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[Durante]

Sure, if they make something better than their actual prototype. If they make it open. If they don't have some propietary things...

The main problem here is the "Facebookaton". As far as I'm concerned, people are just overreacting, and in the wrong way.

All I see is good news for Oculus Rift. Those guys came from a hand-made prototype, with limited money, relying on poor smartphone parts... and right now, they have access to the best tech available and have means to product them much, much faster.

They came from the small company against a giant, since Sony introduced their own thing, to a big company with bigger funds.

Also, for the people concerned about Oculus not being aimed at gamers/videogames.... do you care that the TV you're playing on was first and foremost meant to watch TV shows or movies ? Because that's what Oculus Rift is: A peripheral. The main point is the hardware, once you have the hardware, you can done anything you want with it.

It's actually more true for a HMD than for a TV. A TV being primarily built to watch TV without regard for gaming can actually have a negative impact on its suitability for gaming (e.g. input latency). On the other hand, a HMD built for good VR will inherently be good for gaming as well.

As long as Morpheus is locked to PlayStation 4, the little interest I have in it compared to Oculus. While the opportunity is there, it's really only there based on the panic induced hyperbole the Facebook acquisition news has generated. Facebook smashbook: worries are valid, but proof is in the execution and the fact of the matter is we don't know how Facebook will be approaching marketing, usability, and services related to Oculus. If indeed they do retain the philosophy that we've come to expect, and avoid the social network and marketing trappings so many fear, Oculus will be in an even more beneficial position than it already was pre-Facebook acquisition. One I'm not sure Sony can compete with, purely from a marketing standpoint.

Fact of the matter is that the "hardcore" market thrives on open source hardware and software, evolving in iterations at the behest of the manufacturer and/or the customers. Morpheus might be excellent tech, but Sony isn't exactly know for brilliant open source policy towards its customers. As it stands, Morpheus today is just as much of a locked, service/platform restricted device as the Facebook Oculus horror stories. I'm not sure Sony can produce and market a Morpheus device in the way the PC crowd expects while running in parallel to the PlayStation 4 device.

That said, mass market consumption will be the defining market quality of both, and VR is unproven tech in that regard. They've both got an uphill struggle, and just looking at the names quickly on paper I don't think Sony can compete with Facebook.

Yeah, most people seem to think that this aquisition puts Sony in a better competitive position. In my opinion, especially in the short term, that really isn't a given. If Facebook doesn't screw things up royally (and I don't think they will, at least for the first few iterations) Sony just went from competing with a startup to competing with a massive company particularly adept at marketing.

 

[UrbanRats]

Again, if VR takes off like we all hope it does, it won't be a few players game, i think.
The technology isn't so esoteric as to exclude anyone but the absolute specialists.

Asus, Samsung, Apple, Microsoft, Google, Amazon, they are all possibly going to jump into the fray.

In this context i don't think it's safe to assume someone can easily corner the market.

Sony could have a good headstart in terms of gaming software, though.

 

[Dreamgazer]

Reddit Rumors:

http://www.reddit.com/r/oculus/comments/20vzid/massive_information_leak_regarding_sonys_vr/

• The Morpheus will not be PC compatible in the near future. Sony needs to recoup the substantial investments they are making with PS4 VR game sales and get hardware costs down before they consider adding PC support. More importantly, Sony feel there are significant advantages to a walled garden (Apple-like) approach when you are introducing a brand new device to the masses. Thanks to the PS4, Sony controls every aspect of their VR experiences, both the software and hardware and their VR software can target one unified set of specifications. Sony plans to leverage this to deliver truly mind blowing and immersive VR experiences that perform smoothly and consistently.

 

[Seanspeed]

Reddit Rumors:

http://www.reddit.com/r/oculus/comments/20vzid/massive_information_leak_regarding_sonys_vr/

That whole rumor thing was, and is still bullshit.

 

[Triple U]

Sony doesn't have a PC product. The OP is presented as if Sony has said they're interested in a PC product. As far as I know, they've said nothing. So when speculating, we should go on what we have now, not what we want. Bringing Morpheus in its current form seems more likely than an entirely new product just for PC.

The dumb proprietary drivers on my Vaio say otherwise. But that was 4 years ago, so things have probably changed since then.

