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[injurai]

So.. From what i understood there, this is what's happening at best...

facebook will let Oculus guys have fun with their lil pc games (fb doesn't give a shit), while they will help them making the tech future worthy, so they can sell virtual media (sport streams, videoconfs, touristic vists...) to people at some point.

Am i right ?

Facebook did it to piss of neogaf. Don't think for a second there is another reason.

 

[GYNGA]

I think people are overreacting.

 

[Seanspeed]

This is so awesome for the Oculus guys!

... and terrible for gamers. This kills any chance we see for real VR video games.

Why?

Why do people keep thinking this?

I'm out for the night. People obviously fucking spill their brains over big news. Maybe tomorrow some level headed discussion can take place.

 

[indigo-cyclops]

I don't want to get too crazy but I personally don't think this looks good for things. I share the concerns with how Facebook might screw this up and hold back Oculus. I don't really have a stake in VR at the moment, but it seemed great to have a team like Oculus going all in, and now Sony.

Facebook being a part of it doesn't quite continue that hope. Maybe it will all work out...

 

[Atrophis]

I wonder why Oculus sold though? It seems like they wanted to be the next Facebook/ Google/Microsoft themselves, not be acquired.

Yeah thats the feeling I got too. Release the CV1, push it hard and see how it goes. They could have been the next huge tech company if it went mainstream. I guess 2 billion is really hard to turn down or they were not confident they could push VR mainstream on their own.

If facebook keep their hands off then we fine. In fact the huge amount of money and security this injects into Oculus will probably result in a better product short term. But fuck I really wanted them to go alone or join up with Valve.

 

[neptunes]

Why is everyone so pessimistic?

The oculus as a hardware product will probably not be affected.

 

[jayu26]

except KS backers aren't buy shares...

so they get fucked. If I was Oculus VR offering the original backers stock options and refunds would have been in the buyout contract.

That was the joke...

 

[kmg90]

To those thinking Facebook is great for Oculus's future...

Remember the Facebook phone(s)?

Remember how they caught on like wildfire? That's what worries me about Facebook taking over.

They don't do hardware, the same way Google doesn't do hardware (they contract their devices out to ASUS and Samsung)


The only thing Facebook has done with gaming is turn games into pyramid advertising schemes (spaming friends walls to get that extra cow/gold/gem etc)

 

[teddybomber]

God no.

 

[Durante]

yes. it will still do everything it was going to do. this might mean bad things for Oculus specifically down the line, but it doesn't mean bad things for DK2 or even CV1. Once the gaming potential of the hardware is established, no matter what happens to the oculus brand, someone else can make a gaming focused piece of equipment, just the same way Sony can come in and make the Morpheus.

Getting it right for gaming to start out is and will remain a huge focus for Oculus.

Yeah, I think that's a reasonable position.

Why would they do that ?

Just to be nice?

You haven't offered a reason. Just wishful thinking.

Because they need their initial product to be good and succeed in order to then later try and monopolize the market using their established position.

For me, what has changed is that I now want all those nice Chinese/Korean companies to produce copycat products as fast as possible.

it's EA, they are most likely already making their own Origin branded Rift inferior clone.

I'd much rather buy EA's clone VR device than Facebook's.

 

[Usobuko]

Looks like there's suspicion of Facebook astroturfing reddit atm.

 

[CassidyIzABeast]

We'll know what's up based on what happens with Carmack over the next year. If he stays at Oculus, its all good. If he leaves then the dream is truly dead.

 

[Syph Medwes]

My jaw is on the floor

 

[jsip]

FB and VR will bring new meaning to the term "Pop-Up Ads".

Fuck this shit. Sony should announce PC comparability with Morpheus and drive that stake hard and fast.

 

[solarus]

Also I wonder how valve feels about giving all their vr research and tech away for free to oculus now.

 

[Betta Lines]

This is so awesome for the Oculus guys!

... and terrible for gamers. This kills any chance we see for real VR video games.

lolwat

 

[orioto]

I... I don't know, I think that's a bit naive. This is a lot of money they've put in there. Naturally I think they expect to get that money back.

well yeah that's part of the plan i was talking about.. IN the end they have the best tech to sell those virtual medias to people.

 

[Septimius]

(another cross-post)

Maybe I'm seeing the world with rose tinted glasses, but this is pretty much my view of the situation.

