Occulus VR & Facebook

[Blackthorne]

I remember when I heard buzz about Occulus VR a couple years ago - I wasn't impressed then.  I mean, I grew up in the whole era of VR.... The Lawnmower Man blew my friends mind with promises of technology, but it ended up being a fart in the wind.  However, the rise of that did give rise to 3D graphics gaining more prominence in computer and game culture, leading to the kind of games we see today - where everything is 3D modeled and made with rigs etc.

But Occulus seemed like just another gag to me at the time; I recognize we live in a time where people are obsessed with "gadgetry" more than ever.  We like little baubles of coolness to distract us, and the Occulus was just that to me.  I always played games as an alternative to reality, but I kept my feet firmly planted in the world.  I never wanted to leave this place - I just enjoyed the distraction.  Some people WANT to slip into that world fully.  So I see why the Occulus was popular, and on a KS asking for just $250,000 to develop their technology, they got $2.5 million.

People lauded the rise of independent technology development - and there was hopes of some brave new world and awesome new game-changing landscape where developers would create and control the entertainment and content!  Hand in hand with hardware developers, and free of the endless chain of barmery that corporations regurgitated, people would get new, fun, innovative and amazing games and entertainment!  The future was in our grasp!  All of us! We'd start the revolution!

And, of course, it was sold to facebook for $2 Billion the other day.  That's $2,000,000,000 dollars.

Now, as a business decision, uh - yeah - that's a no-brainer.  But it does put a damper on that whole "revolution" thing.  Truth is, money will buy you out.  It'll buy out the revolution, and I'm not surprised about it.  Anything that truly aspires to be bigger will never just develop organically enough to take on those with the superfunds.  It's sad that Occulus went this way, but for me - I never really cared for it, so it's no skin off my back.  I do feel bad for people who believed in something, and had that smashed.

Anyway, I'm just musing outloud here.  Perhaps we'll get some more opinions on the matter, eh?

Bt

[Lambonius]

I literally laughed out loud when I read the news about this.  People are so fucking naive; it kills me.

[Broomie]

People on Kickstarter asking for refunds are making me laugh. Especially the $10 ones - I mean I know money is no object but it's not like you invested your life savings into it! Plus, Kickstarter is a donation platform and you are putting money forward to get a project off it's feet with small incentives. You don't own a stake in it unless the tier specifically says so. You are not suddenly a part-time executive producer so asking for your donated money back is a waste of time. I understand people are pissed and nobody likes to see a company they believe in sell out but this is the business world and the people made the right decision for the company. Not many new companies can afford to 'stick it to the man!' Digg.com was offered ALOT of money a few years back to be bought out but they thought they could be bigger and much to the delight of the Digg community they refused all offers. Now they're worth only a fraction of that original value and it's popularity has taken a huge hit. Bet they wish they did things differently. Let's just see what Facebook's acquisition really does before grabbing your pitchforks.

As for the product itself I wouldn't ever want to own something like this. Sure, I'd try it out and probably enjoy it but it makes as much sense as buying something like a Time Crisis arcade shooter for your house. It'll probably be cool as hell at first but the novelty will wear off and you won't want to rely on a gimmick as your main entertainment. It's something I'd rather piss about with in an arcade or a trade show but nothing says I'm unaware of my surroundings than strapping a 21st Century Virtual Boy to your head and looking like an idiot. I wouldn't be surprised if somebody ended their Oculus Rift session to find all their possessions suddenly missing.

[Intendant S]

Good luck with them getting their money back. Kickstarter won't do shit about it (I tried that with a project and they said "Sorry, can't do anything. Talk to the project creator.") and I doubt the Occulus peeps would graciously give it back.

That said, I feel the same way for the VR headset as I do about the Ouya. Gimmicky and niche. Not for me.

[Klytos]

Good the fuck on them I say. If I could sell IQ for $2 BILLION dollars they could have it. I'd throw in one of my children too! And Steve's dogs.
 
The reality of KS is a lot different from the fantasy land some backers seem to live in. There's no guarantee what-so-ever that you will see your product, it's not the pre-order system that people think it is. Occulus did exactly what they said, they developed the technology using the KS funds. Then they did something that happens in business all the time, they sold it to someone else for a lot of money. Well done them I say.

[s_d]

Lurker & I had a chance to try out an Oculus Rift at a Maker event in my town.  The dev kits were pretty grainy, but the effect was solid.  It would be fun for space combat sims, but I can't really be arsed to care.

However, if Facebook can help them invent the VR pants, they'll make back their $2B in a few weeks.