O ne month ago, I tested a virtual reality headset called the HTC Vive Pre. The Pre was a development kit created by gaming behemoth Valve and smartphone maker HTC, and it was one of the most exciting new pieces of hardware I’ve had the pleasure of writing about — a device that offered full-body, room-scale VR. The headset above is not the Vive Pre. It’s the final consumer edition Vive that’s coming out today, although it looks almost identical — the branding is new, and the small focus rod on the bottom is ridged instead of smooth, but I still sometimes worry I’m picking up the wrong set by accident. What’s changed is the context. The Pre was an obviously unfinished device that never went on sale, complete with software glitches and half-finished games. The Vive is a real piece of consumer hardware that you can go online and pay $800 for right this minute. It’s coming out a week after the Oculus Rift, a competing headset with impeccable polish but limited ambition . S
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