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Oculus Rift Developer Kits Hit Production Hitch
Even though you've probably heard of the Oculus Rift, there isn't actually a consumer version yet. Oculus VR has only produced developer versions, and thanks to a component shortage, even those may not be available much longer.
According to a Reddit post from Oculus VR community manager Andres Hernandez, producing new development kits is not currently possible. "Certain components used in the Oculus Rift developer kit are no longer being manufactured, meaning they are no longer available to us for production," writes Hernandez. "As a result, we don't have the necessary materials to produce additional kits. We still have some stock available, but we're quickly running out. We are looking into alternate sources for the needed components, and we don't yet have a timeline for when additional units will be available."
The good news is that the development kits are still available (for now) in countries like the USA, Canada, Japan, and others.
If you were planning to get an Oculus Rift dev kit, you had better act soon.
Our Take
This shouldn't be taken as a sign of bad things to come for Oculus VR. The company secured additional funding last year, and recently enlisted industry legend John Carmack. Also, an enthusiastic developer community has developed around the Oculus Rift, producing a variety of strange and interesting projects. If these component problems aren't resolved, it's more likely that the company will just create a new unit with more readily available parts.
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