I don't see how you got that at all. The entire premise of the thread is them possibly targeting PC.

 

[Abounder]

Does Sony even provide PC support for their controllers? If anything I expect a Sony headset to be another gateway into their services like having Music Unlimited instead of MP3 support for the PS4. It would not surprise me if you had to pay a monthly fee to make the most out of it either given their services initiative.

 

[Man]

Sony wants all customers to flock to VR on the PS4. It's much more profitable for them (and lets them keep a focus).

 

[GhostTrick]

It's actually more true for a HMD than for a TV. A TV being primarily built to watch TV without regard for gaming can actually have a negative impact on its suitability for gaming (e.g. input latency). On the other hand, a HMD built for good VR will inherently be good for gaming as well.

Indeed. And the best part with that is that you can't even compromise it by going low res or such, because it would just make VR less appealing.
The way I see it, the only worst thing Facebook could do would be to have you loging in a Oculus Rift game launcher or rebrand the HMD. But in term of experience ? As long as there's 3rd party drivers, Oculus Rift will act as it always has been: A display.

 

[Damigos]

i do not believe facebook will make Oculus Rift "casual".
Either way, now Sony must push even harder to take on the PS4 (and PC?) market

 

[StuBurns]

Yeah, most people seem to think that this aquisition puts Sony in a better competitive position. In my opinion, especially in the short term, that really isn't a given. If Facebook doesn't screw things up royally (and I don't think they will, at least for the first few iterations) Sony just went from competing with a startup to competing with a massive company particularly adept at marketing.

Sony's biggest competitor is Microsoft, I don't think the size of the opponent is really the issue.

Also, Morpheus and the Rift are competing in the sense that they're both after your money, but it's nothing like PS4 versus XBO, they both benefit from each other doing well. If Sony could, they'd have the Xbox division closed, I don't think that's true of Oculus at all.

I think both sides are overestimating this news in regards to Sony, they're not popping champagne, nor are they scared, Oculus have already seeded the indie crowd's desire for VR, the ground work is in-place no matter what happens, and the PC audience aren't going to flood to PS4 because of this, if/when Oculus fuck it up, someone else will replace them.

 

[Durante]

Sony's biggest competitor is Microsoft, I don't think the size of the opponent is really the issue.

Also, Morpheus and the Rift are competing in the sense that they're both after your money, but it's nothing like PS4 versus XBO, they both benefit from each other doing well. If Sony could, they'd have the Xbox division closed, I don't think that's true of Oculus at all.

I think both sides are overestimating this news in regards to Sony, they're not popping champagne, nor are they scared, Oculus have already seeded the indie crowd's desire for VR, the ground work is in-place no matter what happens, and the PC audience aren't going to flood to PS4 because of this, if/when Oculus fuck it up, someone else will replace them.

That seems reasonable enough.

 

[kmax]

I honestly think that Morpheus's going to be an integrated device inside Sony's eco-system. Sony has leverage now, since if you want to be part of the experience they're providing, you're going to have to commit by buying a Sony device. That will further increase their revenues as they so badly need right now.

There's a possibility that they'll expand to PC, but I don't think that they will do that right from the get-go, if at all. I think that if they had plans to roll it out to the PC market, they'd want to let Facebook test the waters first to see how well the market responds.

It's still all early days though.

 

[DeBurgo]

I think it's a little sad how quick people here are to take on the idea of looking towards one huge corporation to "save" them from another.

Not that Oculus was a small fish anymore with its VC backing, or that this acquisition isn't going to confer a number of advantages for them, but at least they were relatively new and exciting, and not just another extension/side-project of one of the half a dozen or so mega tech corporations.

Also, hey, at least the facebook acquisition is weird and interesting. Sony (or MS, who I'm sure is working on one) putting out a headset is like the least surprising thing ever.

 

[TTP]

I think both sides are overestimating this news in regards to Sony, they're not popping champagne, nor are they scared, Oculus have already seeded the indie crowd's desire for VR, the ground work is in-place no matter what happens, and the PC audience aren't going to flood to PS4 because of this, if/when Oculus fuck it up, someone else will replace them.

I think Sony as a whole might not be popping champagne, but Magic Lab is probably going to get more resources and support from Sony executives with regards to VR development.

