Anybody considering picking up an Oculus Rift..?


So that`s the new (tech) world order - anything fresh and exciting insta-snapped by the Valley Kids, even when it might not  make much sense at the time present. Just grab it and see what happens later (if nothing, well, it`s only couple of billion, chump change). Google`s been at it for quite some time now.

So depressing.
 
Mother f*cking Facebook ads in your immersive game worlds... Mother f*cking awesome...
 
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I don't have a FB account, if OR requires one because of this I'll be gutted.

Sent from my GT-I9300
 
So that`s the new (tech) world order - anything fresh and exciting insta-snapped by the Valley Kids, even when it might not make much sense at the time present. Just grab it and see what happens later (if nothing, well, it`s only couple of billion, chump change). Google`s been at it for quite some time now.


So depressing.
Google at least makes the ideas better or turns them into something worthwhile. I think YouTube gained from its acquisition and so did grandcenteral, picasa, and of course android. Now its hard to say if they drove any of their acquisitions into the ground or not, but I don't see googles buyouts as money grabs, but more of an aligning of ideas with the best in industry to accomplish those plans.


Now where this seems different, how the the hell is facebooks future aligned with virtual reality? I could see valve, or maybe Sony, Nintendo, or Microsoft... But Facebook?? That just screams cash grab. And after reading it was for only 400million and Facebook stocks made up the rest which makes me a sad panda. Brilliant idea bought out with what equates to mostly monopoly money.


If they make this idea any less than it would have potentially been I'm going to blow up the internet.
 
The Oasis from "Ready Player One" is where this is going. Makes sense when you think about it
 
Hmmm, to pick up a dev kit before they're Zuckered? That is the question...

Edit:

https://twitter.com/ID_AA_Carmack/statuses/448629403740692481

For the record, I am coding right now, just like I was last week.I expect the FB deal will avoid several embarrassing scaling crisis for VR.
Wait? How can a headset that connects to one PC have "scaling crisis"? or does he mean graphic scaling?

Annnnd... It's over for Minecraft

http://www.engadget.com/2014/03/25/notch-oculus-facebook-minecraft/
 
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Nearly barfed up breakfast when I saw the news this morning. Really tempers my excitement for OR, and it seems it hasn't gone down well elsewhere -

http://www.forbes.com/sites/davidewalt/2014/03/25/minecraft-creator-kills-oculus-rift-plans-because-facebook-creeps-him-out/

Minecraft Creator Kills Oculus Rift Plans Because Facebook Creeps Him Out


(...)


“We were in talks about maybe bringing a version of Minecraft to Oculus,” Persson said on Twitter shortly after the news broke. “I just cancelled that deal. Facebook creeps me out.”
Edit- rushed to post, I see pmprog noted same story above

Edit 2 - Open letter to the team from Oculus' Brendan Iribe -

http://www.oculusvr.com/blog/letter-to-the-team-from-brendan-iribe/


Note his mentions of use of Facebook for 'platform services' and 'payment solutions' (FB login required...)


Also take a look at the comments beneath!


Their kickstarter comments are aflame too-

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1523379957/oculus-rift-step-into-the-game/comments
 
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Notch's reasoning for OR Minecraft cancellation-

http://notch.net/2014/03/virtual-reality-is-going-to-change-the-world/

Facebook is not a company of grass-roots tech enthusiasts. Facebook is not a game tech company. Facebook has a history of caring about building user numbers, and nothing but building user numbers. People have made games for Facebook platforms before, and while it worked great for a while, they were stuck in a very unfortunate position when Facebook eventually changed the platform to better fit the social experience they were trying to build.


Don’t get me wrong, VR is not bad for social. In fact, I think social could become one of the biggest applications of VR. Being able to sit in a virtual living room and see your friend’s avatar? Business meetings? Virtual cinemas where you feel like you’re actually watching the movie with your friend who is seven time zones away?


But I don’t want to work with social, I want to work with games.


Fortunately, the rise of Oculus coincided with competitors emerging. None of them are perfect, but competition is a very good thing. If this means there will be more competition, and VR keeps getting better, I am going to be a very happy boy. I definitely want to be a part of VR, but I will not work with Facebook. Their motives are too unclear and shifting, and they haven’t historically been a stable platform. There’s nothing about their history that makes me trust them, and that makes them seem creepy to me.


