THE BORE

General => Video Game Bored => Topic started by: Shaka Khan on March 25, 2014, 06:39:52 PM

Title: Facebook has acquired Oculus VR
Post by: Shaka Khan on March 25, 2014, 06:39:52 PM
This is too good to not have its own thread...

https://www.facebook.com/zuck/posts/10101319050523971

Quote
Mark Zuckerberg

I'm excited to announce that we've agreed to acquire Oculus VR, the leader in virtual reality technology.

Our mission is to make the world more open and connected. For the past few years, this has mostly meant building mobile apps that help you share with the people you care about. We have a lot more to do on mobile, but at this point we feel we're in a position where we can start focusing on what platforms will come next to enable even more useful, entertaining and personal experiences.

This is where Oculus comes in. They build virtual reality technology, like the Oculus Rift headset. When you put it on, you enter a completely immersive computer-generated environment, like a game or a movie scene or a place far away. The incredible thing about the technology is that you feel like you're actually present in another place with other people. People who try it say it's different from anything they've ever experienced in their lives.

Oculus's mission is to enable you to experience the impossible. Their technology opens up the possibility of completely new kinds of experiences.

Immersive gaming will be the first, and Oculus already has big plans here that won't be changing and we hope to accelerate. The Rift is highly anticipated by the gaming community, and there's a lot of interest from developers in building for this platform. We're going to focus on helping Oculus build out their product and develop partnerships to support more games. Oculus will continue operating independently within Facebook to achieve this.

But this is just the start. After games, 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.

This is really a new communication platform. By feeling truly present, you can share unbounded spaces and experiences with the people in your life. Imagine sharing not just moments with your friends online, but entire experiences and adventures.

These are just some of the potential uses. By working with developers and partners across the industry, together we can build many more. One day, we believe this kind of immersive, augmented reality will become a part of daily life for billions of people.

Virtual reality was once the dream of science fiction. But the internet was also once a dream, and so were computers and smartphones. The future is coming and we have a chance to build it together. I can't wait to start working with the whole team at Oculus to bring this future to the world, and to unlock new worlds for all of us.

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Title: Re: Facebook has acquired Oculus VR
Post by: Himu on March 25, 2014, 06:41:38 PM
:tocry
Title: Re: Facebook has acquired Oculus VR
Post by: fistfulofmetal on March 25, 2014, 06:42:54 PM
what i said in the other thread

Quote from: fistfulofmetal on March 25, 2014, 06:39:32 PM
there are two concerns:

1.) the talent will be scooped up and the tech will disappear
2.) the tech will be scooped up and the talent will disappear

both scenarios suck.
Title: Re: Facebook has acquired Oculus VR
Post by: Madrun Badrun on March 25, 2014, 06:43:20 PM
Finally I will be able to reach out and physically like posts, just to give them a personal touch. 
Title: Re: Facebook has acquired Oculus VR
Post by: Rahxephon91 on March 25, 2014, 06:48:49 PM
It will bring new meaning to the word cyberstalk and facebook creep. Watch out girls on my friendslist.
Title: Re: Facebook has acquired Oculus VR
Post by: cool breeze on March 25, 2014, 10:07:01 PM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8p0jmewhXeU

it's happening
Title: Re: Facebook has acquired Oculus VR
Post by: BobFromPikeCreek on March 25, 2014, 10:07:56 PM
Uh, Occulus has a pile of money to fuck around with now. This is awesome.
Title: Re: Facebook has acquired Oculus VR
Post by: Bebpo on March 25, 2014, 10:11:00 PM
I really hope this does not effect my Dev Kit 2 I just pre-ordered ;_;
Title: Re: Facebook has acquired Oculus VR
Post by: Great Rumbler on March 25, 2014, 10:19:56 PM
Quote from: Bebpo on March 25, 2014, 10:11:00 PM
I really hope this does not effect my Dev Kit 2 I just pre-ordered ;_;

(http://i.minus.com/j4wEnnp4SfjZy.png)
Title: Re: Facebook has acquired Oculus VR
Post by: Great Rumbler on March 25, 2014, 10:33:01 PM
Quote from: Esch on March 25, 2014, 10:31:24 PM
John Carmack works for fucking Facebook now.

:rofl :rofl :rofl

From top 10 to not mentioned at all.... :holeup

Quote
John Carmack ‏@ID_AA_Carmack  1h

I suppose I will get a FB account now, so that may lead to some writing a little longer than tweet length...

:tocry
Title: Re: Facebook has acquired Oculus VR
Post by: HyperZoneWasAwesome on March 26, 2014, 04:31:01 AM
I still don't get this.

