If they can manage to sell the consumer model for $200, and Facebook sells a variety of VR-only experiences (music events, virtual tourism, sports, etc) this could be a cool thing actually. The games will still be there and tbh it'll be the developers loss if they have too much pride to sell games to such a massive install base.
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Facebook has acquired Oculus VR for 2 Billion US Dollars
- Thread starter ShogunDarius
- Start date
ReturnOfTheRAT
Member
Meanwhile At Sony's Morpheus R&D center:
A line in the sand has been drawn. The guys over there should feel like a fire was lit under their ass. Now is the chance to be seen as the "gamers choice."
How is this even possible?
You can't be courtside at a game, because you would have to be controlling a real life camera sitting in a seat...in real time.
You can't sit in a classroom for the same reason.
You can't consult with a doctor for the same reason.
What fairy tale world is this where you can interact with people in real time using the Rift the way it was intended? You could put them on, but it would just be a normal TV.
I can't help not laughing at the people who back these things.
I mean, you're spending your OWN money on a project from other people and if they sell it or end up selling a shitload of units... you don't see a dime.
Basically you spent your money on making someone else rich. And you got nothing for it. Oh excuse me. You got the privilege of buying an unit of said project.
I mean, you're spending your OWN money on a project from other people and if they sell it or end up selling a shitload of units... you don't see a dime.
Basically you spent your money on making someone else rich. And you got nothing for it. Oh excuse me. You got the privilege of buying an unit of said project.
BlastProcessing
Member
I know it sounds pedantic, but good things are valuable and companies like acquiring valuable things.
...Scatter...
Banned
I don't know. I think this could be a good thing. A company that paid 2 billion for the technology is going to want to get a return on that investment and won't let in vanquish with a whimper. Maybe this is the cash infusion they need to take things to the next level and bring this product to market. Maybe the folks at Oculus figured they couldn't compete over the long term with the Sony's of the world who already have experience and infrastructure for mass producing consumer electronics.
It also sounds like he's already planning to control what Oculus ends up working on. They may remain independent in the short term, but over time they will have less and less control.
Betta Lines
Member
I never said it was good, I'd have preferred to see them stick it out independently as they already have a great team. Facebook's involvement was certainly not necessary to bring this product to market. I'm just disputing with you (and many others in this thread) that it's a bad thing. As far as I can tell, it's the same, only that the Oculus team have some more resources.
Cyborgmatt
Member
No response from Carmack yet, I wonder if he is considering walking away from games.
Turin Turambar
Member
And still, 60% of the post in this long thread are incredibly stupid, believing that now it will be a device only for use in Facebook or some silliness like that.
It's a screen with some sensors, the device itself it's app-agnostic. It can be used for whatever you want to make.
But it sounds cooler in PR
SkeptiMism
Member
You're not investing in anything in kickstarter. You simply donate money because you want to see it become a thing. If you don't want to see it becoming a thing, then you don't donate.
If you want to invest, then you go talk to the guys and invest in them.
flyinpiranha
Member
Looks like Palmer may have known this was going to happen and kept it under wraps until GDC and DK2 pre-orders were announced (IMO)
http://www.reddit.com/r/oculus/comments/1wf6mg/so_no_way_to_confirm_this_but_my_friend_works_in/
BUT, this could be fake, it could have been fake one month ago ... but still, kind of crazy.
I mean, it's obviously been in talks before GDC, so it was kept under wraps purposefully until DK2 was announced and people could order. Kind of shady IMO but I still support Oculus, FB or no.
http://www.reddit.com/r/oculus/comments/1wf6mg/so_no_way_to_confirm_this_but_my_friend_works_in/
BUT, this could be fake, it could have been fake one month ago ... but still, kind of crazy.
I mean, it's obviously been in talks before GDC, so it was kept under wraps purposefully until DK2 was announced and people could order. Kind of shady IMO but I still support Oculus, FB or no.
IAmRandom31
Banned
Indeed. Good to know the new owners of this VR device have no realistic vision whatsoever for the product. Bodes well.
Notch understands this, people need to understand this.
Facebook is going to do what it takes to get as many VR devices out to as many people as possible.
...but the quality will suffer, the whole design philosophy will change, and the potential for the device will be cut at the feet.
I am sure you can imagine some kind of 360 degree contraction that records video in a way that makes content rift friendly.
There is no way the tech they have shown is worth $2 billion, they are lucky Zuckerberg have more money than sense.
Exactly. Some people aren't thinking clearly on this. Do they really believe that it would benefit Facebook to suspend Oculus's gaming plans?
Oculus have always said that the RIft and VR in general is a lot bigger than just gaming, so Facebook recognizing the same thing isn't surprising. That said, both Oculus and Facebook know that gaming is going to be one of the main impetuses in getting the Rift into more people's homes.
WarMacheen
Member
I think refunding the 9,522 backers shouldn't be out of the question, especially the ones that have an issue with the acquisition.
hypostatic
Member
This makes it too easy for Sony.
odhiex
Member
Yes, Amazingly similar with the Disney bought Marvel's thread, if I remember correctly.
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.
BlazingDarkness
Member
ZehDon
Banned
Occulus stated numerous times that they were not interested in selling, so I expected nothing of the sort to ever occur. However, I guess I didn't anticipate that an extra zero or two could buy OR's place in history. Anyway, the difference between what we're going to get, and what most of us wanted, was that VR will now, first and foremost, be controlled by advertisers. Instead of these advertisers coming to the mainstream VR space once it becomes popular, limited to areas that the open market has deemed acceptable, that entire space will be created around the concept of advertisements from the get go. And placing every directive human sense at the control of advertisers is literally a nightmare from the darkest depths of science fiction horror.
