Oculus Rift Cancellation Link Tops Reddit

T1 - Facebook’s move to purchase Oculus Rift makers Oculus VR for $2bn has raised a lot of eyebrows and concerns. So much so that it has resulted in a link to the Oculus Rift pre-order cancellation page topping a hugely popular Reddit channel and being displayed on the front page of the website. Reddit receives millions of impressions a day. Not all PR is good PR, eh?

[Majin-vegeta]

If i were a back starter i would demand my monies back.

[Xsilver]

http://media.tumblr.com/tum... allot of people are probably gonna back out.

[Thatlalala]

Farmville, VR version..... My soul just died. What a waste.

[WeAreLegion]

You're right. Many have already backed out.

http://25.media.tumblr.com/...

[UltimateMaster]

Farmville, VR version..... My soul just died. What a waste.

Stop copying what I posted!

lol Pretty much sums up the article.

[Hatsune-Miku]

Morpheus is the future of VR in video games

[darthv72]

"Morpheus is the future of VR in video games"

That seems like such a limiting use of the tech. Especially for a platform that is wanting to be more than just games lately.

[ZodTheRipper]

The Occulus execs that got the 2 billion dollar cheque should refund the backers from their own pockets in my opninon ..thanks to them this success was possible in the first place. I would be pretty pissed if my money was used like this.

[ShinMaster]

@ darthv72

If you watched the whole presentation for Morpheus, you'd realize that they're really focusing on games.

" specially for a platform that is wanting to be more than just games lately "
Xbox One??

[PoSTedUP]

yeah, they have every right to. id personally wait to see what happens, but this backlash is actually good (reardless if ppl are jumping to conclusions or not) bc it is a reminder for FB to keep it gaming, which we have no idea how it is going to go since the deal just happened yesterday. plus everyone has their own personal reasons on why not to support FB, so i cant disagree with them. im just curious to see how this will play out. FB has a lot of money, they Could make it great for gaming, on top of what they were planning (which we are yet to find out).

i would lmao if it turns out to be awesome, bc i mean, the devs are still on board to making games for it (besides minecraft for their own reasons). so atm i dont see it being a game changer in that regard, and the more ppl that have one (FB audiance, which is Huge) the more devs are going to want to make games for it. the mineraft devs are really stupid to not see the potential install base... i bet $1000 they change their mind and reconsider.

[serratos27]

People don't trust FB in general. I mean, personally, I don't because they don't even respect privacy they are so sketch. People are worried about privacy issues and...ads haha. Its upsetting even to me that they made this move for the fact that is has displeased probably the majority of those who backed the project.
"Alright thanks guys for coming and giving us momentum BUT we just got offered lots of monies!!!" Haha thats how I imagine people feel about this situation rn.
Hope I made sense.

[PoSTedUP]

true. i guess they should wait to see, and see what the TOS says for the rift bc when people agree to the TOS on PSN and XBL they bassically agree to intrusion of privacy w/o them realizing. i bet its gonna be the same thing for the rift tbh.

[malokevi]

Yeah, all self-proclaimed hipsters hate facebook. It's nunz-the-cool, yo. LET'S TAKE DOWN THE SYSTEM AND TRASH THIS CONFORMIST NIGHTMARE! WOOOOOOO!!!

Also, I'm sure Occulus would be more then happy to give you your money back, and send you a bottle of Don Perignon with a gold-plate on the front that reads: "Go ___ Yourself!"

lol.

[HeavenlySnipes]

What do you see Facebook really doing with this technology?

They aren't in the market for pleasing any gamer but the casual one where they leech off them with microtransactions

[PoSTedUP]

@heavenlysnipes- what difference does it make? the same devs are still on board to making games for it, and the more FB marketing money influences more ppl to own one, the more-more and more devs are going to want to make games for it... simple business really.. unless your wizardry has this all figured out and you know what is going to happen; i can only see it as a positive for OR and gaming.

[papashango]

you don't get bought out for 2 billion and start telling people that you still have full control and nothings gonna change.

Palmer seems to think so, which just goes to show at age 21 you know everything yet know nothing.