Facebook has been a phenomenally successful company and did so while never selling a tangible product, Facebook doesn't have a single storefront, a warehouse, a supply chain, or any sort of R&D beyond innovating in advertising placement.  And they also seemingly have an avowed disinterest in game development, going by the official PR speak of today.  They can talk about social network integration all they like, I still don't get the practical value of Facebook owning this.

Goodyear Tires buying Twitter makes about as much sense to me.
Title: Re: Facebook has acquired Oculus VR
Post by: radioheadrule83 on March 26, 2014, 05:56:31 AM
Questioning the wisdom of it makes sense. And joking about it makes sense. People here are joking, which is cool, but I think the gaming community's reaction elsewhere, as per usual, is knee jerk reactionary and stupid. Notch seems to want to be king of the stupids as well.

The one legitimate complaint I can see is that initial kickstarter investors aren't reaping the benefits of this deal. But then, they got what they were promised -- working prototypes, dev-kits and a start to this whole phenomenon.

A company like Facebook, or a large media company (like one of the film and telecoms studios, ie. Time Warner, Disney etc) is probably the best possible thing. They've now gotten themselves a huge injection of capital and protection from litigative action by competitors. Facebook are a heavyweight company, with an audience outreach that's probably better than anything any other company can boast. They're not beholden to any software or hardware company, or tied to any piece of proprietary hardware. A buyout from an Apple, Google, Microsoft, Sony or Nintendo would have been bad for openness. Sure, its possible that they could misuse the property and waste its potential, but $2bln would indicate that they do SEE that potential. As long as they give this thing a go and let the OR guys improve their product, I don't see this as a bad thing.

I think the more interesting ramification of all this is that it tells us how Facebook views its future. It doesn't just want to be a social network and advertiser anymore, it wants to buy up technology and exploit new media opportunities, to diversify. They've got the clout to shake up any industry they walk into, but all of the risk that any company trying that would have.
Title: Re: Facebook has acquired Oculus VR
Post by: radioheadrule83 on March 26, 2014, 06:37:41 AM
Waddup Borys (I have an Xbox One now too - and I like an underdog!)

I'd only read Notch's tweets when I made my last post, but then I caught up to his post here: http://notch.net/2014/03/virtual-reality-is-going-to-change-the-world/

Actually pretty reasonable. And I didn't realise he'd seeded investment funding with ten grand. So he's entitled to be upset. I take back what I said.
Title: Re: Facebook has acquired Oculus VR
Post by: Eel O'Brian on March 26, 2014, 08:44:20 AM
I'm all for it if, when you block or unfriend someone, you reach out with your virtual hands and slowly close a virtual door in their face. I'll pay extra if the door makes a creaking noise.
Title: Re: Facebook has acquired Oculus VR
Post by: huckleberry on March 26, 2014, 08:48:55 AM
Quote from: Eel O'Brian on March 26, 2014, 08:44:20 AM
I'm all for it if, when you block or unfriend someone, you reach out with your virtual hands and slowly close a virtual door in their face. I'll pay extra if the door makes a creaking noise.

Don't worry, you will.
Title: Re: Facebook has acquired Oculus VR
Post by: Cerveza mas fina on March 26, 2014, 09:34:29 AM
I was thinking how chatting will work with a VR headset.

I hope there will be a 3D camera so we can map our faces and bodies, hook that shit up to a fleshlight and do some crazy stuff.
Title: Re: Facebook has acquired Oculus VR
Post by: Brehvolution on March 26, 2014, 11:22:26 AM
Put your life on facebook and bitch about the NSA invading your privacy, brehs.
Title: Re: Facebook has acquired Oculus VR
Post by: Rufus on March 26, 2014, 11:35:08 AM
One is voluntary, the other isn't. :larry
Title: Re: Facebook has acquired Oculus VR
Post by: hampster on March 26, 2014, 12:31:04 PM
Lets farm!

(https://i.imgur.com/SxrAa7Y.jpg)
Title: Re: Facebook has acquired Oculus VR
Post by: ferrarimanf355 on March 26, 2014, 11:20:56 PM
Quote from: Esch on March 25, 2014, 10:31:24 PM
John Carmack works for fucking Facebook now.

:rofl :rofl :rofl

From top 10 to not mentioned at all.... :holeup
Nothing a Quad Damage powerup can't fix.
Title: Re: Facebook has acquired Oculus VR
Post by: headwalk on March 26, 2014, 11:32:29 PM
because nobody should be expected to read two threads:

Quote
i'm actually relieved. there's nothing worse than a tail waggling sycophant for any device and i was uncomfortably on board with just about every noise that was coming out of the house of oculus.

this is a much better fit for me, once again sitting on the sidelines drowning in cynicism and crushed hopes, waiting to grudgingly get on board with whoever makes the best promise to fuck me gently.
Title: Re: Facebook has acquired Oculus VR
Post by: benjipwns on March 26, 2014, 11:33:58 PM
Quote
Oculus's mission is to enable you to experience the impossible.
Then this is literally mission impossible.
Title: Re: Facebook has acquired Oculus VR
Post by: ToxicAdam on March 28, 2014, 03:04:38 PM
Quote
Following the surprise announcement Tuesday that Facebook had purchased Oculus VR for $2 billion, positive and negative comments flowed forth from social media. Oculus VR vice president Nate Mitchell said in a new interview with Game Informer that he expected to get some heat from its core fans over the deal, but said he was surprised by the outpouring of negativity from the community at large.