And I did not chip in ten grand to seed a first investment round to build value for a Facebook acquisition.


I have the greatest respect for the talented engineers and developers at Oculus. It’s been a long time since I met a more dedicated and talented group of people. I understand this is purely a business deal, and I’d like to congratulate both Facebook and the Oculus owners. But this is where we part ways.
 
I think I give up on the internet. Premature reports of technological death are self fulfilling prophecies. Facebook hasn't even done anything yet and people are already declaring that the OR will definitely be a worse device than it could have been with no chance that maybe Facebook might just see the Rift for the money making machine that it is. They'll refuse to buy it because it is backed by Facebook and it'll have poor sales as a result, developers won't support it, and people will circle jerk all over that, declaring they were right not to back something so obviously broken, even if it comes out to be the exact same as it would have been otherwise.

Here's an idea, maybe Facebook doesn't want to modify the hardware that much. Maybe they're fine with the idea of letting others use the system, not requiring a Facebook login to play some unrelated game and what not. Maybe they see a social VR experience (because Facebook is a social group) and they want in on the ground floor. They read "Ready Player One" and want to build that world and see the OR as the way forward with it.

Nothing bad has happened yet, and even if it did there is literally nothing you can do. All the petitions in the world won't change this, pissing and moaning won't make things better. Nothing. We have literally no choice but to either sit through the ride and see where it ends up or prematurely decide we don't like the destination (despite the fact that no one actually knows the destination) and simply derail the train in a blazing fireball.

I'm choosing to ride it out. If Facebook screws it up then it was doomed from the start and nothing I could have done would have changed that. If Facebook somehow makes something worthwhile then months of complaints will only make sales that much harder.
 
So flip of this, take the pyra, if ED somehow got bought out by say... And here's a good one... Apple. What would happen to it? Say apple did nothing to the product whatsoever, just funded r&d and mass production to get into everyone's hands that wanted one and for a cheaper price, top of the line chip set etc? What would happen? I think you and I both know...
 
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So flip of this, take the pyra, if ED somehow got bought out by say... And here's a good one... Apple. What would happen to it? Say apple did nothing to the product whatsoever, just funded r&d and mass production to get into everyone's hands that wanted one and for a cheaper price, top of the line chip set etc? What would happen? I think you and I both know...
If literally all they did was that, then yeah, I'd probably still buy one. However, Apple certainly would never do that without roping in iTunes.
But you see, I think the difference is, you know Apple make tech hardware. Facebook, well, they run a website with adverts on.

I'm not saying "I'm out", I think it'd be pretty cool to play Elite: Dangerous with a Rift (or some other VR helmet), but I am curious on Facebook do.
 
How can a headset that connects to one PC have "scaling crisis"?
Manufacturing principally, it seems - one positive thing Luckey has said amongst the deluge this morning, is that it would permit acquisition of a 'custom display' (1440p OLED probably) and lower retail price with greater funding for larger scale production runs.
 
I think you and I both know...
Maybe you do, but my crystal ball appears to be broken. Tell me, with 100% confidence, exactly what would happen and what difference it would make to complain about it before the product is released.
 
I think you and I both know...
Maybe you do, but my crystal ball appears to be broken. Tell me, with 100% confidence, exactly what would happen and what difference it would make to complain about it before the product is released.
100% confidence, increased sales, better hardware, probably better software. Current community would disappear, you would replace one community for the other. Those that backed you originally because of your idea would abandon you on principal. ED, and O/R both sells decent hardware, but what makes them magical is the potential. They are selling ideas, and if those ideas are backed by what could be seen as a corrupt backer, it would then in peoples mind be funding those backers. People actively boycott apple products because of their ideology, those same people are in great numbers within our community. Would it effect the hardware on the end product? Not likely, or not for the bad, but you would have a totem without a soul, the non-tangible thing that makes your hardware magical would no longer exist.
 
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That's an impressive grasp of the future you've got there.

And the second part? What would complaining about it now accomplish, before either side even mentions what they intend to do during the acquisition?
 
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