New Facebook Oculus VR. Takes poking to next level

[drbrock]

Dont know what they can do with this...

http://www.ign.com/articles/2014/03/25/facebook-to-acquire-oculus-vr-for-2-billion

 

[Red Storm]

I am very annoyed by this news.

If I were FB I would be ecstatic. $2b is nothing for what will more than likely become the cornerstone of future entertainment/communication/gaming technology.

I'm just disappointed that Oculus sold out!

 

[CountZero]

Of all the tech companies that could have acquired Oculus FB is probably one of the worst I can imagine.

I guess we'll see. Google was surprising with Android so maybe FB will be surprising as well.

 

[norseamd]

there are other vr companies so oh well

like someone said in the other thread the kickstarter backers must feel betrayed

 

[highland145]

Last time I poked fun at her she took me serious......+ 1 kid.

 

[DrPizza]

I hope they read the fine print carefully. 20-some million shares? On Facebook?

 

[mizzou]

yeah, $400.000 cash and the rest in "shares"....basically bitcoins

 

[darkswordsman17]

This is pretty weird. I almost wonder if this is more about keeping it out of the hands of Microsoft, Apple, or Google than Facebook having any real plans (yeah, sure need VR for Candy Crush).

I don't know, maybe Facebook will surprise everyone and this is more about them using their money to leverage a company/tech they expect will take off big time (and thus reap the rewards when it does). Or they might completely ruin it by trying to tie Facebook into the API or some crap as some social aspect.

The good news is that hardware wise, I don't know that there's anything preventing another company making pretty much the same thing (as long as they keep from straight ripping the exact design, they should be able to get away with making the hardware as good). I do wonder about the software side. Hopefully Facebook doesn't leverage any patents or anything and in effect stifle VR development by being dicks like Creative did with audio.

Really curious to see what Valve's response to this will be. Maybe they'll actually go ahead and make a VR headset then (I believe the rumors were that Valve was working on one but weren't intending to release it, it was more about internal use for helping to develop new ideas and for better understanding of how to make Steam and games work well with VR).

 

[mizzou]

I wonder how this affects Valve's mentorship/partnership with Oculus.

I believe Newell has a friendly relationship with Zuckerberg?

 

[postmortemIA]

I wonder how this affects Valve's mentorship/partnership with Oculus.

I believe Newell has a friendly relationship with Zuckerberg?

They are friends on FB and Steam?

 

[SunnyD]

Who's in with me for the $2 billion stretch goal?

 

[Fanatical Meat]

Ugh I was excited but never really sold on this,now I'm positive it will suck

 

[WhoBeDaPlaya]

So John Carmack now works for Facebook? :biggrin:

 

[jpeyton]

There are quite a few ways Facebook could lose on this deal, and reasons why the Google/Android comparison are not valid.

First and foremost, when Google bought Android in 2005, they paid a tiny fraction of their market cap for it ($50m, when the company was worth $52b). Android was also unknown to almost everyone at that time; people knew it was a mobile software company, but little else.

Everyone knows what Oculus is. They're more or less the leader in the resurgence of VR technology in the mainstream. That's also why Facebook has to pay such a huge sum for them.

Zuck's vision for Oculus is for you to "jack-in" to the web, and use Facebook as your virtual home away from home. It's a splendid vision...one that's littered almost every cyberpunk novel in the 80s/90s...but we're at least a decade away from that becoming reality. Actually 15 years sounds more realistic.

I hope they view that $2 billion as a very long, long term investment, because it's going to be a long time before they see any type of return on it. And that long wait will undoubtedly field competitors. On the other hand, Google turned their $50m acquisition of Android into a $1b income stream in 5 years, and it's much higher than that now.

Oculus also has some immediate competition, from a company with far more experience in display and motion tracking technology: Sony. But if Sony were smart, they would slow play the development of VR until the market is ready.

 

[TXHokie]

The author of Minecraft said it best when he pulled out of an Oculus Rift version after it was bought - "Facebook creeps me out".

 

[BladeVenom]

 

[bignateyk]

:biggrin:

 

[Wreckem]

So John Carmack now works for Facebook? :biggrin:

I wonder what his stock options were when he became CTO. He banked off the selling of id to Zenimax. Now he banks off this project.

 

[PliotronX]

Well put post at the IGN article sums up my thoughts:

Lost in all of the Facebook hate, I think Oculus VR deserves an equal amount of flak. These guys had the chance to become not only a larger, more influential (and thus more valuable) company than Facebook, but also to leave their mark on history and change the face of gaming and technology forever.
Now, the minds behind this project will be forever a distant memory, devoid of relevance. One of the things that Steve Jobs was always so disappointed by was the inability of today's entrepreneurs to exude patience, always selling off before creating something truly ambitious and monumental.
Oculus VR had this opportunity and has now pissed it all away in favour of corporate kickbacks. If they had any decency left within themselves, they'd at least refund the $2.5 million that was accumulated with Kickstarter. This merger not only tarnishes their own name, but also damages the reputation of crowd funding in general. Palmer, you and the rest in charge should be ashamed of yourselves. Sell outs.

 

[KidNiki1]

markiplier! <3

i was probably not going to get an oculus anyway, since that kind of stuff gives me a little bit of motion sickness. i still feel like this is a shady deal. FB will fuck it up somehow, i am sure.

 

[cyclohexane]

:biggrin:

Lol

 

[Aharami]

really not seeing the vision here...

 

[mnewsham]

little bit of motion sickness.

that is remedied (for many people) with 120Hz and higher screen resolution, 1920x1080 is looking to be possibly not enough for high quality VR, but it will still be decent, 2560x1440 and 3840x2160 are likely for future VR designs.

 

[Kaido]

Farmville 3D yessssssssssssssssssssss

 

[ultimatebob]

Yeah... immersive 3D Mafia Wars and Candy Crush? I'm not seeing it.