The way I see it:

Pre-Oculus-Acquisition-Sony executives to Magic Lab = "So you wanna make a VR thing? How cute. Here take some money".

Post-Oculus-Acquisition-Sony executives to Magic Lab = "Shut up and take all the money you need to make the best VR headset you can!!!".

 

[Lionheart]

I don't think Sony will do this for the (imo) obvious reason that although they could release a driver for PC and make sure it uses no proprietary plug, a lot more is needed for it to be a success or supported at all in commercial games. They won't make a dedicated SDK or store front or whatever on PC, because that is where PS4 comes in. That's their ecosystem where they make their money and they don't want to split that ecosystem.

Just opening the device for PC without backing it fully will only make it interesting for home projects and enthusiasts imo. Also, there'll be many more companies that'll try to jump into VR in the coming years, making Sony just one of many.

Only when a company like Valve would make a deal with Sony to add Morpheus support to their SDK, it could be interesting for Sony, but on the other hand, Steam is also a direct competitor, especially with Steam Machines coming out.

Speaking of Valve, if anybody may be unhappy about this news, it might be Valve... I always thought Steam was going to be THE biggest, unofficial client for Oculus Rift, but this news could change everything for them.

 

[LoveCake]

I think once Sony have Morpheus at retail & working on the PS4 they will open it up like MS did with Kinect.

 

[Man]

Sony shares jumped 3% today after Facebook Oculus acquisition.
More because it verifies the incoming VR market I believe.

 

[Setsuna]

I don't think Sony will do this for the (imo) obvious reason that although they could release a driver for PC and make sure it uses no proprietary plug, a lot more is needed for it to be a success or supported at all in commercial games. They won't make a dedicated SDK or store front or whatever on PC, because that is where PS4 comes in. That's their ecosystem where they make their money and they don't want to split that ecosystem.

Just opening the device for PC without backing it fully will only make it interesting for home projects and enthusiasts imo. Also, there'll be many more companies that'll try to jump into VR in the coming years, making Sony just one of many.

Only when a company like Valve would make a deal with Sony to add Morpheus support to their SDK, it could be interesting for Sony, but on the other hand, Steam is also a direct competitor, especially with Steam Machines coming out.

Speaking of Valve, if anybody may be unhappy about this news, it might be Valve... I always thought Steam was going to be THE biggest, unofficial client for Oculus Rift, but this news could change everything for them.

So like oculus rift

 

[Lionheart]

So like oculus rift

Like Oculus Rift now, yes, not yet released to the public, although there already is an SDK and Steam support. Morpheus doesn't have that. And I'm sure Sony wants to monetize on the software and services front as well, not just by selling a couple more devices where they won't make any money on software. Properly supporting a device like Oculus on PC seems like a big investment to me and I don't think Sony will want to take that risk when they've got the PS4.

 

[Monty Mole]

Sony shares jumped 3% today after Facebook Oculus acquisition.
More because it verifies the incoming VR market I believe.

Well, it's theoretically just valued their Morpheus business in the region of $2bn as a result.

 

[Bold One]

OR and Morpheus weren't initially competing but now that OR may have signalled a major change in its target demographic, the door is wide open for Sony to corner the PC VR market.

PC gamers tend to have a hive consciousness, even the most elitist and conceited among them would rather back Sony than Facebook.

 

[Triple U]

As long as Morpheus is locked to PlayStation 4, the little interest I have in it compared to Oculus. While the opportunity is there, it's really only there based on the panic induced hyperbole the Facebook acquisition news has generated. Facebook smashbook: worries are valid, but proof is in the execution and the fact of the matter is we don't know how Facebook will be approaching marketing, usability, and services related to Oculus. If indeed they do retain the philosophy that we've come to expect, and avoid the social network and marketing trappings so many fear, Oculus will be in an even more beneficial position than it already was pre-Facebook acquisition. One I'm not sure Sony can compete with, purely from a marketing standpoint.

Fact of the matter is that the "hardcore" market thrives on open source hardware and software, evolving in iterations at the behest of the manufacturer and/or the customers. Morpheus might be excellent tech, but Sony isn't exactly know for brilliant open source policy towards its customers. As it stands, Morpheus today is just as much of a locked, service/platform restricted device as the Facebook Oculus horror stories. I'm not sure Sony can produce and market a Morpheus device in the way the PC crowd expects while running in parallel to the PlayStation 4 device.

