Facebook Just Bought Oculus VR

Wow I doubt that all those people who backed the Oculus on Kickstarter are super happy about this!

"We believe virtual reality will be heavily defined by social experiences that connect people in magical, new ways."

This gives me douche chills.

See this is why we can only count on Nintendo. Playstation Move is arguably better than Wii Motion Plus, but nothing as good as Skyward Sword exists besides Skyward Sword. Motion controls aren't dead, people just aren't creative enough of game designers and programmers besides in Nintendo to do anything significant without being derivative. Sony pushed 3D for about 5 seconds, and didn't see it through even though 3DTVs are cheap as hell, I got a 42 inch 1080p 3DTV over a year ago for $500. I love playing the PS3 games that are in 3D and also love playing 3D games on my PC. Not understanding motion controls or 3D are both because someone is old and not willing to experience new things, and are ignorant of what they are judging.

Facebook might have a great idea about how to use VR but with their track record of exploitation it is highly unlikely.

I can't wait to see what Sony does with VR but since they now told everyone that they've been working on that for many years, and in that time they encouraged and then discouraged 3D, I am confused. Do they know what they are doing? If they aren't making games in 3D the people making them won't get better. Nintendo has shown that with the 3DS it takes time to get the 3D right and as you make more games for 3D you learn new tricks and make things better. That needs to happen and what they did with the PS3 when they suddenly stopped talking about 3D is an example of how they will drop the ball with VR as well. That way of thinking turns the results into derivative pieces of shit. Even worse there are people that are willing to say that Sports Champions is a better game than Wii Sports Resort because of the graphics and how its on PS3 and how they think the Wii sucks. Those people who form an opinion when only seeing one side are the biggest problem on the planet and are seen everywhere in business, politics and everywhere else.

Looking forward to seeing what Oculus does, but wow do I not want to support them anymore. It sounds like a dick thing to say, but I really hope they don't succeed because they just sold their soul to the devil.

Honestly all Nintendo needs to do is make Hey You Pikachu 2 for their own VR headset and all the others will seem pointless.

Guys! Remember the social media website that brought you Farmville?

Well now imagine a social media website and farmville...IN VIRTUAL REALITY.

@internetdetective: I know, which is why situations like this feel weird. Like I'm outside a hive mind I don't understand.

Obligatory:

they were going to be bought buy someone. at that point the question become who? Facebook is no worse that Microsoft or Google. the only difference is we know what MS and Google would do with it, and Facebook we do not.

Isn't the cyberpunk dream of VR just greasy, smelly people having pretend sex while dick ads float in the background? Facebook would probably get us there faster than first person shooters.

Huh? Wait it's not April 1, is it? How far did we spring forward..

Yup!

Those that are bringing up the KS point are onto a really interesting angle to this story. A kickstarted venture flipped for $2 billion in less than 2 years (KS funded on 8/31/12). I'm sure KS will leverage this story to attract more investment and participation to its platform, but I'll be more interested to see if more startups go in for crowdfunding for their initial seed capital instead of traditional Angel Investors.

As for the knock-on effect with VR gaming and Sony's Morpheus in particular, it'll be interesting to hear what the reaction from the PC dev community is and whether or not this pushes more projects to Sony and Morpheus earlier than expected. I've seen those reports that OR will operate independently within the FB infrastructure, but I'll believe it when I see it. Also, Polygon had a good article recently about Sony being comfortable with OR taking the lead on things while they took more of a curatorial position in regards to the software they would bring over to Playstation. Things could still play out that way but I think FB's purchase will put off a lot of people and put more of a spotlight on Morpheus for better or worse.

This April Fools joke brought to you a week early. Something something Early Access something.

I'd be pretty bummed if I had given them kickstarter money.

Well....Gamers finally excited for peripheral for video games that could actually change the landscape, we are yet again let down :( Here's to the Sony Morpheus!

I mean, seriously WTF, this gave Sony a HUGE advantage in taking the spotlight with gamers.

So... John Carmack now works for Facebook? I sure didn't see that coming.

When I saw this I checked my calender to make sure I wasn't actually a week behind and today was April 1st. Unfortunately this wasn't the case.

@sub_o said:

Oh, but Twitter is totally awesome!

