Oculus Rift will be available at retail stores on May 7, Saturday including Best Buy where free demos and on-site preordering will be offered. However, the supply of the virtual reality headsets in physical stores will be very limited. A small number of the VR devices will also be available online at Amazon and the Microsoft Store beginning at 12 p.m. ET on May 6.
Customers who pre-ordered a Rift VR unit can try to snag one at a brick-and-mortar store. If they contact Oculus they can keep their attendant benefits including a free copy of the space shooter EVE: Valkyrie, and stay in line to get a Touch motion controller that will likely be shipped sometime this year, according to The Verge.
Rift VR units started shipping at the end of March. However, factors such as parts shortages resulted in the VR gadget being greatly back-ordered.
Desktop manufacturers still offered Rift headsets bundled with gaming PCs. However, customers often had to spend at least $1,000 extra for the desktop in addition to $599 for the Rift.
An Oculus spokesperson has announced the company is trying to ship as many VR viewers as possible to pre-order customers. The company delayed the rollout to retail stores as long as possible and scaled down the number of units as it catches up with preorders.
Oculus is also allowing interested customers to schedule demos at local stores one month in advance. They will get to view the Oculus-produced experience Dreamdeck and Crytek's rock-climbing game The Climb.
The in-store demos will start at 48 Best Buy locations on May 7, according to Yahoo. Customers who test drive the VR device can also pre-order on site. Oculus stated in a press release that this is the first chance for many people to try out truly immersive VR.
The Facebook company plans a bigger rollout this summer. It will start selling Rift VR in more locations including retail stores in Canada and Europe.
Oculus has already let people try out Samsung's mobile Gear VR at Best Buy stores. However, VR fans have been waiting for Rift as the first high-end virtual reality device to hit the market.
Here's an Oculus Rift review: