Oculus Doesn't Want Competitors To Damage VR Experience

[Fanghawk]

Oculus Doesn't Want Competitors To Damage VR Experience

Given the challenges of making virtual reality content, Oculus hopes competitors like Sony's Project Morpheus don't harm the experience.

The <a href=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/136879-Oculus-Rift-inventor-wants-to-see-one-oculus-rift-in-every-home>Oculus Rift has gone a long way towards making virtual reality seem feasible, but it's not the only headset in development. Sony has <a href=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/video-games/conferences/e32014/11729-Project-Morpheus-Offers-a-Smooth-VR-to-Reality-Transition>its own Project Morpheus in the works for the PlayStation 4, and <a href=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/135705-Googles-VR-Headset-is-Literally-Made-of-Cardboard>other models are in the works. A little competition should be good news to those who enjoy immersive gaming, but these products haven't even been released yet. If one somehow manages to botch the VR experience, Oculus' Nate Mitchell is worried it might impact the entire fledgling industry.

"It's very hard to create presence, and it's very easy to break the illusion," Mitchell explained. "It's like this house of cards where, when everything is perfectly in its place, the illusion is totally there. A big part of it is our hardware, a big part is our software, and a massive part of it is the content ... So when content is poorly designed, it's very easy to break the illusion and the spell. You pull one card out, and the whole thing collapses. And you think, this doesn't feel that cool anymore."

Mitchell noted that for Oculus, the team can help make the hardware and content more immersive for users. But with all the new non-Oculus hardware and content arriving, which Oculus has no control over, a negative impact for the entire medium is a real concern.

"On the one hand it's amazing to see Sony come into the market, because it means more funding for developers," Mitchell explained. "But if the hardware isn't good enough, and it gives a bad experience and can't deliver presence - and actually one of the limited factors for them may end up being the PS4, for example - that's a major problem. That's kinda beyond our control, and that's really frustrating."

At the moment, there's no clear solution to the problem, assuming that these negative experiences Mitchell talks about ever become an issue. One suggestion is to offer VR software certification, much like how Nintendo authorizes which games can be published on its systems. For now however, the key priority is simply to get the Oculus Rift released so everyone can enjoy it. "We're still just trying to get the hardware out there, and let developers achieve presence before we worry about enforcing them to have it," Mitchell concluded.

Source: <a href=http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/223497/As_Rift_leads_the_charge_Oculus_hopes_competitors_dont_mess_up_VR.php>Gamasutra

Permalink

 

[Adam Jensen_v1legacy]

What a load of crap. Competition couldn't possibly harm the experience. If anything, it will make them work harder to provide better experience.

 

[Nowhere Man]

Nope. Competition and choice is always a good thing PERIOD. It means that both Sony and Oculus have to stay on their toes and that's a huge win for us. In a day and age where consumer choices in many markets are dwindling I'm willing to bet that Facebook wishes it could somehow buy out out the Morpheus project as well. He's right about more funding for developers though. Companies just need to sincerely focus on their projects and let the chips fall where they may. Let the free market decide the winners and losers.

 

[Shadow-Phoenix]

Last time I checked Nintendo did that certification for their own hardware, this sounds like you want to do it for everyone in which case you'd be the only one in control, that is not a good thing, not for Sony anyway.

most of what I'm getting from this article is that they are showing a weakness and they don't want anyone else in the race, not even Sony as it;s evident that they'll say "hey it;s cool Sony wanna do VR but uhh the PS4 is a problem, that means it's our problem", no , it's not yours since you're not doing anything for them and they aren't for you, stay in your own circle and concentrate on what you can do, don't bullshit me by crying and saying "Sony ruined muh VR experience", the whole point is you're supposed to deliver what you can, not Sony.

I wish these guys would just realize that VR isn't going to be the biggest best thing to happen to video gaming, that's something they have to take in strides and this isn't any different, not all of us like VR so he's already failed there without Sony even getting "in the way".

 

[-Ezio-]

if anyone is going to ruin it you can bet it'll be facebook.

 

[Nowhere Man]

I'm beginning to wonder if because of that huge purchase by Facecrook that Oculus is feeling somehow obliged (forced) to sell to every man, woman, child, pet and house plant. Judging from these past press releases It's almost as if they're being strung like marionettes over an open flame. Dance puppets dance!

 

[The_Darkness]

Well, to be fair, I can see their point. If VR comes out, and a major player in the market makes a big splash as being terrible, that will colour people's perception of the entire VR industry.

Say Sony's Morpheus crashes*. The general public will be less likely to buy into Oculus Rift because it's VR and they've heard of the VR that doesn't work. Yes, people who follow this stuff will check the reviews, find out that one product is bad, but not the rest etc, etc, etc... but not everyone does this.

(*Actually, I remember E3 reports saying Morpheus felt smoother than Oculus. But this hypothetical scenario works either way around.)

 

[NiPah]

That's a valid argument, I'm sure all the power hungry monopolies of the world use the same.

 

[Zontar]

Well, to be fair, I can see their point. If VR comes out, and a major player in the market makes a big splash as being terrible, that will colour people's perception of the entire VR industry.

