Oculus Rift

lmimmfn

I can see this being great short term and possibly crap long term. The cash injection will advance VR development in general, but no doubt long term the original passion will be gone, everyones a made man and corporate BS takes over.

Interestingly Palmer says the following on Reddit

We have not gotten into all the details yet, but a lot of the news is coming. The key points:

1) We can make custom hardware, not rely on the scraps of the mobile phone industry. That is insanely expensive, think hundreds of millions of dollars. More news soon.

2) We can afford to hire everyone we need, the best people that fit into our culture of excellence in all aspects.

3) We can make huge investments in content. More news soon.

http://np.reddit.com/r/oculus/comments/21cy9n/the_future_of_vr/cgc026n?context=3

That does sound very interesting, especially 1, possibly 1440p screens and a CK1 sooner than expected.

nesf

More money is always good but I'm deeply worried by him seeming to think 2 billion was a lot of money in the world of developing new technology. Bringing emergent tech to market is stupidly expensive, prone to very costly failure after failure and sometimes ends up at a dead end. They will do a lot more with the new money but independent investment isn't a possibility now so any extra funds will be at the behest of Facebook, which will come down to numbers given Facebook's lack of "moonshot" projects.

What did the lose in exchange for the money? Any credibility with a very large section of the gaming/tech world. This may or may not be a problem, if they can bring out a $300 consumer version with plenty of bells and whistles people will get over their outrage but equally the good will they've lost means they won't be getting much slack over any problems with the gear.

Overall, though.

lmimmfn

i agree completely, but in terms of cash it will benefit them initially long term yeah FB will be asking wheres their profilt.

In terms of harming public image i think theyve just destroyed it, i was planning on messing with UDK 4 with the DK1 in prep for DK2 but have absolutely 0 interest in developing Facebook stuff

nesf

lmimmfn wrote: »

i agree completely, but in terms of cash it will benefit them initially long term yeah FB will be asking wheres their profilt.

In terms of harming public image i think theyve just destroyed it, i was planning on messing with UDK 4 with the DK1 in prep for DK2 but have absolutely 0 interest in developing Facebook stuff

Well, my hope is we get two development kit streams. One for Facebook developers, nice and streamlined etc. One more barebones but more customisable one for other developers. I'd be ok with a 2-in-1 device and I can't really see Facebook pushing for Farmville VR to be their flagship project on this platform.

grizzly

nesf wrote: »

I can't really see Facebook pushing for Farmville VR to be their flagship project on this platform.

Facebook®Home?

Duggy747

The 30 minute conference call between Facebook & Oculus

And from 29:00 onwards where Zuckerberg says:

We're not a hardware company, not going to make a profit from them long term, we do this as a software and services thing.

Where if we can make it so that this becomes a network where people can be communicating and buying things and virtual goods, and there might be advertising in the world but need to figure that out down the line that's probably where the big bucks will come from.

But for the forseeable future the main goal that we have is just building up the product, using the different leverage that Facebook has to make the product affordable and bring to market as soon as possible.

moc moc a moc

Dirty little bastard, waiting until right after we all shell out for DK2 to announce this. **** is hitting the fan right now on the reddit Oculus forum.

lmimmfn

moc moc a moc wrote: »

Dirty little bastard, waiting until right after we all shell out for DK2 to announce this. **** is hitting the fan right now on the reddit Oculus forum.

Sorry man but for 2 billion I'd sell out too lol

J_E

Getting really fed up of Facebook buying/ruining everything left right and center.

Gbear

Although it sucks for those who've already committed, even if this is a cluster**** it's still been shown that there's a market for these things.

Someone else will come along and do it if OR and Facebook won't.

COYVB

I love the Oculus guys. I've met Palmer and Brendan a couple of times and had decent chats with them about the hardware, but this is the end of it for me. No chance I'm touching it with a ten foot bargepole with Facebook in tow

AtomicHorror

Gbear wrote: »

Although it sucks for those who've already committed, even if this is a cluster**** it's still been shown that there's a market for these things.

Someone else will come along and do it if OR and Facebook won't.

This. Something new has started- there's a hunger for it. FB will either do the smart thing and give us what we want or someone else will get all our money instead.

ondafly

ondafly wrote: »

very tempted by this new version. I wonder will it be possible to retrofit the new screen to a DK1

the temptation has suddenly left me - I'm not saying I won't buy one in the future, but I need to see how this all plays out after the dust settles. Facebook have just literally thrown salt in my game

Kiith

Was going to pick up the DK2, but I doubt I'll bother now. I imagine there's a lot of angry backers and developers right now.

They're going to get a massive amount of negative press about this. I actually can't think of a worse company to have bought them out. Absolutely no chance that Facebook will just sit back and let them do the work they had planned. Maybe I'm wrong, but ad revenue, candy crush vr, and all sorts of other bull**** is all I expect to see. Zuckerberg even says as much in his statement.

