Poor form Oculus.
They really need to demote Palmer and get a CEO with some balls and passion for the gaming industry.
Palmer shouldn't let this bullshit happen. He is one of the more anti consumer CEOs out there.
I almost wonder if this isn't some misguided engineer's mistake implementing a check to alert users just in case their headset is accidentally not plugged in / has some other issue. Any evidence that they did this specifically to lock out other headsets?
Palmer isn't CEO.
Here's to hoping a company better than Oculus and Valve get a good headset out within the next two years. Tempted to just sell my kickstarter rift and shelve things for now.
https://www.reddit.com/r/pcmasterrace/comments/4jxq0i/google_io_livestream/
https://www.reddit.com/r/oculus/comments/4jy2se/google_daydream/
http://cnnpressroom.blogs.cnn.com/2016/05/18/cnnvr-featured-as-creator-for-googles-daydream/
https://www.theguardian.com/technol...6-what-you-need-to-know-from-allo-to-daydream
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1220826
etc
isnt now a good time to like foster vr growth instead of smothering it
What you describe was already in place.
No, this isn't a mistake or a by product of other intent. What this is, is pretty clear.
Palmer isn't CEO.
Here's to hoping a company better than Oculus and Valve get a good headset out within the next two years. Tempted to just sell my kickstarter rift and shelve things for now.
Terrible VR launches, next batch should do better, especially software.
In the context of GAF, there's a combined 250+ pages of threads since the Vive+Rift launched. Are you expecting a higher volume of threads outside of the launch threads, or what? LoL is one of the biggest games in the world, but you'd never know that just by browsing the front page of GAF. Established areas of gaming generally self-segregate on here unless there's a major controversy (like this one) that gets a thread made.I'll give you the pcmr link (though I don't visit that cesspool, not related to your point though)
But linking to r/oculus kind of proves what I was trying to say, that there is no general talk about vr lately. You'd have to go look for it in a specialised subreddit. Nothing on games, pcgaming, and haven't seen anything on gaf either.
You can't claim that the internet is abuzz with talk about woodworking and then link to a woodworking sub.
Told you guys this was coming in the launch thread, the number of times peeps quoted Palmer as evidence I was making it up.
They are also withholding the latest SDK from developers who are not releasing to their store-front.
They actually don't own any patents on their vr equipment beyond look and feel.
They are really withholding the SDK? Hardcore. I feel like this is going to end badly for Oculus. Guess they will have to rely on Samsung vr from now on.
So its wrong for a platform holder to restrict its exclusive games to its platform only?
I'll give you the pcmr link (though I don't visit that cesspool, not related to your point though)
But linking to r/oculus kind of proves what I was trying to say, that there is no general talk about vr lately. You'd have to go look for it in a specialised subreddit. Nothing on games, pcgaming, and haven't seen anything on gaf either.
You can't claim that the internet is abuzz with talk about woodworking and then link to a woodworking sub.
Look at it this way, Facebook aggressively uses patents in their core business, why wouldn't they be using patents to protect and grow their 2 billion dollar purchase of Oculus?
So its wrong for a platform holder to restrict its exclusive games to its platform only?
They are withholding SDK updates from developers not deploying apps via their store-front. It is currently very painful to try to make a title which supports both headsets or bypasses their store. In the future, it's looking likely that DRM will force developers to release software for the Rift via the store if they want to use the latest SDK features. The argument (we're told) is that they need to screen content due to health risks, but it's basically it's just greed, VR is the next big thing and companies like Facebook either want to Monopolize it or let it die. There is no profit in facilitating a truly open platform. By withholding the SDK they are holding a gun to developers heads to support their monopoly. Gear VR 2 will have the same restrictions.
Sad thing is the Rift isn't even their main focus anymore, the store and the white labeled tech (Gear VR) is what they are really pushing. Most of the big titles coming up won't require the £600 headset.
The platform is PC.
And yes, for a litany of reasons, it's wrong for Oculus to restrict VR games only to the rift. It hurts literally everybody, including software developers and consumers.
And potentially even Oculus themselves, as a delightful capper.
Because prior art with a long paper trail prevents them from doing so.
Take developers like Blair Renaud, author of Technolust. He has been super supportive of ReVive and wants to use it as the official means to get Technolust "ported" to the Vive. He's been encouraging users to use ReVive with Technolust.
He just lost potentially about 30k customers on Oculus Home. And this is a dev on Oculus Home who openly wants ReVive to exist.
The Apple of VR.
That's thinking about a patent strategy way too narrowly. No one will be able to patent a "VR Headset", but there are hundreds, if not thousands, of technological innovations present and coming online that are finally making VR viable.
Tracking
motion controls
lenses
rendering techniques
They are really withholding the SDK? Hardcore. I feel like this is going to end badly for Oculus. Guess they will have to rely on Samsung vr from now on.
So because the pc gaming reddit isn't posting news about mobile VR, the internet isn't buzzing about it? That's like saying there is never any buzz about the apple keynotes because /r/pcgaming doesn't post the live stream.
Not on neogaf? Did you miss that 18 page topic I linked you to?
Look, they talked about this literally everywhere you'd expect them to talk about something like this, including tech blogs and gaming websites. You don't get to exclude any sites that would talk about VR, then say nobody is talking about VR. Again, if you missed google IO, that's on you.
what do I see when I go to engadget, for example? Front page, top story: "Google's VR plans are more ambitious than we thought."
At this point the install base of VR systems is very low, it takes a high up front investment to create games. In the same way people dont expect Uncharted on xbox or Halo on PS4 I dont see why there is problem recognizing that if a company invests money on a particular product they can restrict users of it to their platform or hardware.
Valve could be creating exclusive games for Vive like a new Portal or Half Life. They arent, probably because its just not very profitable. Oculus decided to invest money in developing content like chronos and the new insomniac games - thats a fixed cost that if the games flop, they lost their investment so I dont see why its considered wrong for them to restrict users to their platform given that its their risk/reward.
At this point the install base of VR systems is very low, it takes a high up front investment to create games. In the same way people dont expect Uncharted on xbox or Halo on PS4 I dont see why there is problem recognizing that if a company invests money on a particular product they can restrict users of it to their platform or hardware.
Valve could be creating exclusive games for Vive like a new Portal or Half Life. They arent, probably because its just not very profitable. Oculus decided to invest money in developing content like chronos and the new insomniac games - thats a fixed cost that if the games flop, they lost their investment so I dont see why its considered wrong for them to restrict users to their platform given that its their risk/reward.
How is locking out Vive users from buy and playing on Oculus Home protecting their developed content? They said they don't make a profit off of headsets and want to make money selling software.
I guess their plan is to make money selling only to rift users and no one else?
Oculus didn't invent the outside-in positional tracking they use, it's well understood and has been used in numerous products prior to the rift.
This is PC, not a console. A medium that has been free of hardware locked exclusives for so many years now. If they wanted a console, they should have built a console. They are bringing bad consumer habits on a market that was safe from them.
I dont see any down side. If they were paying third parties to restrict games to their platform, that I can understand people being mad about. But instead their are investing money in products that would otherwise not exist, like lucky's tale, chronos etc.
You do realize that this is PC, right? One way or another things can be fixed. I think the way in which everybody wins is preferable.