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[Wasdie]

They are. The promise of Oculus was for many people the fact that it was a privately owned company.

Everybody who thought Oculus was going to stay a private company was fooling themselves.

They would have been building the CV1 on leftover parts from the mobile market, at a higher price point, and with a minimal profit margin. The chances of the Rift actually growing into something large and profitable were slim. The prospects of VR for video gaming are huge and most people chose to ignore the possibilities of failure just because we're so optimistic about the tech. If anything the Rift would have opened the VR doors, reduced the risk of other products entering the market, then would have been either bought up by another company or just beaten out of the market by superior products from companies that have far more invested into hardware manufacturing.

There was practically no scenario where Oculus was going to stay independent.

 

[Seanspeed]

so they did not want the console makers to buy them but was happy to sale to facebook.

its business and they wanted to get bought out ay a big company and there is no way on earth they would have gone with facebook instead of Sony or Microsoft (if either made the same offer).

I think you greatly underestimate how much having an open platform means to them.

With Oculus, its really not 'just business'.

 

[moggio]

Are you serious?

Him and his mates are a bit shady.

I wouldn't trust them with information and power.

 

[TeddyShardik]

NOOO!

The one true reason for VR taken away just like that...

 

[fade_]

I think you greatly underestimate how much having an open platform means to them.

With Oculus, its really not 'just business'.

I'm pretty sure Oculus will stay an open platform but I think they will entice alot of developers to use their program to interact with it. Same as PC is an open platform but there are games exclusive only to Origin or Steam.

 

[Wasdie]

so they did not want the console makers to buy them but was happy to sale to facebook.

its business and they wanted to get bought out ay a big company and there is no way on earth they would have gone with facebook instead of Sony or Microsoft (if either made the same offer).

Facebook is really platform neutral. They won't put up any real barriers to what platforms can run the Rift considering that it's in their best interest to maximize the potential market. Not really the same if one of the major gaming companies picks them up.

A non-gaming company and platform independent company like Amazon or Google would always have been ideal, but even they have closed platforms that they support. An industry neutral company like Facebook is probably better off for wide spread support than any of the other companies I mentioned. Of course with Facebook comes the uncertainty of how they are going to turn this investment into a profitable venture. The short term looks like nothing will drastically change except the quality of the product should increase, but the long term is anyone's guess at this point.

 

[amdnv]

Ok, I'm very down on this whole thing, but I think you're overstating it. The initial product at the very least will still be a normal PC accessory with a normal API. Nothing will prevent a Steam game or any other program from using it. Totally without Facebook.

I'm surprised that you are so shortsighted. A corporation like Facebook buying Oculus means that the product will be very, VERY different from what everybody is anticipating.

Facebook has boarded the Oculus ship, and it will pull the rudder so hard that the new destination harbor won't even be on the same continent as the old one.

 

[Seanspeed]

Hi Seanspeed,

Understood, and valid point. However, patents can't walk away from a company if they no longer like it's policies, direction, culture, or leadership. People can.

True. It definitely is a good question and I suppose we'll learn more as things go on.

The Oculus Rift and VR has caught the attention of the mainstream media now...
The VR Boom is about to begin!

NBC News: http://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/what-you-need-know-facebook-buys-oculus-vr-n62576
BBC News: http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-26745044
ABC News: http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/oculus-rift-gaming-headset-facebook-bought/story?id=23065367

http://money.cnn.com/2014/03/25/technology/facebook-oculus/index.html?iid=HP_LN&hpt=hp_bn2

 

[MisterAnderson]

Question: Does this limit the availability and ability for Devs to implement Oculus Support?

 

[Stet]

Yeah, he is not sitting on tons of oil. Lucky him!

I don't want Facebook to be a player in the gaming industry. I'm not going to support them.

You don't want Facebook to be a player in YOUR gaming industry. Facebook already is a gaming platform. Sorry!

 

[Sinecat]

Going to re-post my thoughts from last night since they got buried by more over-reactions:

Here is what is going to happen with Oculus.

They are going to release the consumer version of the Rift like they normally would have but in a better time frame than we all expected. The tools will be available for all developers to make VR content or incorporate VR into their current games. So if they devs behind games like the Witcher 3, Mass Effect, Star Citizen want OR support they can build it in no problem.

The new piece that comes in, and this is where being backed by Facebook will help, is that Oculus will release a platform similar to Steam or the Apple App store where VR specific content can be published and sold. This is different from your traditional PC games because these games/apps/experiences will only support VR. So stuff like the roller coaster demo, the underwater demo, a concert app, a museum app, all of that will go on here and if desired can be sold to users. Facebook provides the infrastructure and social media hook ins and they get a share of every app sold on this platform.