There's nothing rose-tinted about this. This is what a business acquisition is. This buyout will have clauses guarding the continued vision of Oculus from here and to the moon. Oculus wouldn't sell this technology, which is why they've ensured the technology will continue to work for exactly what these people have envisioned it for for their entire lives. Facebook can slap a team ontop of that that gets a vital close-hand relationship with the makers to be first-to-market with their expansion of social media.

Facebook wants to make money off of this acquisition. Abusing what it is and driving it to the ground will ensure they'll never see a dime on the dollar they put in, so they know to keep their noses out of what they don't know, and see how they can use this technology to make VR and social media combine. This will drive VR forward probably decades within years, and is a HUGE deal for anyone excited about VR. If you're against this deal, you don't get why new technologies need to be wide-reaching for it to be what you wish it to do. Do you think you'll get AAA games completely made for a VR-headset if 1% of the gaming market owns one?

This is the push we should all be rooting for. This is what will ensure Oculus stays around and becomes what you all want it to be. So stop with this 'preorder cancelled' crap, and see how big this is.

 

[Jimmy Rustle]

I don't get the doom and gloom.

Doesn't this mean Oculus will now have a substantial boost in development and marketing budget?

I mean they bought Instagram, that seems fine. They bought Whatsapp and thats been going well, so far.

Can someone tell me something that will make me rage and join the witch hunt?

 

[-PXG-]

45 pages now. Jesus H...

 

[TrueGrime]

I think this is the most important part that OR said on their blog.

They aren't changing their personal vision, they are just working with a wallet that's thousands of times larger then the one they had yesterday.

That's the thing.. who is deciding their fate? Them or Facebook?

 

[BraXzy]

The way I'd summarise my thoughts at present on the whole situation is:

VR as a whole just got a huge boost up and the tech will hopefully advance quicker and will be more widely adopted.

Oculus itself has just entered a state of uncertainty and worry as Facebook now hold the reigns to their sleigh.

Either way, eventually, I will own an awesome VR device in a couple of years that might not have been quite as good without today's event.

 

[megalowho]

I'm just a little confused how this fits into their vision.

Everyone was under the impression Facebook was after the mobile market. Some might even associate them with mobile already. VR in it's current incarnation is a very stationary design, which puts it next to desktop PCs and consoles, both shrinking markets.

Thinking on it a bit, I imagine this deal means that Oculus VR for iOS and Android is put on the fast track and ends up becoming the lead platform before long. Was always a goal for Oculus, but will likely become the goal under Facebook. Mobile is still king and it's only getting bigger, and more powerful.

 

[Majukun]

Well, at least we have Sony.

Anyone think the creators sold Oculous now since they realized they'd make more money selling it to a big corp rather than having to battle Sony and their VR?

that's a concrete possibility

 

[jem0208]

This is so awesome for the Oculus guys!

... and terrible for gamers. This kills any chance we see for real VR video games.

How?

Why would you think that this will stop games using the Rift?


Zuckerburg himself said that first and foremost is games and that in the future he see's the Rift as a communication device as well.

 

[injurai]

Looks like there's suspicion of Facebook astroturfing reddit atm.

color me surprised

 

[Setsuna]

Based Sony anticipated this

 

[Keyouta]

Now Valve can market their VR solution to gamers.

 

[jelly]

So, the Facebook gaming console?

Nintendo, Playstation, Xbox.

Incoming, Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Valve.

Yikes.

 

[Xun]

R.I.P. Oculus Rift.

 

[Monado Blade]

So.... this means John Carmack is an employee of Mark Zuckerberg now right?

 

[thunder_snail]

Now I expect Morpheus will be hacked to work with PC within a week of its release. No doubt about that.

 

[Spinluck]

who was behind the idea of this headset?

 

[R&D]

Why would orienting a device around playing The Sims in VR make it a bad device for playing Skyrim in VR?

It's two different market. Look at Wii, we know what kind of games 3rd parties did put on it.
Publishers will look at the demographics and cater to that exclusively.
I don't know the internals of OR, but can it work without a PC with a decent graphic card?
Will Facebook sell it with a gamepad? A lot of casuals use a laptop and don't even use a mouse anymore. So OR for real games is pretty much over.

 

[Arkadios]

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.

Well said.

 

[HariKari]

Looks like there's suspicion of Facebook astroturfing reddit atm.

That's the sort of influence the industry doesn't need. I think it's a little naive to say that Facebook won't unduly influence Oculus or the direction it heads in. Eventually they're going to want to put that investment to use. That means collecting data on you. This is not some altruistic investment.

