Oculus Rift is a virtual-reality head-mounted display that's getting a ton of buzz.

It has been endorsed by smart developers like John Carmack (Doom) and Gabe Newell of Valve. Its Kickstarter drive has been more than funded, with over $1.6 million in pledges, the overwhelming majority of which has come from backers putting up $300 to get their own headset and development kit.

And the makers of Oculus Rift say they would rather you not buy one.

"We don't want to go to $5 or $10 million because consumers are getting developers' kits.""We're hoping to get more backers, Oculus founder Palmer Luckey told Wired, "as long as they're the kind that we've been targeting all along."

By this, he means Oculus would rather that only game developers purchase the headset through the Kickstarter campaign.

"We don't want [the crowdfunding] to go to $5 or $10 million because consumers are getting in on these developers' kits," he said.

Rift is a head-mounted display unit for PCs. Those who have tried it, some in demonstration sessions set up by Carmack with a customized version of Doom 3, say that it is remarkably immersive. Its 110-degree field of view and its low-latency head tracking function, they say, make it worlds better than any other VR headset that has been tried.

The problem is, Rift isn't ready yet. The development kit being sold via Kickstarter features a screen of significantly lower resolution than the final version's. Oculus also aims to reduce the weight of the head-mounted display unit before shipping the consumer-ready product. And as of now, Rift only supports Doom 3.

"We really do think that the consumer version of the Rift is going to be far and away ... a whole other level in terms of latency and comfort," says Oculus vice president Nate Mitchell.

Nearly 5,000 Rift development kits have been sold so far, with two weeks left in the Kickstarter drive.

Unlike the $99 Android-based game console Ouya, Oculus isn't using Kickstarter as way to pre-sell units to early adopters. Instead, it hopes to build hype for the product while reaching out to developers, allowing them to make PC games compatible with Rift in time for its launch.

Luckey says he's trying to walk a fine line when it comes to promoting the crowdfunding drive.

Hyping it too much, he says, will cause consumers with cash on hand to give in and buy the prototype developer kit. Then again, he does want consumers to get excited and spread the word, asking their favorite developers to support Rift.

"If we don't have that community aspect, a lot less happens," says Luckey.

Oculus, it seems, is having no trouble keeping developers interested in Rift. In the Kickstarter video, Valve's president Gabe Newell calls it "incredibly exciting." Gears of War series director Cliff Bleszinski says he's "a believer."

As for gamers who want to support Oculus with money, the company encourages them to purchase T-shirts and signed posters at the lower tiers of Kickstarter rewards.

As of press time, these rewards accounted for less than $30,000 of the $1.6 million.