That is the future for Oculus and I see this deal as a means for them to get there sooner.

This is exactly what I imagine will happen.. which is still bad. Say goodbye to Oculus porn. Say goodbye to anything Facebook doesn't approve. And say hello to sharing everything you virtually do with all your Facebook buddies.

I was excited at the freedom Oculus Rift provided. Anyone could make a storefront for it. Anyone can make whatever app for it. But now... it's Facebook VR games section.

 

[Cromat]

Given time, he could be.

Yeah, he is not sitting on tons of oil. Lucky him!

I don't want Facebook to be a player in the gaming industry. I'm not going to support them.

Is there anything here except an irrational hatred? What are your grievances?

 

[KingGreasy]

I would have wanted a purely hardware based company to buy it. Yes the hardware would be sold at a higher margin, but it would usually at least mean I wouldn't have to deal with any kind of random software the company would load on to make money. It shold have just been like a monitor. Facebook is social media and software. Sooner or later it'll become a platform to move their product. They can fork Android use their already existing app store and Amazon this thing.

I wanted Oculus to be pretty much a monitor. Not a platform to sell software. Maybe early iterations of Oculus will be that and I'm definitely still open to buying one if it is, but sooner or later Facebook will have to start making money on it, and they'll probably stick to what they're better at. Use the Oculus like Amazon uses the Kindle Fire. Low margin hardware to get people to use their digital goods. Instagram is going to have to make money someday. Sooner or later WhatsApp will have to make a ton more money than what have been pulling in lately to justify a 19 billion purchase.

I'm optomistic that Oculus will still be a good thing for a few years yet I'm not so hopeful for when Facebook decides it's time to monetize it further through their own software and interface. Honestly I was hoping the interface of Oculus would just come down to tv/monitor video settings - brightness, contrast, color, yada yada yada - and anything else would be some software that you ran off from a desktop/laptop/phone/tablet.

 

[-COOLIO-]

I don't want Facebook to be a player in the gaming industry. I'm not going to support them.

out of curiosity. why?

if they made a kick ass vr headset and games you wanted to play with vr supported it. why not?

 

[Cromat]

It's not hatred to say 'No'.

But you need reasons to dislike something. Acting without reasons is, by definition, irrational.

 

[Bsigg12]

Yeah, he is not sitting on tons of oil. Lucky him!

I don't want Facebook to be a player in the gaming industry. I'm not going to support them.

They already are? There is a reason social games exploded, Facebook made them easier than ever to access at a place where everyone was visiting already.

 

[.GqueB.]

I think there are some devs and consumers out there who wouldn't have bought in on this second batch of dev kits if they'd known about this, kneejerk reaction or not.

It's given me pause.

I planned on breaking into the MoMa and stealing a great work of art. This would've happened around 5am... the perfect time. Everyone is on their way home and this is typically when shift changes occur. Once I stole the piece, I would've seduced a beautiful woman on 6th ave. She'd be wasted so it'd be really easy to accomplish. I'd use her ride to transport the art.

We'd go out for brunch.

I'd take her to Lobo in park slope and order the french toast. I'd eat, I'd be filled, I'd fall "ill" so I'd have to return to her place on the lower east side. I'd say hi to her roommate and then retire to the bathroom to throw up but I'm not throwing up, I'm climbing out the window to stash the piece of art. I hide it in that little park on 7th ave where no one would suspect. I return and we make love.

The next week I introduce her to my friends and we all watch the Princess Bride together. Many of us haven't seen this film so it ends up being a fun night. I get her drunk again and we stumble back to her place to make love. I also use this opportunity to check on the artwork, which is still there.

A couple of months pass by and things are getting serious and we decide to take a trip to Costa Rica. Halfway into the trip, we hike up to the waterfall that always shows a bright blue... but it's raining that day and the color has changed. I tell her that since meeting her, all of the blue in my life has faded away. There is no sadness, there is no pain. I propose but she gets bitten by a coral snake. I try to carry her back but I can't.

She dies in my arms.

I return to her apt to gather my things. I return to the park where I hid my artwork and I find her standing there. Alive and well. We both smile because we both know.

She was the art I stole. She's a performance artist and that's where I stashed her. The woman I proposed to was her twin sister (her roommate) whom she always hated.

I planned on going to E3 and presenting this story as an exclusive experience on the Oculus Rift. It was going to be a first person heist sim.

Not doing that anymore.

 

[Seanspeed]

Question: Does this limit the availability and ability for Devs to implement Oculus Support?