Shame really, as it was actually looking like a great device.

pixelburp

Not a bad bit of business by the Oculus chaps all the same; I mean when all's said and done, they put their heart, soul and money into a product that's a complete unknown quantity. Then along comes Facebook and offers more money than they likely thought to see off the back of this venture. Hard to imagine how a person wouldn't sell out for 400 million in cash up front. And the founder's only 21. Sickener

I was never a fan of VR, so wasn't exactly champing at the bit to see how the Oculus did, but I am disappointed a spirited independent venture has been swallowed up by what will inevitably be a series of compromises from its big-business paymaster. Clearly FB have their own direction and set of intentions and Oculus' own will doubtless take a backseat for whatever grand plan Zuckerberg has. And to be honest, their plans sound like answers to questions nobody asked:

Zuckerberg wrote:

we're going to make Oculus a platform for many other experiences. Imagine enjoying a court side seat at a game, studying in a classroom of students and teachers all over the world or consulting with a doctor face-to-face -- just by putting on goggles in your home.

You can already do these things perfectly well; and VR doctor consultations aren't even remotely practical for physical ailments & to my mind offers no advantage to current systems. Oculus seemed like a niche product that could have survived within that ballpark as a gaming peripheral . If FB are going to try and sell the product to a needlessly wide market, it feels easier to see it crashing from spreading itself too thin

ShadowHearth

Dear Facebook, stay classy.

Oafley Jones

I hate knee jersey reactions. But the news of the acquisition by Facebook is incredibly depressing to me. I've said it before, but I was more excited about OR than any other gadget in nigh on 20 years. I think the possibility for VR done right are absolutely immense. And now that well has been potentially poisoned.

I can't blame Palmer, as I'd whore myself out for much, much less; but there did seem to some resolve in the man to do the right thing but the tech because he was such an enthusiast. I'm sure he believes that this move is right for OR, but I've no confidence in Facebook. I'm sure they'll **** it up in the name of corporate synergy (intertwines fingers).

Jerichoholic

In 5 years time there'll be plenty of different headsets available now that the tech has been pretty much nailed down. I don't see how this makes any difference, Zuckerberg can't stop developers experimenting with VR, and why would he want to? Oculus just manufacture the Rifts, that's all.

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

i think i'll wait a few months for the anti facebook hippies to quiet down and then see what smarter people say this is likely to bring



OMGZ FACEBOOKS WILL DESTROYS EVERYTHIGNZ I LUV

o1s1n

My girlfriend always laughs when I buy things from kickstarter.

'So you're basically investing in a project to get it off the ground?'

'yes'

'Cool, do you get shares?'

'No'



I want a cut of that 2 billion Palmer!

Oafley Jones

Jerichoholic wrote: »

In 5 years time there'll be plenty of different headsets available now that the tech has been pretty much nailed down. I don't see how this makes any difference, Zuckerberg can't stop developers experimenting with VR, and why would he want to? Oculus just manufacture the Rifts, that's all.

Disagree totally with this. Part of the reason that people are getting so excited about this is the timing. OR is still a niche development product that currently only catering to enthusiasts. It's the work that's going on right now, refining the experience, that is so critical to the mediums future. When VR becomes a consumer product again it needs to be done right. A janky release has the potential to be fatal when it goes wide. The only other horse in this race is Sony and while reports are good, I question their level of support they're prepared to give to what is just one peripheral product in their vast portfolio.

ShadowHearth

I really like how your man just openly says that he will use it advertisements. I can't wait to buy a 400eu piece of equipment so I can watch virtual penis enlargement ads.

Well, Carmack can work on optimising candy crush saga VR edition now.

People are getting annoyed at Facebook buying up everything - isn't that what Google essentially does too? I mean both companies are similar in a lot of their business practices, as far as I can tell, so what makes one the sinner and the other the saint? Would people be as annoyed if Google bought them up?

Tipsy McSwagger

Feel sorry for the people who supported/bought an OR, I was interested but I detest Facebook so will not be buying one.

Branoic

Very surprising news, but I think I'll wait to see what comes of it before I self-immolate.

That said, I can understand how original KS backers may be p1ssed.

And there's something depressing about one of the original DOOM creators now working for Facebook....

Kiith

Oculus Rift: The future of immersive entertainment
Click like to share this with your friends.

Penn

Wasn't overly interested in the Oculus Rift anyway. Was going to hang back a bit and see what people thought of it after a while. But Facebook? F*ck that sh*t.

Saw an excellent post on Reddit explaining how for Facebook, this is a great deal for their consumers. However, their consumers aren't the people who use Facebook; it's the advertisers and the companies they forward on your information to.

Kiith

Kiith wrote: »

Oculus Rift: The future of immersive entertainment
Click like to share this with your friends.

Guaranteed that was going to happen with or without Facebook's intervention.

Oafley Jones

Deleted User wrote: »

People are getting annoyed at Facebook buying up everything - isn't that what Google essentially does too? I mean both companies are similar in a lot of their business practices, as far as I can tell, so what makes one the sinner and the other the saint? Would people be as annoyed if Google bought them up?

We'll besides the debates in regard to privacy. Take a look at a list of Facebook and Google's acquisitions and compare what they've done with them.

Oafley Jones

Oafley Jones wrote: »

We'll besides the debates in regard to privacy. Take a look at a list of Facebook and Google's acquisitions and compare what they've done with them.

Both are absolute fiends when it comes to privacy issues. Neither of them hide this.

I just don't get the kneejerk reactions - I would much prefer to wait and see what exactly comes of it.