The Oculus Touch is the long awaited peripheral that will take the virtual reality experience of the Oculus Rift to greater heights. The HTC Vive launched with two motion controllers and has supplied us with great examples of what the virtual reality game and application ecosystem could be in the future, but that’s not to take away from the Rift’s available programs. Touch is slated for launch on December 6th, but it looks like newer pre-orders will be experiencing a bit of a delay.
On the Oculus site, you’ll notice a little extra message right before you complete the pre-order process for the Touch controllers: The estimated date for Touch orders to be shipped is currently set between December 16th and 21st, a solid tick after the December 6th launch date. That’s nowhere near some of the delays the Rift itself suffered at launch, but we do still have a couple weeks before official release so we’ll keep our eyes on the estimated delivery to see if it gets further out as demand grows.
The Oculus Touch is also still available to pre-order at Amazon and Best Buy and, while there’s no indication that they won’t be fulfilling all orders on December 6th, that’s certainly not to say it isn’t a possibility. Despite any of this, the Touch controller’s addition to the market is important. Touch combined with the Vive controllers along with Daydream’s motion controller for the mobile solution raises a strong foundation for game developers to build upon.
The Vive ecosystem is flush with immersive experiences that Rift users are missing out on, but Touch is expected to bridge that gap. It already has games that are begging for Touch compatibility, games like The Climb, and thankfully developers of many Rift games are working on updates to patch in Touch support. Be sure to check out our list of 9 of the best Vive games available along with the best Oculus Rift games.
