Oculus VR's trumpeting of the Oculus Rift's upcoming pre-order date seems a little premature for excitement, but it could mean virtual reality fans have headsets in hand in less than a month.

While this may seem speculative, it's based on a discussion with Oculus Vice President of Product Nate Mitchell that came during the company's last developer-focused conference, held in Los Angeles in September. I asked Mitchell why, with a captive audience of VR's earliest adopters at the ready, Oculus had not yet announced a pre-order date or price for the final Rift Consumer headset, which had been making the rounds since June.

"There's no rush to take pre-orders. We don't need your money right now. It doesn't benefit us, and it doesn't benefit you either," he said. "I'm a guy who thinks about user experience all day long. Apple has nailed the consumer hardware launch experience. They announce it. You preorder it the next week. They ship it to you the week after or within a 2-4 week window, and you're like, 'Yay yay yay!'

"If we announce pre-orders today and we don't ship until January 1st, it's still a long time. A long time we're holding your money, a lot of consumer expectation, a lot of waiting. We're in no rush. We're really about making it a great experience."

Mitchell's words can't be held as gospel; there are a lot of moving pieces in the manufacturing process, and he probably doesn't have final say. But as a long-time member of the Oculus team, his thoughts could explain the virtual reality company's direction when taking pre-orders. They may also point to the fact that the previously-announced Oculus Ready program, in which PCs from different manufacturers will be sold as ready to handle the headsets demanding specs, may roll out at the same time.

"Another thing was we wanted the Oculus Ready program in full swing, so you could say 'I want a Rift. I want a PC. I want them together.' This is all stuff we're pulling together to make VR more successful," he added.

Sadly, Mitchell's thoughts don't extend to speculating about how much the consumer headset will cost. The company will announce that, along with the delivery date, on Wednesday at 11 a.m. ET.