If Facebook has spent US$2b on this, do you really think they'll allow this to remain an entirely open piece of hardware? They need OR to push the Facebook brand. The Rift just became a platform, owned and controlled by one of the largest advertisers in the world. "Thanks for purchasing your Rift! Now, just sign into Facebook to activate your device and enter the future!"
The mainstream adoption of VR was always dubious at best; no one can really say with any certainty how it will move forward. Facebook doesn't set trends - it is one. Facebook cannot make a VR headset more palatable to anyone, anymore than Google can make lens-free spy glasses sexy. The nature of the market prevents this kind of control - just ask Microsoft how their US$6b Bing push went, or how everyone accepted the Xbone's DRM.
What we know today, however, is that the end user experience of VR will be second to stock of the company that controls the birth of the platform. Sony's Project Morpheus just became the PS4 to OR's Xbone. If Sony make Morpheus PC-ready, Sony instantly devalues Facebook's purchase, and pulls out ahead of every other competitor by a good couple of years. And they got there, by focusing on gaming.
Of course, even if they don't go platform agnostic with Morpheus, Sony still has the games, mass media content and hardware necessary to push Playstation VR into the mainstream market as its own platform. Facebook now has a visor, but it requires its users to buy an extensive block of hardware to power it. Sony has an entire consumer-ready cost effective ecosystem for VR that is trouncing the competition across the globe. I know who I'm backing for this race.
Sounds to me like they both have very similar goals in the first place. Too many people were just mistaken in thinking that Oculus were solely some gaming company.
Google offered 1.9 billion $
PezDispenser
Banned
There was almost nothing that could've dampened my excitement over the Oculus Rift.
Almost nothing...
Almost nothing...
This kind of thing is interesting. I just hope the platform stay open.
I can't help noticing that people who fail to understand kickstarter also often fail at basic grammar.
Sub_Level
wants to fuck an Asian grill.
Kojima tried to tell us gaf
I'm not a huge Facebook fan, but investing in Oculus makes sense to me - if they'd gone the IPO route I would have put in some money myself.
Random thoughts:
Random thoughts:
- I hope this doesn't hurt Oculus' relationship with Valve - there was a lot of good stuff going on between the two companies.
- The tech-enthusiast / developer reaction has trended negative so far, but does that matter at this point? Oculus is already out there as a fairly well-known name with lots of good press, and now they're associated with one of the biggest brands in the world.
- Most importantly (to me): will the APIs and such remain unencumbered by Facebook? I'd like a guarantee from Palmer and co. that devs and end-users won't need Facebook sign-ins to build or access Rift content on the consumer version of the device.
No, you got whatever it was you bought. Have you never looked at a Kickstarter?
kingdoug87
Member
This got lost earlier so i might ask again:
Does anyone think this acquisition will give more or less incentive for Msoft to jump in the VR game?
Does anyone think this acquisition will give more or less incentive for Msoft to jump in the VR game?
So, to sum up this thread:
-FUCK FUCK FUCK *gifs*
-Farmville LOL
-Welp, VR is dead again
-Carmack works for Facebook!
My gut feeling is that Facebook is trying to become like Google. Remember when Google just was ONLY a search engine and how much crazy stuff they do these days? It´s only natural that Facebook are spending their huge wads of money on potentially gamechanging technology that isn´t directly related to their main website.
Most of the posters here are behaving like the Oculus Rift is already lying in a coffin. Do you really think Zuckerberg is just going to take the technology and drive it off a cliff?
(Though Google has a certain track record of shoehorning their own logins into every single product they make, so maybe that example is indeed something that should be worrying?)
-FUCK FUCK FUCK *gifs*
-Farmville LOL
-Welp, VR is dead again
-Carmack works for Facebook!
My gut feeling is that Facebook is trying to become like Google. Remember when Google just was ONLY a search engine and how much crazy stuff they do these days? It´s only natural that Facebook are spending their huge wads of money on potentially gamechanging technology that isn´t directly related to their main website.
Most of the posters here are behaving like the Oculus Rift is already lying in a coffin. Do you really think Zuckerberg is just going to take the technology and drive it off a cliff?
(Though Google has a certain track record of shoehorning their own logins into every single product they make, so maybe that example is indeed something that should be worrying?)
Amentallica
Unconfirmed Member
Carmack to big corporations:
"Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in."
"Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in."
The same is true for Sony, but no one seems to have been paying attention. I shouldn't be surprised.
Poimandres
Member
Are you friendly, or are you not?
Azure Dream
Member
I can't.
I can't.
The one tiny sliver of potential hope is that maybe Zuckerberg really does respect it for what it is, and will mostly leave it to its own devices to develop as it was going to, just with more resources.
But god fucking damn do I ever doubt that.
This is like Walmart buying Valve. It's fucking soul-crushing.
I can't.
The one tiny sliver of potential hope is that maybe Zuckerberg really does respect it for what it is, and will mostly leave it to its own devices to develop as it was going to, just with more resources.
But god fucking damn do I ever doubt that.
This is like Walmart buying Valve. It's fucking soul-crushing.
eot
Banned
I think Carmack doesn't care as long as no one fucks with him.
Why would he? He just got the largest cash infusion he's ever needed to make games.
Well it could be worse...
At least it wasn't bought by this company...
why? I think apple would make a better oculus than fb (at least in design + user friendliness).