I tell you what - if it does, we are going to hear about it very quickly.

I wouldn't suspect it'll change much, if anything. Not in the short-term.

 

[Miguel81]

out of curiosity. why?

if they made a kick ass vr headset and games you wanted to play with vr supported it. why not?

He probably fears the unwashed masses(casual facebook gamers) coming into the fold.

 

[-COOLIO-]

Question: Does this limit the availability and ability for Devs to implement Oculus Support?

this would be something to actually complain about.

but thus far, nope. all signs point to more dev support in the long run.

 

[Netherscourge]

FARMVILLE - VR EDITION!!!!

 

[Stet]

It's given me pause.

I planned on breaking into the MoMa and stealing a great work of art. This would've happened around 5am... the perfect time. Everyone is on their way home and this is typically when shift changes occur. Once I stole the piece, I would've seduced a beautiful woman on 6th ave. She'd be wasted so it'd be really easy to accomplish. I'd use her ride to transport the art.

We'd go out for brunch.

I'd take her to Lobo in park slope and order the french toast. I'd eat, I'd be filled, I'd fall "ill" so I'd have to return to her place on the lower east side. I'd say hi to her roommate and then retire to the bathroom to throw up but I'm not throwing up, I'm climbing out the window to stash the piece of art. I hide it in that little park on 7th ave where no one would suspect. I return and we make love.

The next week I introduce her to my friends and we all watch the Princess Bride together. Many of us haven't seen this film so it ends up being a fun night. I get her drunk again and we stumble back to her place to make love. I also use this opportunity to check on the artwork, which is still there.

A couple of months pass by and things are getting serious and we decide to take a trip to Costa Rica. Halfway into the trip, we hike up to the waterfall that always shows a bright blue... but it's raining that day and the color has changed. I tell her that since meeting her, all of the blue in my life has faded away. There is no sadness, there is no pain. I propose but she gets bitten by a coral snake. I try to carry her back but I can't.

She dies in my arms.

I return to her apt to gather my things. I return to the park where I hid my artwork and I find her standing there. Alive and well. We both smile because we both know.

She was the art I stole. She's a performance artist and that's where I stashed her. The woman I proposed to was her twin sister (her roommate) whom she always hated.

I planned on going to E3 and presenting this story as an exclusive experience on the Oculus Rift. It was going to be a first person heist sim.

Not doing that anymore.

Thank god for that.

 

[SaberEdge]

Oculus is a HMD. Morpheus is a HMD. I'm not sure what people think they're saying when they tell people they're different.

Also, Sony's HMZ is about two to three times as expensive a device as something like oculus is destined to be.

VR headsets can technically be considered HMDs, but simple HMDs/personal viewers are not VR headsets. It's similar to the way that you can say "a crow is a bird", but can't factually say "a bird is a crow".

VR headsets are distinctly different from personal viewers like Sony's HMZ line in many critical areas: very wide vertical and horizontal FOV, the nature of the optics and how the image is processed in software, the ultra low latency head tracking, the display attributes and how the display is driven (e.g. pixel response and low persistence), positional tracking, etc.

To try to equate the two is disingenuous.

 

[Cyriades]

So what? He's not Saddam Hussein

Did I miss something? Why are Facebook villains while Sony/Microsoft/Google/Apple are not?

This is true.

All of them are Mega Corporations and want one thing at the end of the day $

 

[syko de4d]

Question: Does this limit the availability and ability for Devs to implement Oculus Support?

Why? In what way could Facebook limit it? They dont own a Platform they could walled garden Oculus behind. Google, Apple, Microsoft, Sony and even Valve have such a Platform.

 

[Ganondolf]

I think you greatly underestimate how much having an open platform means to them.

With Oculus, its really not 'just business'.

well they sold up for $2b. now its up to facebook what happens. also facebook will struggle to sale hardware (remember the htc facebook phone).

 

[Clevinger]

NOOO!

the real tragedy in all this

 

[ironcreed]

The Oculus Rift and VR has caught the attention of the mainstream media now...
The VR Boom is about to begin!

NBC News: http://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/what-you-need-know-facebook-buys-oculus-vr-n62576
BBC News: http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-26745044
ABC News: http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/oculus-rift-gaming-headset-facebook-bought/story?id=23065367

This is precisely why it was bought. They see it as a trendy new avenue of mainstream marketing for Facebook. Underneath everything else they will be allowed to do, this is the end game. And there are 2 billion reasons to prove it.

 

[Danthrax]

Why did most people melt down in this thread?

A) Facebook isn't the devil. Have we forgotten MySpace so soon?

B) With more financial backing, Oculus Rift will be able to produce better units at a lower cost and a faster pace.

