So, Facebook just bought the Oculus Rift

Jdb

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The Oculus Rift was open source virtual reality. 'Virtual reality' was never the revolutionary part of the Rift. It was 'open source'. When is the last time you heard 'open source' and 'virtual reality' put together before the Rift? Never!

Open source VR is world changing technology limited only by your skill and imagination. And now it's dead. I doubt the new Oculus Rift will be anything more than a social media advertisement machine.
 

Eve Charm

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It's not really a bad think if you followed the Oculus rift. To put it plainly they didn't have the money to get this thing to a retail release with even some talk of shutting down, Now they have a backer with all the money in the damn world to get the project done and out there with the facebook name on it >.> but ya in the article.

"This partnership is one of the most important moments for virtual reality: it gives us the best shot at truly changing the world. It opens doors to new opportunities and partnerships, reduces risk on the manufacturing and work capital side,"
 

ThriKreen

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I'm guessing FB is wanting this to push something akin to PlayStation Home with their platform and the Oculus Rift, like letting people mingle in a VR setting.

It's really a wait and see - hardware development is really expensive compared to software (re: see what Valve is doing), so having this kind of funding can alleviate pressure from any VCs trying to push OculusVR to release earlier.

And it's not like Sony is any more or less evil in comparison, so I'm sort of chuckling at people jumping which platform to support.
 

Smooth Operator

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No part of this is actually good, except for the Rift devs obviously, they just got sorted for life right there.
But this is not investment or charity money, this is money for original owners to hand over everything to Facebook which can do with it as they please from now on, granted they aren't MS who would immediately make it exclusive for their new products but FB knows just as well this is the path to profit.

And openly accessible Rift would earn them fuck all, but a Rift that forces people into using FB products will make a fortune.
 

BathorysGraveland2

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Meh. To me, this Oculus Rift seemed like one of those experimental abominations from the 80's. Can't say I'm sad to see Facebook doing whatever they want with it.
 

lechat

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pretty sure this means we will get quality entertainment at reasonable prices funded by announcements that my aunt just won 500 free spins on some bullshit facebook game noone gives a shit about
 

Spambot 3000

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Well if it didn't pique my interest before it sure as fuck isn't doing it now.

'Hey guys look virtual reality a place where you can escape from reality - let's make it about SOCIALISING HAHAHA'
 

Zeh Don

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cloroxbb said:
Yeah RIP to a product that now has virtually unlimited funding to do what it needs to do to release a Consumer Version...
Oculus had over US$100m in private capital funding, which was more than enough to bring the consumer model to market. Today was about Oculus getting paid. As a publicly traded company, Facebook has a legal obligation to run their business for the benefit of their shareholders. This means they now have to create a business model around the Rift that will generate over US$2b in profits within a practicable amount of time. Being as Facebook's primary method of business has, and will continue to be, advertisements, I believe the fears are well founded.

Sony's VR is proven, and gaming focused, but it'll be locked to the PS4. As a PS4 owner, that's fine - Project Cars just announced support - but an open VR medium needs open VR headsets. I fully expect Facebook to lockdown the Rift to only Facebook certified devices and services, to maximise advertisement potential and revenue. Luckily, Razor has been dropping hints on twitter that they're entering the VR market. They contacted Notch directly, and said they'd be in touch.

Interesting times head, that's for sure. My money is still on Sony, though. The obliterated the Xbone by focusing on the developers and the gamers, and they're doing the same with Morpheus. I'm happy to give 'em a shot. In any case, VR just got shoved into the spotlight. Lets hope it's ready.
 

Jdb

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As cool as seeing the entire Internet being mad is, I doubt it will change anything. There are just too many people who don't realize what was lost. They either never knew about it, or they think video games was the OR's only use.

This is the biggest technological loss to humanity since the burning of Tesla's lab.