That said, mass market consumption will be the defining market quality of both, and VR is unproven tech in that regard. They've both got an uphill struggle, and just looking at the names quickly on paper I don't think Sony can compete with Facebook.

Can't really say I agree with any of this.

Morpheus isn't even announced to be locked yet, thats the inclination but they have very carefully left the window open for discussion in every question about PC support. The facebook worries are valid. Especially with their(self-admitted) ineptiude to anything hardware. If VR gaming's viability is in doubt, Social VR's has to be doubly so. If the social stuff proves to be a non starter, how much more are they willing to invest in actual hard core gaming?

Right now I can see a huge contradiction in markets. ORs stance on this is that nothing is going to change, FB is going to be the best parent ever, yadda yadda. As of righ tnow FB is a social company in almost every respect. The vast majority of the user base is mainstream, and it maybe is a deterent to high-end PC users. As of right now, Oculus is targeting around a $300 price point. And it requires a significant amount of PC power to support its target resolutions and specs. If the hardcore market gets deterred from FB, who exactly are they supposed to sell this thing too? Who is going to early adopt? Are the farmville people suddenly going to become interested in dropping hundreds of dollars to upgade the PCs that they are buying less and less of? Is oculus going to suddenly going to spark a resurgence of prebuilt gaming PCs? Steam Machines?

I also don't agree with much of anything said about Sony. I don't see the concern for regular iteration. Especially when they have literally $1000 products like the HMZ that they improve every year or other year.

http://www.sony.com.au/product/hmz-t1
http://www.sony.co.uk/electronics/head-mounted-display-products/hmz-t2
http://www.sony.co.uk/electronics/head-mounted-display-products/hmz-t3w
www.itproportal.com/.../ces-2014-a-closer-look-at-sonys-hmz-t3q-vr-headset-an-oculus-rift-rival

Sony is still very much one of the biggest producers of electonics in the world. This kind of investment in a sub $400 product is minor in he scope of their big fish. Meanwhile Facebook is a company with almost zero footprint in any kind of hardware function, yet there's this raging confidence that they can out do Sony in this area? Somebody is going to have to help me understand that.

I also don't understand the strict policy concerns.Especially when since last FEB, we've been literally bombarded with positive feedback of how receptive and open they are to upstart developers developing on their products. Thats supposed to disappear for a theoretical VR headset, that they would theoretically want people to support on PC?

Im just not following.

 

[MaLDo]

If anything I think this hurts Sony because I doubt Oculus could've competed against them much. the rift would've been a niche high-priced device from a small company using "cellphone leftovers" . Now Oculus can give Sony a run for its money hardware-wise and price-wise and you know facebook will give the Rift plenty of advertising and exposure.

.

 

[Dennis]

Sony has no interest whatsoever in the hardcore PC market and I cannot see it happening with this either.

 

[spekkeh]

They won't but I sure hope they make it available for PC too.

I mean, Sony won't allow my hentai tentacle simulator on PS4, and Facebook will post my activities all over my timeline. Spekkeh earned a trophy, sixty forced insertions, twenty people like this, uhm nope.

 

[MaLDo]

Right now, I think the only thing that would make people calm down a bit is that Zuckerberg creates a new company using an alias, with two subsidiaries; WonderTech and WonderSoft. And used the facebook brand only for the social network, decoupling the name of the main company. So facebook would become part of WonderSoft while Oculus will be part of WonderTech.

Because the problem is that now people can not distinguish facebook from "facebook".

 

[Durante]

PC gamers tend to have a hive consciousness, even the most elitist and conceited among them would rather back Sony than Facebook.

What the fuck am I even reading.

 

[Dennis]

What the fuck am I even reading.

I don't know. What does your hivemind tell you?

 

[Moral Panic]

Obviously this comes with changes to what they seemingly have announced so far. PC gamers will expect some semi regular iterations and upgrades. Which I don't think is too much of an issue. The expect open standards, which again Sony is kind of known for. They will expect premium performance and specs, which again its Sony.


Do they stand a chance at making a competitive PC product? Will they?

LOLWHAT

 

[Seanspeed]

They won't but I sure hope they make it available for PC too.