[Qrphe]

>It's nunz-the-cool, yo

Hey grannie, trying too hard

[Flutterby]

Isn't it hippies that fight the man ? I thought hipsters where the people that try to start fashions then when it's fashion they change to the next thing they want to be fashionable? I also thought all hipsters had preppy haircuts but also full beards to make it "cooler"

[ATi_Elite]

Yesterday = Oculus rift is SUPERIOR

Today = Oculus RIft TOTALLY SUCKS

Long Live SOny VR (as long as they don't sell-out to Facebook lol)

[thejigisup]

Last month= Oculus is the coolest.
Gdc=Project Morpheus is definitely better but OR still rocks
Today=facebook facef....S the OR and its backers

[dcj0524]

Why? You got Devkit 1 and Devkit 2 is coming in July.

[frostypants]

You don't think Facebook will screw with the development policies? I've got some oceanfront property in Montana to sell you.

[_FantasmA_]

Darth
You are so negative. You don't deserve even one bubble.

[Prime157]

You know, you people and your lack of reasoning.

If you do crowd funding, you are not purchasing stake in the company. You are sometimes getting a minor incentive like the project itself, but you are, in essence, donating money.

These ridiculous claims from average Joes who know nothing about investing are simply ignorant. I'm sorry, but you forgot to say, "I'll invest x-amount for Y in return."

Good faith, a gift, a donation. They wouldn't t ask their money back from a charity...

Basically, kick starter is full of crappy investments with no ROI (return on investment). Idiot investors go there. Investors isn't even a good word for that.

Edit; I will say that stuff like the bots on Reddit posting things like mentioned the article ( http://i.imgur.com/lW6il6I.... are worrisome, though.

[Flutterby]

I thought it was odd they where asking for money back as well , I was sure kickstarter was kinda like a charity to help devs make the things they couldn't afford by themselves.

[Prime157]

I didn't mean to type with so many "you" sentences, btw. Looking back on my post I regret that.

I just don't understand the entitlement for personal (arguably wrong in this case) choices. Said kickstarter "investor" (donator) wants his money back? The contract is: You give said campaign money. Soetimes the campaign gives you the final product, sometimes more, but have you ever seen, "Stake in company?" <--Meaning: You cannot give a s*** in Oculus' decision if they want to be backed by facebook for a $2bn investement.

No, and if kickstarter wants to keep their credibility, they should NOT force Oculus to give the money back.

If Oculus, however, wants to give the money back, then every kickstarter investor (idiot) should forgive them, to the fullest extent.

Edit: toned down.

[UnHoly_One]

Once a project is funded by Kickstarter there is no way to "back out".

Even if a company folds and never produces anything at all, you have no recourse.

That is why Kickstarter sucks, it's a total gamble.

[-Foxtrot]

I think gamers who supported Oculus should just back Sony to get one over Facebook.

Get Sony to make Morpheus PC compatible and expand it. I mean who knows maybe Sony focused on the PS4 with Morpheus because they knew Oculus would have a big enough grip on the PC market....now that they've given PC gamers the middle finger they should expand their audience.

[Majin-vegeta]

http://n4g.com/news/1479628...

[-Foxtrot]

Oh...well.....I'm guessing it will now :)

[Joe913]

If Sony was thinking about it
this whole thing should push them to go ahead and support PC and try to win over the ppl who do not want to support FB I wan't to see what MS is working on hope they do not wait to late I know they are working on something but how long are they before showing something.

[porkChop]

Yeah Sony already said that Morpheus might come to PC. Would be smart too. If you support the 2 biggest platforms for VR you'll get more sales and a ton more support as it'll be the only multiplatform VR solution. Gamers would only need to buy 1 VR headset to use on both systems, that would definitely be a huge hit.

[Neonridr]

Guess we should all stop playing video games since smaller companies are acquired by larger ones all the time. Oh wait..

The only thing we know this does for sure is it gives Oculus a huge bankroll and a parent company that has so much global marketing presence. Kinda makes sense for them and I don't blame them.

Let's wait and see what happens before we all assume we know better than the people who work there.

These guys started out in their garage, why wouldn't they want the financial security an acquisition would provide them? That doesn't mean that suddenly the Oculus is going to be a 3D viewer for Facebook or something like that. Man, the conclusions that people draw from here is ridiculous.

[sAVAge_bEaST]

No, but it will Bastardize the concept of VR, into making it the "Wal-Mart" of VR http://blog.games.com/2011/...

Loss of soul, in order to gain Ma$$ Appeal.

[Neonridr]

If you want to run off onto a tangent and work yourself up over it, then go nuts.

I will wait for the end result and reserve judgement until then.

[papashango]

what it'll do is ensure that cool kickstarter projects like this never get off the ground

[adorie]

If you want to run off onto a tangent and work yourself up over it, then go nuts.

