Early Oculus Rift, HTC Vive launches off to slightly rough start

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Oculus Rift

The two most anticipated VR headsets of the year—Oculus Rift and HTC Vive—are both experiencing some initial launch pains, though for different reasons. One is dealing with shipping issues while the other had some difficulty processing payments. The good news is, these are temporary hiccups, and rather minor in the grand scheme of things.

Starting with the Oculus Rift, some early adopters who pre-ordered a headset started to grow antsy when their orders didn't show up on time. To make matters worse, Oculus was initially quiet on the matter. Meanwhile, some buyers noticed that their shipping charges had been reversed, leading them to wonder what Oculus was up to. It's said that silence is golden, but in this case, the silence from Oculus was outright maddening.

HTC Vive

HTC also ran into a bit of trouble with its Vive launch, and specifically with processing orders.

"While fulfilling this week’s orders for HTC Vive, a limited number of individuals were affected by auto cancellations due to processing issues with financial institutions. We’re actively working to resolve this, and have already reinstated orders for some customers," HTC stated in a blog post.

HTC apologized for the screw up and said it's working with customers to ensure their payments are processed and that shipments will go out when expected.

Paul Lilly
Paul Lilly

Paul has been playing PC games and raking his knuckles on computer hardware since the Commodore 64. He does not have any tattoos, but thinks it would be cool to get one that reads LOAD"*",8,1. In his off time, he rides motorcycles and wrestles alligators (only one of those is true).