I mean, Sony won't allow my hentai tentacle simulator on PS4, and Facebook will post my activities all over my timeline. Spekkeh earned a trophy, sixty forced insertions, twenty people like this, uhm nope.

lol

But seriously, its very unlikely that gaming on the Rift will have forced Facebook integration. That would kill it very quickly and make their $2 billion purchase worthless in very short order.

 

[Bold One]

What the fuck am I even reading.

no need to be offended, they exist on other platforms as well.

 

[Phreakuency]

If they keep it on the ps4 it has a high potential of being a huge bomb just like every other accessory they have released for their consoles.

If you are talking about the Move and their camera, you are wrong.

Sony never wanted either of these to be mainstream, compatible with every game. They are just options their for games to use.

Anyway, I can see this going the same way as the recent crying for PC ports of big console games.

And just like a lot of those games, if you want the Sony VR headset, go buy the console.

Sony will never make their headset PC compatible. Nor will they ever have any need to.

 

[Setsuna]

Like Oculus Rift now, yes, not yet released to the public, although there already is an SDK and Steam support. Morpheus doesn't have that. And I'm sure Sony wants to monetize on the software and services front as well, not just by selling a couple more devices where they won't make any money on software. Properly supporting a device like Oculus on PC seems like a big investment to me and I don't think Sony will want to take that risk when they've got the PS4.

oculus never had steam support it had valve support with the technologies of the device and that was it

 

[Castef]

...the hardcore PC VR market?

Why would them?

They are out of the PC Business and they want to push their own hardware (i.e. PS4).

I don't think they actually want to make money selling the VR Headset per se, so I can't see a reason they would want to officially support PC gaming with Project Morpheus.

 

[Dahaka]

lol

But seriously, its very unlikely that gaming on the Rift will have forced Facebook integration. That would kill it very quickly and make their $2 billion purchase worthless in very short order.

Kill it due to a mandatory Facebook login? I seriously doubt it. Only in a very very ideal world.

 

[Triple U]

LOLWHAT

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Net_Yaroze
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linux_for_PlayStation_2
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellow_Dog_Linux

http://www.develop-online.net/news/...ring-tools-framework-for-ps4-and-vita/0190622

http://www.computerweekly.com/blogs...work-woos-developers-to-playstation-land.html

http://developer.sonymobile.com/knowledge-base/sdks/playstation-mobile-sdk/

Thats like one google page of results. Sony utilizes more open standards and open software than almost any non-agnostic platform holder.

Why would them?

They are out of the PC Business and they want to push their own hardware (i.e. PS4).

I don't think they actually want to make money selling the VR Headset per se, so I can't see a reason they would want to officially support PC gaming with Project Morpheus.

I don't think they wanted to try and compete with OR in the hardcore market. This could be an opening...

 

[orochi91]

Nah, I see OC doing bigger things faster with that Facebook money. Gamers will float the Rift through the next few years until a mass market "Facebook" crowd jumps on it, spurred on by some craze. Sports viewing, virtual tours, whatever... Maybe folks will have scene scanning cameras that can take a scene and turn it into a 3D Rift file. Or 360 degree attachment for their phones so when you play back a video you can look all around as if you were there. Who knows?

I can't see this level of adoption happening unless OR is dirt cheap, which inevitably impacts specs quality for the mass market unit. Though I suppose they my have high end models for hardcore enthusiasts

 

[LAA]

If Sony support morpheus on PC, they can consider it bought from me.
I ddon't see the cons from not making it PC, someone else will if they don't and people will buy it for PC, so they're attracting people who don't even own a PS4.
You say if they keep it locked to PS4 they will be more likely to buy a PS4. I don't see that. If you have a capable PC, and (if they are this price (heard $200 said a lot), it's either $200 for PC or $600 to get PS4 & Morpheus. Who would choose PS4 for VR. Especially when it's pretty obvious PC will offer a ton of wacky awesome VR apps, what better way to get people talking about VR than letting them try out a lot of VR stuff. Sony have an advantage if they support PC. They can say you can use it on PS4 AND PC, and they'd probably not add support for OR, It'd be the only VR capable of being used on multiple platforms.
Really hope they support PC...

