After a long and agonizing wait, the second generation of VR is about to begin, led by none other than HTC and Valve.

HTC announced today that its HTC Vive Pro headset will hit store shelves in April. The headset, which will improve comfort and nearly double the resolution over the original model, is being billed as a "professional-grade VR headset" targeted at enthusiasts (like myself) who would rather live in VRChat than real life.

The pricing is a tough topic, though. The HMD will be sold standalone for $799, with controllers and base stations only made available in the base HTC Vive package which will cost $499 going forward. 

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Considering these mandatory peripherals go for $130 and $135 each respectively on second-hand markets, realistically the most affordable way to dive in as a newcomer is to buy both, which totals at $1299 before taxes, and is a downright insane thing to have to do.

Due to the harsh pricing, quite a few gamers who were planning to adopt the second generation of VR are shying away. Below are some examples:

Some have brought up the Samsung HMD Odyssey during discussion, which offers similar specs to the HTC Vive Pro for only $499.

As tough of a sell as it is, the HTC Vive Pro will be by far the most feature-complete VR headset once it releases next month, with a resolution of 2880 x 1600. It's making a big step that will be necessary for VR's long-term growth. It's just a shame that it'll be priced out of reason for 99.9% of people.

The good news is HTC has indicated that it has plans to release a full-sized bundle in the future. When it'll arrive is up to speculation, though.