I will wait for the end result and reserve judgement until then.

[Joe913]

Some ppl are bashing it because FB bought them yes but most part the OR is a kickstarter which means ppl put in their own money so they can even have a product then FB buys them were do that leave the backers do they just get free OR dev kits do they get their money back cause I think if you put in you should get a percentage of the 2bill (that is why they should have got more imo) because if it was not for the ppl who put up their own money to get OR started FB would not have anything to buy right now just some good ideas I agree with papashango this can effect kickstarters if not handled right.

[Neonridr]

agreed, but a lot of backers were ones who wanted the first dev kit. And those people all got their dev kits, so there's nothing really to be angry about.

Sure if you were someone who just donated like $5 or $10 to help funding along, then perhaps you have a right to want your money back.

[BelkingOfSony]

Typical Facebook, buying companies products just because they were too lazy to make their own *cough* WhatsApp *cough*. Zuckerburger has more money than sense

[uncharted56]

Your an idiot because Whats app already has a large user base

[papashango]

*You're

and Zuckerberg dropped what? 16 billion for Whatsapp? It was clear that the young facebook crowd got sick of seeing of their families posts of what they had for dinner. Whatsapp was where that crowd was going to. Zuckerberg was smart for doing what he needs to do to make sure facebook survives....but ya

Occulus was touted as gaming hardware in their startup. It was demonstrated as gaming hardware. They worked with game developers and game companies. The only people that cared about Occulus was gamers. As a gamer you want to see where the next generation of gaming is headed. Now that takes a back seat for virtual social communication.

[Kivespussi]

Zuckerberg hasn't got more money than sense. He's a damn great businessman. He does what brings the best profits with the least effort. Sure, he might be greedy but he's drowning in cash.

[lipton101]

The kid who started it is now worth billions. This financial break is just what they needed to really get pumping with development. This is hardware - not the same as an indie game being made out of a persons home - and hardware is expensive. The barrier to entry to such a market is enormous. I'm not crazy about Facebook either but we should all take a breather and wait and see what happens. This is not a "jump" to conclusions mat, and this "outrage" is totally premature. There's nothing we could do about it anyway, no matter how loud your internet voice is. Chillax and most of all, cross your fingers, this could be a boom or a bust, only time will tell

[rdgneoz3]

"This is hardware - not the same as an indie game being made out of a persons home - and hardware is expensive"

And how many millions of dollars did people give them to make it? Oh yah, their original "goal" was 250k, but they made almost 2.5 million according to kickstarter. Guessing that helped lessen the "barrier" to the market.

[Neonridr]

lol, and you think 2.5 million is enough money to come up with functional prototypes of hardware and then get a high end version out to the market?

Video games can cost upwards of 100 million dollars to make, and you think 2.5 million is enough for hardware?

[N4GDgAPc]

And if u think a couple million dollars would be enough to make the oculus rift your kidding yourself. It would take a hell lot more to make the rift than what they got for kickstarter. I know people hate facebook but i don't see a problem. If they still get to make what they invisioned with extra $2 billion and alot of resources they didn't have before why is it a bad thing? Just because facebook name is on it. That sounds stupid to me.

[lipton101]

I'm using my last bubble to point out that you're obviously uneducated, at least in the ways of business, and that you made me laugh. Barrier to entry, get it right and look it up. It's an elementary concept . Low barrier to entry = lots of competition (landscaping for example). High barrier to entry = enormous start up costs with an opportunity to generate enormous profits. Little to no competition and or monopoly (for example, cable providers, power companies, hardware manufacturers.)

[rdgneoz3]

Yet they've sold prototypes to developers already (would have sold more if they didn't underestimate demand), and have a second version coming out soon. $10 says they weren't selling prototypes at a loss.

"High barrier to entry = enormous start up costs with an opportunity to generate enormous profits."

Entry to what? A market where you can sell your goods and services. And the enormous start up costs were reduced thanks to the generosity of the backers. Thanks for using the last of 3 bubbles, it's an honor.

[Neonridr]

2.5 million would have barely been enough to get the ball rolling. Selling dev kits is helping them move along, but nowhere near the amount of capital they would need without partnering with another company to actually deliver final retail kits.

Partnering with Facebook, while an odd choice, still gives them plenty of capital muscle and the marketing presence that a company like Facebook brings with them.

