, but options like Google Cardboard, Gear VR, and even PlayStation VR offer a virtual reality experience that comes in way under $1000. Google has another VR option arriving in a few weeks with the Daydream View VR headset.
Google announced the new headset today and the device’s $80 price tag puts it well above the quality level of Google’s own Cardboard device, but still well under the budget of even the $399 PlayStation VR. The Daydream View launches in November and customers can start pre-ordering the headset as early as October 20 in the US.
The Daydream View will work similarly to Samsung’s Gear VR, with the headset opening up for gamers to insert compatible Android-powered smartphones. The first phones to offer support will be Google’s own Pixel and Pixel XL, but it shouldn’t take long for other manufactures to join the party if the demand is there.
VR purists will be quick to explain that these mobile VR experiences aren’t the real thing, but the affordable alternative is a great option for gamers on a budget. The machine won’t support exclusives like PS VR’s Batman Arkham game, but there is a decent list of launch titles for the Daydream…
- Wonderglade
- Gunjack 2
- LEGO BrickHeadz
- Mekorama
- Need for Speed
- EarthShape
- Danger Goat
- Home Run Derby
- Hungry Shark World
Although $80 sounds like a fair price for a budget VR experience, it’s only $80 if consumers already plan to pick up the Google Pixel phone. It’s unlikely that many shoppers would purchase a new phone simply to use this VR headset, but if so, that is going to add at least six hundred dollars to the cost. At that point, shoppers are most of the way to a PC headset, assuming they have a graphics card that could support it.
As the VR market continues to grow, it will be exciting to see which headsets stay ahead of the curve and which ones fall to the wayside. Google has been invested in mobile VR for years now, so the company definitely seems set on finding a home in this growing subset of the video game industry.
What do you think of the Daydream View? Will you be picking up the budget VR headset? Let us know in the comments.
Google’s Daydream View VR headset launches in November.
