The HTC VIVE VR headsets are now available in Malaysia

HTC’s VIVE virtual headset first made its debut at Mobile World Congress a couple of years back in 2016 and while it has been sold overseas in the States and several other countries for both gaming and educational enterprises, it hasn’t made an appearance in Malaysia. Until now that is as the HTC VIVE and HTC VIVE Pro VR headsets are going to be available for purchase in Malaysia.

For the uninitiated, the HTC VIVE Pro is an upgunned variant of the original HTC VIVE that has a mostly similar design as the original HTC VIVE but has a bold blue paint job, two front cameras, crisper visuals from the internal OLED eye panels to the tune of 2,880 x 1,600 pixels combined that’s 78% better than in resolution than its predecessor (2,160 x 1,200 pixels), integrated speakers for three-dimensional audio and, most important of all, enhanced ergonomics on account of more comfortable facial padding. The stock HTC VIVE remains in service but lacks an integrated pair of headphones, has a slightly lower 2,160 x 1,200 pixel resolution display and slightly more rudimentary ergonomics along with an all-black paint job for a more affordable price tag.

To track movement, both the HTC VIVE Pro and HTC VIVE works with floor-deployed Steam VR tracking Base Stations that track movement across a maximum 3 x 3 metre area so you can interact and work with virtual objects and characters in a small area.

The HTC VIVE Pro Starter Kit throws in a VIVE Pro headset, two wireless controller handsets and two SteamVR tracking base stations for RM6,099 with availability commencing from November 2018. Buyers who preorder online and in-store from authorised retailers can also get a free 3-month subscription to VIVEPORT VIVE’s app store for VR content.

The HTC VIVE Consumer Edition will be available at major retailers nationwide and HTC’s online partners with RM2,999 netting you the original HTC VIVE headset, two wireless controllers and two SteamVR tracking Base Stations. The first 200 buyers of the HTC VIVE Consumer Edition will get a free 3-month subscription to VIVEPORT. Like the HTC VIVE Pro Starter Kit, the VIVE Consumer Edition will be available in early November.

Needless to say, the VIVE headsets don’t work on their own and you need to chunk out for a sufficiently beefy gaming rig to run it, with a minimum of an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970 or AMD Radeon R9 290 or better, at least an Intel Core i5-4590 or AMD FX 8350 CPU or better and 4GB or more RAM. In Malaysia, ECS ASTAR Sdn Bhd has been designated as the official distributor of the HTC VIVE VR platform. For more details on the HTC VIVE Pro and HTC Vive, swing by www.vive.com/my-en/