 

[Deadly Cyclone]

$2 billion. Sweet Jesus. Facebook going to let them still use it for hardcore games?

 

[Komo]

lmao

 

[Alienous]

We'll know what's up based on what happens with Carmack over the next year. If he stays at Oculus, its all good. If he leaves then the dream is truly dead.

I thought he left for Oculus because it was an interesting upstart?

I can't see him staying much longer now.

 

[Outtrigger888]

To think that this started as a Kickstarter. So the backers funded the whole thing, while the people behind it had very limited risk and now walk out with a cool $2B. I know why I'd never fund something on kickstarter that has any profit opportunity.

The people that backed it got what they were promised. Im happy for the oculus guys, if someone offered me 2 billion id take it. Some of you guys that are pissed in worry of it hurting the product i understand that. But the guys that are mad they made a shit ton of money seem jelly.

 

[Volcane]

Wow, that came from no where.

 

[Cru]

I think people are overreacting.

Slightly lol

 

[Betta Lines]

Now I expect Morpheus will be hacked to work with PC within a week of its release. No doubt about that.

That was inevitable anyway - what does this announcement have to do with it?

 

[SarcasticD]

Oculus VR just shot themselves in the foot.

I don't know how much the rest of you know about PC gaming culture (I'm an expert), but honor and shame are huge parts of it. It's not like it is in Mobile Apps where you can become successful by being an asshole. If you screw someone over in PC culture, you bring shame to yourself, and the only way to get rid of that shame is repentance.

What this means is the PC gaming public, after hearing about this, is not going to want to purchase the Oculus Rift, nor will they purchase any of Oculus VR's future products. This is HUGE. You can laugh all you want, but Oculus VR has alienated an entire market with this move.

Oculus VR, publicly apologize and cancel your acquisition by Facebook or you can kiss your business goodbye

Never fails

 

[Panda Rin]

my heart just sank...I didn't know something like this would instantly put me off from buying one.

 

[Easy_D]

So, the Facebook gaming console?

Nintendo, Playstation, Xbox.

Incoming, Amazon, Apple and Facebook.

Yikes.

Guys, did something bad happen last time everyone and their mother got into videogames? I can't remember!

 

[gcubed]

my fear is that zuck appears to be clueless to how VR works, trying to pitch sporting events as a possible use case.

 

[KaiserBecks]

Finally, the Oculus guys had to approve this purchase anyway. Nobody forced them. Sure, a 2 billion USD offer is a nice incentive, but I'm pretty sure these guys had enough dignity to walk away from the sale if it wasn't to their terms and I'm sure they combed over the fine print many times. They know they are the vanguards of the VR revolution. They know their audience right now. They know how much is riding on them being successful. If Carmack drops out in the next week then we have our first hint that the purchase was not the right thing and could be turning the platform into something we are all fearing in this thread. But for now this is an announcement that should be looked at as positive rather than the doom and gloom so many on GAF seem to be speaking right now.

Palmer just posted this on reddit:

We have had a lot of interest in the past, but only from people who would tear us apart and make us work on their own stuff. We have zero interest in doing that, and there is no number that could convince us otherwise.
Facebook is going to give us access to massive resources, but let us operate independently on our own vision. There are so many things we can do that used to be impossible.

People should calm down.

 

[Septimius]

I saw a very similar sort of argument being made by some people when BioWare was acquired by EA. How'd that turn out? Oculus is Facebook now - they were purchased. Over time, their culture will become the same as Facebook's -- that's how it works and how it always works. If you think there will be no changes, no realignment of priorities, you're insane.

This is from the Forbes article:

That includes $400 million in cash and 23.1 million shares of Facebook stock. There’s also an additional $300 million potential earn-out in cash and stock based on “the achievement of certain milestones.”

Who do you think set those milestones? Facebook! They're already driving the direction of the company from day 1. This is now the FB show. Get used to it.

This would be comparable if Facebook already did VR, like EA already did games. FB doesn't know VR, and can't say anything about it. They're not where they are today by thinking they can steamroll companies that are doing something great. This is basic business. Facebook believes this is the future, and they want to be in on it. If they buy this, then steamroll the operations, it would go as people predict. Luckily, Facebook doesn't even begin to think they know what to do with a VR company, which is why they'll be left able to do what they do, because it is proven that what they do is amazing and gains more and more traction for every day.

 

[Major B.S.]

The future of technology is looking quite vain, indeed. *sigh*