Oculus, Microsoft Team Up To Deliver First Version Of Rift With Xbox One Controller, Games

SAN FRANCISCO -- Oculus VR, the virtual reality wing of Facebook, showed off the first version of its Rift headset Thursday morning along with the Oculus Touch, a set of motion-sensor video game controllers. The company also announced a new partnership with Microsoft. The fruit of the partnership: When the Rift headset ships in 2016, buyers will find a wireless Xbox One controller in the the box enabling users to play Xbox One games.

Oculus VR CEO Brendan Iribe offered the details for the first time on the coming headset, which will be the first consumer version of the device. The gadget will be light enough to hold with one hand, will feature 3-D sound, will include adjustable lenses and will be designed to accommodate users with glasses.

"You'll be able to slip on Oculus goggles and transport [yourself] to different worlds," Iribe said. The one concession Iribe made is that the device's screen resolution "is maybe not quite as high-resolution as you [will] one day want."

Palmer Luckey, the company's original founder, also took the stage to show off the Oculus Touch, which are a pair of motion-sensor controllers that gamers will hold in each of their hands to play virtual-reality video games. The Touch will be able to pick up on users' hand gestures but also includes buttons they can use for certain actions. The Touch will ship to developers early next year and will be compatible with the consumer version of the Rift. The company, however, did not give a price for the Touch and the Rift headset.

Oculus VR also used the event to announce a partnership with Microsoft, which will supply wireless Xbox One controllers for the device so that gamers will be able to control the action they see in their virtual-reality goggles. Microsoft's Head of Xbox Phil Spencer also announced that Oculus gamers will be able to stream Xbox One games to their Rift headset.

The Facebook-owned company also announced a variety of games being developed for the Rift that will be released alongside the device next year. Those titles include: "Edge of Nowhere," a first-person shooter; "Chronos," a role-playing game; "VR Sports Challenge"; "Damaged Core" and several others. Oculus VR said that about a dozen developers have signed up to make games for the headset. Among them are: Insomniac Games, Gunfire Games and Carbon Games. Additionally, the company said it is committing $10 million toward helping independent developers accelerate their creation of games for the Oculus Rift headset.

Those games will be available through the Rift's "Home" feature, which is the main screen users will see when they put on their headset. Home will double as a hub where users can see what their friends are doing and where they can buy new games.