Positives of Facebook entering into VR race:
Oh my, this isn't a very well thought out list, and downright dishonest in some places.
- Oculus now has infinite budget to craft perfect hardware, software and entire VR platform for PC and portables
Occulus never had an issue with their budget, apart from the Kickstarter to get the project rolling. In fact, they recently acquired some US$75m in capital funding, which is enough to bring them through to the consumer model hitting the market. The difference, of course, is that OR is no longer in charge of itself, and now must answer to the board of directors of Facebook, who will want a sizable return on their US$2b investment. This means producing a product that will sell to their projected "billions of people". A lower cost unit is going to be the end game for OR now.
- Countless more developers will become interested in VR, short byte-size games will find much larger audience on VR
An unfounded assumption that runs directly opposed to the niche market that VR is already appealing to and creating. Due to the more technical nature of presentation required to produce quality VR experiences - seriously, the smartest people in video games are still having issues getting it working - developer interest will not necessary translate directly into more, or better, experiences. What it will do, however, is front-load shovel ware onto the platform, killing its credibility. I've already likened this to what happened with the 3D resurgence, and comparing it to the Wii isn't too far off.
- VR promotion on Facebook.com = MILLIONS of VR adopters on day 1
Facebook advertises literally millions of products daily, some of which do not sell worth a damn, and others that are outright scams. The non-curated nature of Facebook's advertisements would, more than likely, lead people to think that this product is of a lower quality - or an outright lie - if it were advertised on Facebook, due to the nature of the ads that populate Facebook's pages. This is not a good thing.
- More VR users of all kinds = more AAA games for us PC gamers
Another unfounded assumption. Mobile gaming is currently the target of the video game industry due to the low costs and high returns. And I have yet to find anything that approaches AAA gaming in terms of quality. More users doesn't mean more AAA games - it means a focus on more mass media experiences. Instead of EVE Valkyrie, we're more likely to see Farmville.
- Immediate infusion of entertainment/documentary/travel content
Facebook's involvement does nothing to further this aspect, due to the fact that Facebook does not produce content itself and has no standing, catch-all partnerships with content providers. Sony being involved will have a greater impact, because Sony produces this content itself.
- Holy grail of VR - social networking inside minecraft-esque VR space. Just what Snow Crash depicted in its Metaverse.
... provided by the single largest advertising company in the history of the world, who's entire business model revolves around bombarding their users with more and more advertisements everyday. Facebook being involved is more likely to create the countless parodies of VR, instead of the perfect version.
- with stylized design, VR metaverse could be run even from iOS/Android phones
The PS4 is about the lowest you'd want to go, in terms of processing power, for producing a VR experience. Running these experiences on mobile-based hardware? Not in this decade. Besides, the anti-social aspects do not align with the social focus of these mobile platforms. Are we expected to sit at a bus stop with a VR helmet on, plugged into our phone? People have issues with Google Glasses.
- Facebook can sell hardware with loss, providing incredibly HQ hardware for ~$99
Facebook do not operate at a loss in any aspect of their business. Being that they've already had a rocky IPO, they're not looking at throwing approximately US$300.00 away per unit sold. They're aiming for "billions of people". Multiple it out, and you arrive at a loss of approximately US$300b just on the hardware. No company could sustain that.
Facebook will produce a cheap VR solution to ensure mass adoption, but the quality of the hardware will reflect the price tag.
- Presence of strong player in VR will force Sony to become very invested in VR, making much more compelling product and enabling 3rd parties much more streamlined patch toward porting games to PS4
This point doesn't actually make sense, as Sony is technically more invested than OR is, due to the capital investment Sony has already made, and intends to make, in bringing VR into the living room, and producing mass-media content to power it.
Facebook's involvement dilutes OR's purpose and vision - OR is no longer about producing the best gaming VR solution possible, its about producing the most profitable mass-media VR solution.
Flip your perceptions; Sony are the gamer's best chance now.