And if you think Facebook isn't going to squander the technology and be anything more than a social media advertisement machine, sorry, but that's exactly what they're going to do with it.

http://time.com/37842/facebook-oculus-rift/

?Oculus has the potential to be the most social platform ever,? he said. ??Imagine sharing not just moments with your friends online, but entire experiences and adventures.?

"Facebook does not yet have a business model for Oculus, but revenues won?t center around selling Oculus Rift headsets. Zuckerberg said he could envision people visiting virtual worlds where they can buy goods and are served advertisements."

"most social platform ever,"
"buy goods and are served advertisements."
 

Ghost8585

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I have a strong feeling that this is what kills Kickstarter and maybe crowdfunding in general. Nobody but the truly ignorant think they are owed some of that facebook money. However, I know it sounds lame in this money obsessed world we live in but it's about principle.

OR was crowdfunded by gamers, for gamers, for the express purpose of playing games. Now its going to be sold to idiots for VR farmvill and adverts literally shoved in your face.

OR backers paid for something specific and are now getting something else entirely and I think that overarching fear is going to loom over anyone's thoughts next time they contemplate backing another project.
 

faefrost

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Sleekit said:

facebook wants something to one up googles glass (in the zeitgeist at least)...also facebook...doesn't really have a lasting business model...so it's in the mood for buying stuff while the market'll still give it capital...anyway...i doubt any of this is "good for gamers"...

fucking shit really...gamers made this happen...then fannybaws waltzes in...to borrow a phrase...
I'm thinking that Facebook seeks to combine OR with some sort of mechanism to forceably reprogram human "wetware" via the eyeballs. The only path to true profitability I see for them is brainwashing and mass zombification. They then sell the zombie slaves that once were leet gamers to various corporate conglomerates as slave labor.

On the plus side the price of Nike's should be dropping soon as costs go down.
 

BakedSardine

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I think the future of VR isn't really games, but actually is experiences (as much as I hate to agree with Zuckerberg). I don't think the future of Oculus was guaranteed until somebody bought them. I think it's a perfectly valid platform to "virtually travel" to any number of places that you would never get to - the question is how to monetize that. It could be through ads or it could be through paid experiences.

I'm not a big VR zealot, but I think it could be kind of cool to kick back and visit something like the Taj Mahal from the comfort of your living room. We are a far cry from making that experience seem real, but maybe not as far off as we think. It may end up being a total bust for Facebook (a company I loathe), but I see the potential there.
 

Inazuma1

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What is Zuckerberg's endgame here? All I see is a kid with billions of dollars and zero sense spending his money on anything that catches his eye without the slightest bit of thought of how he intends to use it.
 

Comocat

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I guess I'm the minority that still believes in the work hard get rich mantra. I think it's awesome this company started out with a dream backed by Kickstarter. Since then they have cashed out on 400 million in cash and a billion or so in stock. More than likely everyone at that company is now a millionaire. Instead reddit and this formum are blowing up because their open source VR just got gobbled up by a larger corporation. Boohoo, a bunch of hard working engineers are now rich beyond their wildest dreams, but fuck them because games that dont even exist yet might not get made.

Maybe the company sold everyone a line of shit, I have no idea, but is everyone who donated really that naive that companies exist to make games rather than to make money?
 

Inazuma1

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cloroxbb said:
"Zero sense?" Just because he is disliked doesn't mean he doesn't know what he is doing.
$1 Billion spent to acquire fad app Instagram? $10 Billion to acquire other fad app WhatsApp? Where's the sense in these purchases?
 

Roxas1359

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Inazuma1 said:
cloroxbb said:
"Zero sense?" Just because he is disliked doesn't mean he doesn't know what he is doing.
$1 Billion spent to acquire fad app Instagram? $10 Billion to acquire other fad app WhatsApp? Where's the sense in these purchases?
Actually the WhatsApp was purchased for a whooping $4 billion in cash and $12 billion worth in stock, and $3 billion in restricted funding, so I do have to agree that Zuckerberg seems to be on a sorta spending spree as of late...>.>