"We assumed that the reaction would be negative, especially from our core community," Mitchell said. "Beyond our core community, we expected it would be positive. I don't think we expected it to be so negative."

In the time that's passed, Mitchell said he's already starting to see the conversation on Twitter and Reddit "swinging back the opposite direction." He stressed that it's up to Oculus VR to educate people on why the deal makes sense and should be considered a good thing.

21-year-old Oculus Rift creator Palmer Luckey has been busy doing just that. Immediately following the announcement of the acquisition, he answered dozens of questions on Reddit about privacy concerns and what the deal means for the future of Oculus. For more on the Oculus VR/Facebook deal, check out editorials from GameSpot editors Tom McShea and Peter Brown.


 :lol

Title: Re: Facebook has acquired Oculus VR
Post by: archie4208 on March 28, 2014, 03:20:54 PM
Michael Abrash joined Oculus.  :rock
Title: Re: Facebook has acquired Oculus VR
Post by: Sho Nuff on March 29, 2014, 02:16:00 PM
:bow Abrash :bow2
:bow Carmack :bow2
:bow Getting the gang back together :bow2

:romerocry
Title: Re: Facebook has acquired Oculus VR
Post by: a slime appears on March 29, 2014, 05:43:45 PM
I have never even heard of Abrash before this announcement. He hasn't done much in games besides helping Carmack with Quake and working at RAD for a long time.

Here's a good read to bring others up to speed:
http://blogs.valvesoftware.com/abrash/valve-how-i-got-here-what-its-like-and-what-im-doing-2/
Title: Re: Facebook has acquired Oculus VR
Post by: recursivelyenumerable on March 30, 2014, 06:29:14 PM
I had one of his game programming books back in the late 90s or whenever ...
Title: Re: Facebook has acquired Oculus VR
Post by: Damian79 on March 30, 2014, 06:57:52 PM
I am wondering why people see this as a bad thing.  What exactly is bad about this partnership?  Are people expecting and increase in price?
Title: Re: Facebook has acquired Oculus VR
Post by: BobFromPikeCreek on March 30, 2014, 07:01:35 PM
Because Facebook obviously plans to turn these into Farmville Goggles. ::)
Title: Re: Facebook has acquired Oculus VR
Post by: Rufus on March 30, 2014, 07:55:01 PM
Quote from: Oscar the Grouch on March 30, 2014, 07:51:33 PM
some people are mad because they think facebook is a bad company, and will do things like collect data and present ads via the rift.
Bet your ass they will.  :heh
Title: Re: Facebook has acquired Oculus VR
Post by: ToxicAdam on March 30, 2014, 11:27:30 PM
Has Facebook made a move in the past 4-5 years that was amazing? One that seemed to be for the benefit of the consumer without strings attached? Or one that showed some kind of innovation?

I'm not a Facebook user, so maybe I missed out on what they have done that is forward thinking. Everything I ever read about them is negative or people scratching their heads.

That's where my pessimism comes from.
Title: Re: Facebook has acquired Oculus VR
Post by: a slime appears on March 31, 2014, 09:32:54 AM
Quote from: Oscar the Grouch on March 30, 2014, 07:51:33 PM
Quote from: Damian79 on March 30, 2014, 06:57:52 PM
I am wondering why people see this as a bad thing.  What exactly is bad about this partnership?  Are people expecting and increase in price?

some people are concerned that facebook lacks the know-how and means of distributing a physical product, especially one with such a seemingly different target than their usual product.

some people are mad because an "indie" company has been swallowed up by a big, icky corporation.

some people are mad because they kicked in money and for some reason are chapped that they aren't getting a slice of $2 billion.

some people are mad because they think facebook is a bad company, and will do things like collect data and present ads via the rift.

some people are mad because they wanted another company to buy oculus and facebook doesn't fit the planned story.

and finally, some people are mad because with facebook behind it, there's a chance this product is going to have a wider focus than just gamers, and let a bunch of stinky casual people into the secret cool guy clubhouse they were assembling in their dreams.

These are all fine and good but you forgot CliffyB trolling the shit out of people hating this deal on Twitter. That has upset a few people. :lol