Say Sony's Morpheus crashes*. The general public will be less likely to buy into Oculus Rift because it's VR and they've heard of the VR that doesn't work. Yes, people who follow this stuff will check the reviews, find out that one product is bad, but not the rest etc, etc, etc... but not everyone does this.

(*Actually, I remember E3 reports saying Morpheus felt smoother than Oculus. But this hypothetical scenario works either way around.)

That seems an odd line of thought, since until now all VR attempts HAVE been massive failures that where terrible products, at least all the ones that where affordable to the common man and not just arcades.

If one of the VR competitors like Sony where able to ruin the image because of a bad product, then the image is already stained beyond recovery. Which is arguably the case given how Rift was never meant to be anything other then a niche product for a niche market.

 

[-Dragmire-]

I think I get his point, competition is great but you need a market to compete over. If there is a large scale problem while VR headsets are a niche thing, they may always remain so.

Let's say something crazy happens and someone dies from a seizure as a result of some kind of visual glitch. A story like that could prevent wide spread adoption of the device as it would probably make for a good fear mongering news story. Even if the Oculus isn't directly involved, the blame would likely fall to all VR headsets.

 

[Maze1125]

Look at all the good little capitalists spouting on about how competition is always good...
No, competition is NOT always good. It's good a large amount of the time, but that is not the same as always.

 

[Nowhere Man]

Look at all the good little capitalists spouting on about how competition is always good...
No, competition is NOT always good. It's good a large amount of the time, but that is not the same as always.

Care to explain? Because I'm reading your statement as Oculus should corner the market on VR and anyone else that wants to make and sell a similar alternative have no right to exist.

 

[derektheviking]

I would not dismiss the worry out of hand - there are plenty of examples of negative traits being assumed to be shared among associated things. See: Nuclear energy safety in the wake of Chernobyl, regardless of reactor design; loss of faith (and sponsors) in pro cycling after the Armstrong era, regardless of the biological passport; the belief that immigrants are the cause of all problems because of that family wot I read about in the Daily Mail, regardless of the fact that the Mail was only ever meant to wrap chips. Etc.

People are very willing to see their biases fulfilled. I think that most people see the new generation of VR as a separate thing to the older attempts, but there is still a great deal of skepticism about it working now due to the association of those failed attempts. A high-profile failure now could well set things back. I don't think it'll stop anything, if the technology works, but I can certainly understand where Mitchell is coming from. Personally, I don't think it applies in this case, due to the market already being segmented by the driving technology, and the software side of things being so immature that any roll-out is going to be fairly slow; but I don't think that he is being rash in being concerned about high profile failures.

But what's the worst that could happen? After all, the British electric vehicle industry did just fine after the Sinclair C5.

 

[Vegosiux]

This is looking worse and worse. First "We're going to shove this on everyone", and now "We want a monopoly".

Yeah, sorry, I am leaning more and more towards the "No" side of the fence, and you're not helping with your PR.

 

[kailus13]

Don't worry, from the E3 reviews of the Sony Morpheus it's likely to be better than your device.

It would be a decent point if it was coming from outside the company, but as it is it just sounds disingenuous.

 

[Ed130 The Vanguard]

You know, I think Oculus should just shut the fuck up before it digs itself any deeper.

One stupid PR quote is an accident, two stupid quotes is a trend, three quotes is becoming the next EA or Xbone.

 

[Agayek]

What a load of crap. Competition couldn't possibly harm the experience. If anything, it will make them work harder to provide better experience.

Yes and no. The way I read it, he's not talking about competition. The worry is not "Oh, now we have to compete with someone, that's bad".

The worry is "Oh, now our competitors are coming into the market, rushing out with substandard equipment, and destroying the market before it even forms by delivering a shoddy product that turns everyone off from VR in the first place".

Speaking as someone who has paid zero attention to the ongoings of various VR efforts, it's an understandable concern. People are already extremely skeptical of VR and either don't see the point or actively want it to fail. It's very, very possible for the first released product, if it's bad, to destroy all demand for VR in its entirety. It would be very much like how the release of ET for the Atari 2600 drove everyone to abandon video games for most of a decade. Naturally, Occulus views this as a bad thing, and are admitting that it's frustrating that their entire business is at risk of absolute, irrecoverable failure because of factors completely outside of their control.

 

[Entitled]

This is looking worse and worse. First "We're going to shove this on everyone", and now "We want a monopoly".

Yeah, the Internet Hate Machine is getting really out of control.

First they take a quote about how the OR is expected to primarily targeted at hardcore gamers with powerful gaming rigs, and put the focus entirely on Palmer's decade-long vision about the VR platform.

Then take one about the concerns that bad competition will be a hardship to overcome, and open it with the words "Oculus Doesn't Want Competitors".

I'm beginning to wonder if because of that huge purchase by Facecrook that Oculus is feeling somehow obliged (forced) to sell to every man, woman, child, pet and house plant. Judging from these past press releases It's almost as if they're being strung like marionettes over an open flame. Dance puppets dance!

I doubt that, even around the Kickstarter era, Palmer has been pretty vocal about his long term vision for the VR medium's target audience, and supported apps like the VR Cinema. If anything, since the purchase they have spent a lot more effort narrowing down their audience to powerful gaming rigs thanks to the higher performence they can afford.