This announcement seems like a really OK thing to me. Only thing that would spoil it is if Facebook makes ads pop up while I'm in the middle of a mission in Star Citizen. But I'm sure they wouldn't do that to me.

I'm sure...

 

[Sinecat]

out of curiosity. why?

if they made a kick ass vr headset and games you wanted to play with vr supported it. why not?

Don't know his reason, but in my opinion I am not supporting them because they allow garbage like Farmville to exist, which is designed to spread like a virus through their platform. They also haven't contributed anything remotely GOOD to gaming (IMO). Your question is very weird too because it can be asked regarding any company. Like imagine Comcast bought Oculus. Your question would apply, but its a huge fucking IF.

 

[bj00rn_]

"I can't wait to start working with the whole team at Oculus" - Mark Zuckerberg

https://www.facebook.com/zuck/posts/10101319050523971

Oh dear god..

 

[Atomski]

Don't know his reason, but in my opinion I am not supporting them because they allow garbage like Farmville to exist, which is designed to spread like a virus through their platform. They also haven't contributed anything remotely GOOD to gaming (IMO). Your question is very weird too because it can be asked regarding any company. Like imagine Comcast bought Oculus. Your question would apply, but its a huge fucking IF.

You do realize farmville was not created by facebook right? Zynga just took advantage of how Facebook worked..

 

[TyrantGuardian]

Everybody who thought Oculus was going to stay a private company was fooling themselves.

They would have been building the CV1 on leftover parts from the mobile market, at a higher price point, and with a minimal profit margin. The chances of the Rift actually growing into something large and profitable were slim. The prospects of VR for video gaming are huge and most people chose to ignore the possibilities of failure just because we're so optimistic about the tech. If anything the Rift would have opened the VR doors, reduced the risk of other products entering the market, then would have been either bought up by another company or just beaten out of the market by superior products from companies that have far more invested into hardware manufacturing.

There was practically no scenario where Oculus was going to stay independent.

You are probably correct, but it still leaves a sour taste in people's mouths, whether it was a realistic hope or not.

 

[Stet]

Don't know his reason, but in my opinion I am not supporting them because they allow garbage like Farmville to exist, which is designed to spread like a virus through their platform. They also haven't contributed anything remotely GOOD to gaming (IMO). Your question is very weird too because it can be asked regarding any company. Like imagine Comcast bought Oculus. Your question would apply, but its a huge fucking IF.

Gaming doesn't belong to you. You don't control where it goes or how it proliferates. Farmville brings a lot of people joy even if you hate it, and its success has led to other successes that more conventional gamers do enjoy, like The Simpsons Tapped Out, and so on.

This is selfishness, pure and simple, and it's incredibly shortsighted to think that it will only ever exist in the avenues that already currently exist.

 

[atr0cious]

It's given me pause.

I planned on breaking into the MoMa and stealing a great work of art. This would've happened around 5am... the perfect time. Everyone is on their way home and this is typically when shift changes occur. Once I stole the piece, I would've seduced a beautiful woman on 6th ave. She'd be wasted so it'd be really easy to accomplish. I'd use her ride to transport the art.

We'd go out for brunch.

I'd take her to Lobo in park slope and order the french toast. I'd eat, I'd be filled, I'd fall "ill" so I'd have to return to her place on the lower east side. I'd say hi to her roommate and then retire to the bathroom to throw up but I'm not throwing up, I'm climbing out the window to stash the piece of art. I hide it in that little park on 7th ave where no one would suspect. I return and we make love.

The next week I introduce her to my friends and we all watch the Princess Bride together. Many of us haven't seen this film so it ends up being a fun night. I get her drunk again and we stumble back to her place to make love. I also use this opportunity to check on the artwork, which is still there.

A couple of months pass by and things are getting serious and we decide to take a trip to Costa Rica. Halfway into the trip, we hike up to the waterfall that always shows a bright blue... but it's raining that day and the color has changed. I tell her that since meeting her, all of the blue in my life has faded away. There is no sadness, there is no pain. I propose but she gets bitten by a coral snake. I try to carry her back but I can't.

She dies in my arms.

I return to her apt to gather my things. I return to the park where I hid my artwork and I find her standing there. Alive and well. We both smile because we both know.

She was the art I stole. She's a performance artist and that's where I stashed her. The woman I proposed to was her twin sister (her roommate) whom she always hated.

I planned on going to E3 and presenting this story as an exclusive experience on the Oculus Rift. It was going to be a first person heist sim.

Not doing that anymore.

Lol come on man, not like this.