"We were in talks about maybe bringing a version of Minecraft to Oculus. I just cancelled that deal. Facebook creeps me out." - Notch (from Twitter)

3d never became a thing at home due to general uncomfortability. Good luck VR!

Oculus is dead!

If Carmack walks out before release you know things have really gone tits up

Looking forward to Facebook's version of Playstation Home. This is the start of the virtual world in Neuromancer, OZ from Summer Wars or more likely the AD filled virtual reality from Futurama.

Still excited for my Dev Kit 2.

@turboman: Oh man this is perfect. Never seen this before.

Also, wtf does Oculus have to do with mobile gaming? Its the most immobile platform I can think of.. wearing a mask and likely headphones that blocks your senses from the outside world and must be plugged into something nearby..

Wtf? Lets say they remove the cord in 5-10 years.. You going to sit on a bus with that on your face? Feels like just asking to get molested or somethin.

double wow

Wait, are we back in the Nineties? Youths everywhere complaining about The Man, tech companies spending obscene amounts of money...

This is why we can't have nice things.

Imagine using Oculus to be with your friend on their birthday! Hooray!

I'm going to wait and see where this leads. The Oculus guys have been smart cookies for a while, and with the additional funding and outreach, it'll certainly get the Rift out in the public eye.

Also I don't get how Sony is suddenly the savior, given they are also a giant company as well.

wow, another company trying to give Sony MORE of an edge in the gaming scene. wow, wtf. A few days after Morpheus unveiling and this shit. Sony is working some voodoo magic.

Very dumb acquisition on Facebook's part. Talk about over paying. I don't think people realize how much 2 billion is. That's a lot of dough for an unproven platform that was just one upped by Sony...which has a proven platform to deliver content to a device like this. Money flushed down the toilet IMO. Congrats to the Oculus guys. They made a smart decision selling for that price. Very smart.

Well that's fucked.

WOW I guess I can understand selling a company with a uncertain future for 2 billion but damn... Oculus had a good run. At least we gamers still have Morpheus.

I was excited for the Oculus and will still see what comes of it... But this seems like it will most likely ruin it rather than make it better. Sad day... Atleast Sony's seemed promising.

@koolaid said:

@sub_o said:

Oh, but Twitter is totally awesome!

Dunno about his stance on Twitter. I just find it funny that a lot of people are either against or for this acquisition right now. Maybe wait for a year or two to see how it goes?

Get ready for OASIS!

Dear Sony and Valve, please don't fuck up your VR projects. Sincerely, gamers.

@shortbreadtom: it is the truth though.... More people own mobile phones than all the consoles combined. That dragon whatever game made 100 million a week last year. That's fucking crazy. It is a monstrous market that 'gamers' don't really notice or pay attention to.

I can't think of a worse home for this technology than Facebook. Great for them, terrible for everyone else.

Wait, what? WHAT????

You know how all the plucky internet start-ups from a decade ago are now just as evil and giant as the conglomerates they fought against? Yeah. This is more of that.

That picture is actually a mock-up by Polish designer and 3D artist Michał Bonikowski. Hell, the text on the screen is Polish.

I rather give money to sony than facebook.

"Oculus has the chance to create the most social platform ever"

That uh...that's kind of not really what it's for though right?

Smart people will be saying smart things about this for a while. Instead, I'm just going to revel in the cyberpunk implications of all this.

Seriously, these comments are kinda upsetting me. I thought Oculus was an awesome story of people bringing their dream of VR to life. And everything that has come out of it has seemed pretty damn cool. Can't wait to get my hands on a retail version.

But now that we are seeing those guys get (in my opinion) their well deserved reward for starting a virtual revolution, we hate them now???

I for one am super happy for Oculus. Way to go guys!

I don't think people are upset/worried because Facebook is a giant company, it's because they're a giant company with priorities that don't match what most gamers want. That doesn't make Sony a savior, but their reputation and history/present in games is much more in line with what people are hoping to see from VR than Facebook.

@koolaid: Also fedoras

A tear ran from my eye as I read this. It is one of the most saddest things I have ever read.

Facebook didn't make Farmville, it was merely the site it was put onto.

As long as Oculus VR release a product to consumers, that's all that matters.

Just because they are owned by Facebook doesn't mean you will only be able to play social tie-in games using the kit, fucking hell.

Instagram hasn't changed at all since being bought out, way too much knee jerk stupidity in this thread.