Oculus Rift decision to demo and sell in select Best Buy store receives flak following delayed preorders

Oculus Rift preorders are still experiencing some slight, despite the company’s goal of rolling out as many devices as possible. Earlier in April, there has been a lot of talk about the Oculus Rift shipment being delayed for up to months compared to the estimated delivery date.

However, in a new turn of events, Oculus is now setting up shop in select Best Buy branches as part of The Intel Experience.

The company announced that the VR headset will be launched at 48 select Best Buy stores come May 7. Come summer, there will be more in-store Oculus Rift demos in more Best Buy locations, as per the official blog announcement.

It seems that this is the company’s way of introducing the VR experience to those who have yet to try it out. Some of the immersive VR experiences offered during the retail visit include Oculus “Dreamdeck,” “The Climb” and even alien worlds in “Farlands.”

Here’s where it gets odder, especially for those who have not yet received their promised VR headsets. There will be a few Rift headsets available at the select Best Buy stores. Additionally, Oculus is already making the headset available via Microsoft and Amazon online stores from May 6 at 9:00 a.m. PST.

It seems that the company is not completely forgetting its early adopters. This merely is away for them to demo the Oculus Rift as well as have a chance to buy it through retail instead.

“We know that many preorder customers are still waiting for their Rifts, so we’re offering those customers a chance to purchase Rift from retails instead—while keeping their preorder benefits like the “EVE: Valkyrie” Founder’s Pack and priority status for Touch preorders,” said the company on the blog.

If customers do plan getting their Rift devices in the Best Buy stores, the will need to cancel their order status online, while the other benefits will remain in the order history.

Obviously, fans are not taking this too well. The comments alone show that early adopters are disappointed with the way Oculus Rift decided to roll out the device when there are still preorders left unfulfilled.

Over at Reddit, an official posting had been met with the same resistance from fans, several of whom are disappointed at how the preorders are being handled. It does not help that, when asked if the 48 participating stores will actually carry the Oculus Rift headsets, it seems that there are no specific numbers of Oculus Rift units.

One Reddit poster cowsareverywhere had supposedly called a nearby Best Buy and had received word that there will be four Oculus Rift units on May 7. While this has not been confirmed, the limited number does mean that the preorder is still a safe route to go. This is especially so with the lack of assurance that one can get a unit at the participating stores.

"The Climb" for Oculus Rift (Credit: YouTube/Oculus)