Realistic weapon handling is one of VR’s greatest caveats right now. Launching pre-orders today, Striker VR looks to solve that, but it’s going to cost you.
We went hands-on with this new system back at GDC in March. It offers a heavy rifle-shaped controller with realistic recoil that roots you deeper in the VR experience. Using an Oculus Touch, Vive wand, or PlayStation Move controller allows you to pick up and aim guns with one-to-one control, but their light weight and lack of powerful haptic feedback creates a clear gap between the virtual reality and the real thing. Striker VR’s Arena Infinity solution is more believable, but it costs at least $2,800.
Now, to be fair, that’s not just for the gun alone. The price also includes two batteries, a charging pack and the company’s software development tool to help you make your own experiences for it. Replacements can also currently be ordered. More importantly, Striker VR also offers a positional tracking system of its own developed in partnership with Optitrack to turn large open areas into room scale VR experiences for headsets like the Rift and Vive, though selecting this option adds an extra $100 to the bill.
If you don’t select it then Striker VR expects to you be using the HTC Vive’s lighthouse tracking solution, and you can spend an extra $100 to get a Vive Tracker bundled in. You’ll need to stick it to the gun in order for VR experiences to track its location.
Obviously with that pricing (which doesn’t include either the $499 Rift or $799 Vive) Striker VR is targeting businesses over consumers, but it may well find a market there with growing interest in the VR arcade scene and other location-based experiences like The Void. That said going multiplayer would cost you over $5,000.
It’s always possible a cheaper consumer-focused alternative could come later down the line, but for now Striker is priced firmly outside of most VR’s fans range.
Striker VR will begin to be delivered to pre-orderers in the third quarter of this year, so perhaps we could see facilities using it up and running by the end of the year.