 

[Liquidsnake]

I thought Sony or MS would buy it. I guess I was wrong.

 

[KHarvey16]

"I can't wait to start working with the whole team at Oculus" - Mark Zuckerberg

https://www.facebook.com/zuck/posts/10101319050523971

Oh dear god..

He said:

Immersive gaming will be the first, and Oculus already has big plans here that won't be changing and we hope to accelerate. The Rift is highly anticipated by the gaming community, and there's a lot of interest from developers in building for this platform. We're going to focus on helping Oculus build out their product and develop partnerships to support more games. Oculus will continue operating independently within Facebook to achieve this.

 

[GuessMyUserName]

Oh no, what is Microsoft doing making a console? Nothing Microsoft has done is useful for a game console. All their browsers and software have nothing in common with the products and hardware that Sony and Nintendo offers. Such a weird place for Microsoft to go.

- said some Gaffer in 2001

What? How could anybody say that Microsoft has had nothing to do with gaming pre-2001?

You ARE talking about the company that had and still has the only viable platform for PC gaming, yeah?

 

[JetBlackPanda]

I hate the idea of oculus being a platform with its own store front.

 

[cjp]

NSFW.

Spoiler

http://i.imgur.com/qtHNZ35.png

 

[Hatten]

Interesting: some biz guys ran the numbers and came to the conclusion that if you backed the original crowdfunding for oculus your "investment" is worth about $20k now

Maybe you can get that on facebook gift cards

 

[.GqueB.]

Lol come on man, not like this.

That post is full of great tips by the way. Lobo is amazing. And that waterfall in Costa Rica is quite beautiful. And so is that park on 7th (there's actual artwork there).

 

[Hari Seldon]

This is exactly what I imagine will happen.. which is still bad. Say goodbye to Oculus porn. Say goodbye to anything Facebook doesn't approve. And say hello to sharing everything you virtually do with all your Facebook buddies.

I was excited at the freedom Oculus Rift provided. Anyone could make a storefront for it. Anyone can make whatever app for it. But now... it's Facebook VR games section.

Yeah it is a doomsday scenario if this device is tied to a fucking locked in app store.

 

[Dreams-Visions]

Everybody who thought Oculus was going to stay a private company was fooling themselves.

They would have been building the CV1 on leftover parts from the mobile market, at a higher price point, and with a minimal profit margin. The chances of the Rift actually growing into something large and profitable were slim. The prospects of VR for video gaming are huge and most people chose to ignore the possibilities of failure just because we're so optimistic about the tech. If anything the Rift would have opened the VR doors, reduced the risk of other products entering the market, then would have been either bought up by another company or just beaten out of the market by superior products from companies that have far more invested into hardware manufacturing.

There was practically no scenario where Oculus was going to stay independent.

Yep. The concern here is *who* bought them and why, rare than the fact that they were bought. Facebook seems to be the most "out of left field" buyer anyone could have imagined.

Also, get out of System Wars and post here more. Less mentally ill people.

 

[Tuxmascot]

NSFW.

Spoiler

http://i.imgur.com/qtHNZ35.png

The scary thing is that I can definitely see something like that a plausible thing in the future. Where FB has games that reward the player from buying real world items and scanning them in the game.

 

[Bold One]

They'll complement each other. hehehe

could Levar actually see through those?

 

[Netherscourge]

Would have been cool if Google bought it and incorporated it into it's Google Glass lineup (or Android Wear).

 

[Phades]

Get a robot to do it.

You can put a robot camera in the seat and have it follow the action.

Add a microphone for the classroom.

Add a speaker for the doctor.

I doubt this will ever happen, though.

Won't work, because then you would have thousands to tens of thousands (or more) of remote presence devices blocking each other at every possible instance.

In the instance of a sporting event, the only way it would work is if arenas stop being seated arenas and become motion capture studios effectively with cameras filling the walls, ceiling, and floor of the building. For everything else listed, that's a fairy tale as well and wouldn't work without giving up every sense of privacy imaginable.

 

[Sinecat]

Gaming doesn't belong to you. You don't control where it goes or how it proliferates. Farmville brings a lot of people joy even if you hate it, and its success has led to other successes that more conventional gamers do enjoy, like The Simpsons Tapped Out, and so on.

This is selfishness, pure and simple, and it's incredibly shortsighted to think that it will only ever exist in the avenues that already currently exist.

Gaming belongs to everyone. Everyone IS entitled to an opinion. How is this selfishness? You probably dislike somethings others like.

 

[Bsigg12]

He said:

It's funny because Zuckerburg and Palmer can explain all they want about what is coming and people will say it's the death of Oculus.