 

[Lionheart]

oculus never had steam support it had valve support with the technologies of the device and that was it

My bad, I thought some support for it was in the Steam SDKs already. Still, Valve support is a huge boon and I don't think Sony would go as far as Oculus in working together with them to get the same support.

 

[Wiktor]

PC gamers tend to have a hive consciousness, even the most elitist and conceited among them would rather back Sony than Facebook.

Why? From this perspective Sony is an enemy (console company), while Facebook is inside pcgames market, so it;s an ally.

 

[mclem]

If they keep it on the ps4 it has a high potential of being a huge bomb just like every other accessory they have released for their consoles.

Not quite every.

 

[stonesak]

If Sony sees the future of Playstation as a service, not a platform, I don't see why they'd lock Morpheus to only the PS4, at least not long term.

 

[CadetMahoney]

Sony has no interest whatsoever in the hardcore PC market.

Pretty much, Sony just shot themselves in the foot.

 

[Agent Gibbs]

i certainly think they should and probably will, nobody expect the PS4 (8gb DDR5, that price point etc) so perhaps with Morphius they are gonna go down the rabbit hole and make a product that works for PC, but also PS4....right now the facebook news and OR is not good, Sony from a business stand point could and should capitalise on this by making it a multi device compatible VR unit

 

[StuBurns]

I think Sony as a whole might not be popping champagne, but Magic Lab is probably going to get more resources and support from Sony executives with regards to VR development.

The way I see it:

Pre-Oculus-Acquisition-Sony executives to Magic Lab = "So you wanna make a VR thing? How cute. Here take some money".

Post-Oculus-Acquisition-Sony executives to Magic Lab = "Shut up and take all the money you need to make the best VR headset you can!!!".

VR always had more long term mainstream applications than the traditional PlayStation use cases, and I'm sure Sony would have known that, but in terms of right now, Morpheus (and the Rift) are too power hungry to be used with web-based computing.

I think Morpheus 1 and CV1 will be no different than they would have been yesterday. Sony HQ will certainly be looking at long term uses, and FB will integrate Oculus into Facebook, regardless of what Palmer Luckey may claim, but they both need to wait, because until TVs and cell phones have the local compute performance for VR, both devices will remain video game accessories.

I think FB bought Oculus because they're a year away from seeding the core VR audience, and they'll be worth a lot more after that, not because they're useful to them right now.

 

[EGM1966]

They have a chance, sure. Whether they take it - or are interested in taking it - is another matter.

I've always felt Sony has missed a trick in terms of better support for PC for its peripherals and failing to target PC gamers with the idea a PC/PS4 is the way to go for access to broadest range of games.

 

[Phreakuency]

Pretty much, Sony just shot themselves in the foot.

How so?

If anything, this just creates more PS4 console sales for people wanting their VR.

Not to mention, within a day of announcing their hardware, they already had more big names attached than Oculus.

This whole theme seems to be more about people being upset that if Oculus now does nothing for PC gaming, they'll be without, rather than giving a shit about Sony. Kind of how people keep whinging for Nintendo to make their games on other platforms.

 

[Henrar]

What? The PS4 is Morpheus's main platform. Those iterations will be far and few in-between. Also, open standards and Sony in the same sentence? They are the Kings of proprietary hardware and software. Goddammit, the OG Vita has a proprietary charging port and the PS4 camera is a proprietary USB port!

But then again, Sony could always insert themselves into the PC market if they chose to do so. We don't know right now. Just like we don't know what Facebook will do to OR.

On the other hand, their TVs and Xperia's are open. In terms of smartphones, very open to developers and such.
Vita is the last product I know to use priopietary memory cards and connectors.

 

[StuBurns]

On the other hand, their TVs and Xperia's are open. In terms of smartphones, very open to developers and such.
Vita is the last product I know to use priopietary memory cards and connectors.

PS4 has a proprietary connector, it's for the camera, so you can't use it on a PC, and the camera was designed with Morpheus in mind...

What does it all mean???

 

[Bold One]

Why? From this perspective Sony is an enemy (console company), while Facebook is inside pcgames market, so it;s an ally.

apples and oranges mate,

before the acquisition Morpheus and Rift were targeting 2 sectors of the same market.

one went after the PC lot the other consoles however both held a primary focus on core gaming, this 'may' no longer be the case for rift, at 2 billion dollars you better believe they are beholden to their new masters.