Talking to Polygon, Oculus founder Palmer Luckey said they chose to “optimize quality over cost.” I’m inclined to agree with the decision. I’m in love with the idea of VR, and with the real thing finally coming to pass, I’d much rather be priced out at first than buy a system that sucks and helps shelve the whole thing for another 20 years. I want people to be as excited about VR as I am, and I don’t think selling the Oculus Rift DK2 as the consumer model would have the impact the medium needs—it’s been fun for early adopters who knew they were buying a prototype, but that’s not enough to sell the world on a sci-fi contraption you strap to your head. The experience has to work really well, and I hope the consumer version they’ve gone with is a big improvement (for that price, it better be—we’ll see when we get one into the office).