For some reason everyone automatically assumes that because Facebook will now be behind it that we will only use it for Facebook related stuff.

Zuckerberg clearly stated that the gaming side of Oculus will still run itself as it has been to this point, so what is going to change suddenly?

[aliengmr]

@lipton
@Neonridr
@N4GDgAPc

Bubbles for showing patience and common sense.

The rift is essentially a "monitor" so I'm not sure how or why you would lock it down. Seems to me that in order to make the most money you want your product for the most amount of people. Not sure how cutting out gamers is a way to increase the market, but I'm not familiar with "knee-jerk" math.

Until the Rift is officially Facebook only, throws ads in my face during games, forces me to use Facebook, raises the price to $1000, and allows the NSA to brain rape me, I think I'll wait for it to be released.

Unless someone else wants to step up with a better product, I'm just going to wait and see.

[papashango]

they've had investors drop 100 million into Occulus before the buyout. They weren't just working with 2.5 million

[specialguest]

Disregard. ..papashango beat me to it

[00]

I'm sure if people knew they would have ended up supporting facebook they wouldn't have supported the OR in the first place.

Palmer just ruined his chance for making something legendary for some quick money.

[Double_O_Revan]

As dirty a move as it was, for 2 BILLION dollars, I'd sell out every single one of you too.

[Iamnemesis4880]

This is a shame now most likely it will not see the light of day. A new owner will want to change it completely it will be years away and the other VR systems will have a leg up on them. just leave well enough alone.

[lipton101]

If it were purchased for $2B I guarantee they will be the first out the door. You buy at a price like to that to make more money , not just to watch it go up in flames. Staffing will increase. Dev kits will go out immediately to developers. They'll be working on in house apps to appeal to other markets as well. They recognize the potential to market to an established base: gamers, and also millions of others by using what appears to be a blue ocean strategy, based on their brief comments. If I had to guess, this is going to be their answer to Google Glass. Good just may come out of this. Yes, I'm an optimist.he didn't "sell out." Anyone else with any sense would have done the same with some conditions attached. Source for above: MBA

[Iamnemesis4880]

Yeah all that is left is to wait and see really. hope to see this on the shelves soon.

[ATi_Elite]

John Carmack

picks up two briefcases full of money and slips out the back door into a dark murky alley never to be heard or seen talking about Oculus Rift again.

[Eonjay]

I dont think the goal of all the backers that helped make the Rift a reality included being bought out by Facebook for 2 billion dollars. Now as Notch stated, the future of OR is no longer in the hands of gamers. Its in the hands of a company who will use it to push their ad based revenue stream.

[mhunterjr]

I guess I should just get used to gamers overreacting about everything. Just because Facebok wants to use VR tech in it social platform doesn't mean that the Oculus Rift won't be a viable option for gamers.

People are jumping to conclusion about how the device will be used in the gaming space, and it amounts to nothing more than a rush to judgment.

Could Facebook force Oculus away from the core vision if the wanted to? Certainly! But they could also let oculus carry out its original vision, and give them even more resources to do so, helping them to deliver better products to customers faster, and at a better price. From the sound of things, the deal was signed with the understanding that Oculus would work with autonomy. If that's the case, then it's full steam ahead.

[jmc8888]

It likely won't be autonomous. Look at all the ideas they have. When someone pays $2 billion and has a bunch of ideas of how to use the device, I would say it's going to be anything BUT autonomous.

It's more like...do what you want, until we decide what you will follow because we own you. Could they hide features behind the fakebook login? Sure.

If you listen to what is said, it seems the plan is to integrate it into Flakebook. To use that as a hub. Log-in to frackbook, pay money, and watch college lectures via your Rift. Stuff like that. Advertising and buying goods with interactive VR ads through fibbook. But you can only use these ads if they somehow connect back to Flakebook.

Last I checked, none of this was sold as the reason to back OR. But it has just become THE REASON for its existence.

Make money on ads and services for Retardbook or else.

Games are going to be a secondary concern. You can't have two #1 focuses. Fakebook is all about providing services to gather data that they can sell, and advertising revenue, and come hell or high water, now the OR is a device for THIS purpose.

I understand on PC, it can be utilized by everyone. Open platform. Now it seems that instead of utilized by everyone, it'll probably have to go through Crapbook for various things.

We'll see when we see, but we do have quite a bit of information already to know which direction the Rift is heading. As a conduit for facebook that they own and control.

Might they be silent investors...perhaps. But the whole...we have ideas thing...sort of means no.

