It will cost you $799 to walk around in Vive's virtual world - CNET

HTC and Valve justifies the higher price by calling it the "complete system," which includes the headset, two base stations that detect your motion, earbuds, a link box to connect to your PC and two wireless controllers.

It's the two wireless controllers, which serve as your virtual hands or weapons in the Vive world, that set the Vive apart from Oculus. The Rift system comes with a remote control and Microsoft Xbox One controller, with its wireless controller coming in the second half as additional purchases.

"It's more compelling than buying things piecemeal," O'Brien said.

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Oculus has said that its controllers would come later because the initial games were designed for a more traditional input method like an Xbox controller.

But for Valve and HTC, including the controllers is critical to the experience and important for developers. Valve developer Chet Faliszek said there's no plan to sell a discounted bundle without the controllers.

"It's about a consistent platform for developers," he said.

O'Brien and Faliszek talked up the final consumer version of the Vive, which features a refined head strap for increased comfort, a polished finish, a better fit on the gasket, or the part of the headset that touches your face and smaller, quieter base stations. The Vive also comes with a microphone, allowing you to answer and make calls while you wear your headset.

The Vive will come with two free games, Job Simulator: The 2050 Archives by Owlchemy Labs and Fantastic Contraption by Northway Games and Radial Games. Faliszek said the company would unveil more titles and give a better idea of the launch catalog at the Game Developers Conference next month.Vive owners will be directed to Valve's Steam platform to purchase games.