VR gaming system delays shipping to games makers, as new prototype headset and console are revealed

Oculus Rift: New dev kit date, new form

The team behind the Oculus Rift VR gaming system have confirmed a delay in the delivery of developer kits.

Citing unexpectedly huge demand, the Oculus Rift team now expect to ship 7,500 developer kits in March 2013, three months after the original intended delivery date.

"When we launched our Kickstarter campaign in August, we hoped to sell a few hundred kits to game developers and virtual reality enthusiasts around the world," read a statement in an update to the Oculus Rift Kickstarter page. "Instead, we were blown away by the overwhelming response from a community of almost 10,000 backers, who raised nearly $2.5 million dollars to help us develop the Oculus Rift.

"Designing, sourcing, and manufacturing thousands of developer kits is no small feat," continued the statement. "Since our Kickstarter, we’ve been up against the wall, working around the clock to produce and distribute over 7,500 units in just four short, crazy months. We’ve had to modify our original design for mass-manufacturing and, at the same time, balance additional features with our tight schedule."

Poised to enter full factory production, the Oculus Rift creators hope to produce over 500 developer units a day.

The same update also debuts images new product prototypes that introduce a re-designed headset and control box, which you can see below.

Oculus Rift became the subject of a wildly popular Kickstarter campaign after attracting a number of industry celebrities’ backing and securing almost $2.5 million despite setting a $250,000 goal.

The newly redesigned headset prototype (above)

An image of the latest prototype of the Oculus Rift control box (above)

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