[mhunterjr]

They have ideas on how else to use VR tech in their social platform. That doesn't mean that they have to pull the oculus team away from its focus on gaming. Oculus can still deliver their product for gamers, then Facebook can then use the technology born through Oculus' reasearch and apply it to their existing services. It doesn't mean the Facebook experience will be shoehorned into all rift experiences.

This wouldn't be the first time in history, when a tech designed for one application was found to be useful in multiple applications. You say companies can't have two focuses, yet none of the big three in this industry started as game companies. They each made acquisitions of smaller companies, and fit gaming into their overall strategy. There's no reason Facebook can't do the same.

[Rivitur]

I thinks the bailing of Oculus backers is more based on it getting more mainstreamed and not cool anymore because "the man" got to them. Which if they truely do leave Oculus independent and just help market it i would be fine with but if they do "Socialize" it for users I'm out.

[ocelot07]

Am a little lost on this subject. I am interested in VR. I remember watching a lot of Minecraft video's with Oculus rift and it looks amazing. I have heard noting but good things in the past year about it. In the past 24 hours everone seems to hate it.

Ok I understand facebook bought it out. But how does facebook buying Oculus change the future of it?

[wannabe gamer]

it givrs them the money needed to make custom hardware rather than take apart phones and piece them back together to make the device. this will enable them to get to market faster and cheaper with a much better product. people dont want to think of that and just see the word facebook and then over react. they dont realize that facebook is only making a investment and not actually taking over the development of the device. all facebook is going to do is sit back and watch their 2 billion dollar investment turn into hundreds of billions of dollars and then laugh in the face of all the naysayers.

in the longrun this is a good thing but people are extremely short sighted and dont want to think of logical things. no one signs a 2 billion dollar deal without thinking things thru and making some demands. the oculus team has made it very clear that there will be no social media integration and no facebook logo on the device. people are using meme logic and really going off the deep end with this.

[aliengmr]

Couple things people need to realize here...

1. The market right now, as in this very minute, is gamers. Others are coming on board but for right now Gamers on high end PCs are the ONLY ones that are going to buy the Rift.

2. Its for that reason the consumer version will be targeted at the ONLY market available. Nothing can change for the short term.

3. Long term, if it takes off and the main stream buys into it then the competitors start coming in and whatever OVR decides to do is irrelevant. Once VR takes hold the competition is there to fill the void.

They simply can't alter their short-term plans and lock it into Facebook.

I told my wife, who uses Facebook quite often, about this deal and the first words she said were "What's an Oculus?"

Facebook has a ways to go before they get users like my wife on board. Its going to take gamers like me to sell her on it. They have to start somewhere.

As for the backers, well Kickstarter isn't and investment. You fund projects like VR because you you want VR to be a reality, not to dictate terms to the company. That is in fact stated quite clearly.

The Rift is still coming so they lived up to their part of the bargain. Until Oculus or Facebook say the Rift is done, then the fact remains.

[llMurcielagoll]

I was never an Oculus backer, and I must admit, the facebook deal now made me lose excitement for their final product. The claims say, that Oculus Rift will still be an independent developer even though it is owned by Facebook. But later down the road who knows what may happen with it.

[Perez]

I am into VR and yet I was never really into Oculus. I sit fairly square in the Morpheus camp since I focus on gaming and ps4 or pc its still gaming.

I'm not on facebook and likely wont ever be but I can understand the move as has been said by others it is FB's ongoing initiative to keep themselves relevant when there normal user demographics are falling away.

What I find sad though is the knock on effect to crowd funding and indie development supported by it. As has been clearly shown the flaw in crowd funding is a lack of control with any project even with one that invites people to connect with the vision of the developer while giving away some small bonuses but also obscuring the fact that you really are paying for something with no guarantee of a satisfactory outcome even when the project is successfully funded.

[Ares90]

Look at the Facebook comments

"Congratulations on giving yourself leprosy for the metaphorical 30 pieces of silver dangled in front of you. By selling out to one of the least respected and anti-consumer, anti-privacy internet based corporations that exist today."

Ironic that someone who despises facebook is using that medium to say that.

[Dan_scruggs]

Would anyone here turn down a 2 billion dollar offer to buy your product. Get real people.

[nerdman67]

As soon as I had heard about Oculus getting sold, I knew the product was doomed

[jhoward585]

WELCOME TO THE DARK SIDE OF BUSSINESS.