# Facebook Buys Oculus Rift For $2 Billion



## osirisjem (Mar 25, 2014)

Facebook has just announced that it's buying Oculus Rift for $2 billion. Seriously.

"Mobile is the platform of today, and now we're also getting ready for the platforms of tomorrow," Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg says. "Oculus has the chance to create the most social platform ever, and change the way we work, play and communicate."

http://kotaku.com/facebook-buys-oculus-rift-for-2-billion-1551487939

Hmmmm.

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.

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


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## CompassNorth (Mar 25, 2014)

The real sad news here is that Carmack works for Facebook.

Also he didn't just buy the Rift, he bought the company behind it.

I really don't know what to think. I really want to lose interest in it but that would be fair because I really despite facebook that much. Been waiting for Oculus Rift ever since it was announced, sucks they Iribe was chosen are their CEO. If you're wondering who that is he's the guy that sold Gaiki to Sony.


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## Necron (Mar 25, 2014)

So now the oculus rift is going to become sh*t like whatsapp did?


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## Dork (Mar 25, 2014)

Source please.


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## Tom Bombadildo (Mar 25, 2014)

inb4EveryBitchesAboutItTurningToShit

From Zuckerberg:


> 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.


So gaming won't take a back seat to whatever else they have planned for the Rift.


EDIT:


Dark S. said:


> Source please.


http://www.businessinsider.com/facebook-to-buy-oculus-rift-for-2-billion-2014-3 



EDIT2: Also from Zuckerberg:



> 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.


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## Celice (Mar 25, 2014)

Probably trying to take complete control over what seems to be a lucrative and profitable new technology down the line. Though I am interested in the Rift, I only can see it as an accessory--so it seems interesting that this guy would go after the entire thing so simply.


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## Joe88 (Mar 25, 2014)

waiting for farmville and words with friends vr editions


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## Gahars (Mar 25, 2014)

Oculus Rift Kickstarter Funding: $2,437,429
Facebook Buyout: $2,000,000,000







Jesus Christ, that return.


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## FAST6191 (Mar 25, 2014)

Well I did not see that one coming.


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## The Catboy (Mar 25, 2014)

But why? Seriously why?


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## DinohScene (Mar 25, 2014)

Congratulations with the purchase of your Oculus.
To use your new VR device, sign in with your Facebook account to let us install more spyware.

Yeh, no.
Interest in Oculus dropped completely.


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## Coto (Mar 25, 2014)

Wow wow. 

Bye bye VR, everything that belongs to NSA sucks


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## FAST6191 (Mar 25, 2014)

The Catboy said:


> But why? Seriously why?


Have a look at some of the reasons people considered for the whatsapp proposal. Granted there is not the option to combine names with phone numbers thing but the facebook having the air of the sinking ship about it and the need to grab a few things to hopefully stop that is still in play. Companies are odd things (Amazon is still a loss making company, pretty much always has been, and it is valued at a fortune) and business dictates the occasional odd course of action like this.

Thinking about it though this might be Facebook being worried by google glass.


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## Tom Bombadildo (Mar 25, 2014)

DinohScene said:


> Congratulations with the purchase of your Oculus.
> To use your new VR device, sign in with your Facebook account to let us install more spyware.
> 
> Yeh, no.
> Interest in Oculus dropped completely.


 
Except the Oculus is essentially just a stereoscopic 3D output with a gyroscope that requires *no* additional software to work (besides drivers). It's fine to hate Facebook and all, but try not to overreact to stuff like this, especially when they specifically state the only additions they'll be adding will be worked on by the Rift dev team themselves


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## DinohScene (Mar 25, 2014)

Tom Bombadildo said:


> Except the Oculus is essentially just a stereoscopic 3D output with a gyroscope that requires *no* additional software to work (besides drivers). It's fine to hate Facebook and all, but try not to overreact to stuff like this, especially when they specifically state the only additions they'll be adding will be worked on by the Rift dev team themselves


 
Knowing Facebook, installing the drivers and the tweaking tool prolly requires you to sign up for a Facebook account.

Still, it's a big no for me.


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## CompassNorth (Mar 25, 2014)

The Catboy said:


> But why? Seriously why?


Their CEO Brendan Iribe is know for selling companies. This was a red flag for a lot of people when he took the position.

He was the guy that sold Gaiki to Sony.
It's a shame that they got a scumbag as a CEO.


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## GameWinner (Mar 25, 2014)

Not in a million years..


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## CompassNorth (Mar 25, 2014)




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## Hyro-Sama (Mar 25, 2014)

something something Big Brother. something something 1984.


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## The Catboy (Mar 25, 2014)

CompassNorth said:


> Their CEO Brendan Iribe is know for selling companies. This was a red flag for a lot of people when he took the position.
> 
> He was the guy that sold Gaiki to Sony.
> It's a shame that they got a scumbag as a CEO.


 
It seems more like he is investing in companies for cheap and selling them high prices, which sounds like a pretty fishy business practice


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## gokujr1000 (Mar 26, 2014)

This could either go two ways:

1) Nothing will change

2) FB will run it into the ground

For the sake of people jumping to conclusions I'm just going to go with FB will run it into the ground


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## Hells Malice (Mar 26, 2014)

That's interesting.

If they do as they have said and NOT interfere with the gaming portion of the Rift, and instead help it, then I can see this only as stellar news.

However one false move and they've probably doomed the poor device.


I have to say though that the amount of stupid, uninformed posts in this thread is both hilarious, and sad. It's even sadder that you could simply read the very information _within this thread_, and probably dissuade most of the stupidity.


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## Zerousen (Mar 26, 2014)

RIP Oculus Rift


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## Psionic Roshambo (Mar 26, 2014)

Everyone needs to update the facebook games they play...

It's now "Dragon City" that everyone is getting hooked on.

Not sure what it is about but since I just last week discovered that Candy Crush is just a skinned up version of Bejeweled I am sure I will live just fine in my ignorance lol

I too cannot wait to be spammed with people requesting weird ass crap in 3D!!!

"Your Friend needs energy for his orgasmotron sign up to play rampaging hemorrhoid raiders to send him some energy!!!"

*has a perplexed look and quietly presses the unfriend button*


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## Bladexdsl (Mar 26, 2014)

> Mobile is the platform of today


yeah FREE games FULL of micro transactions and PAY to PLAY BS are really the future.

KEEP DREAMING RETARD!!

all the face-tards gonna love this now they can bitch about and backstab each other on their pages

*IN 3D!!!!!!!!!!!*


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## Gahars (Mar 26, 2014)

Bladexdsl said:


> yeah FREE games FULL of micro transactions and PAY to PLAY BS are really the future.
> 
> KEEP DREAMING RETARD!!
> 
> ...


 

If that's how you're going to post... well, you know, pot, kettle, etc.


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## jonthedit (Mar 26, 2014)

Are you kidding me? I was so looking forward to the Oculus but it seems we're fucked now.
Oculus Facebook Edition = Shit + Spyware + NSAWare


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## vayanui8 (Mar 26, 2014)

Fuck facebook. Why can't they just leave innovative ideas alone. Now the rift is sure to be overrun by a crapton of account shit and social integration


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## LoyalZero1 (Mar 26, 2014)

There's always that PS4 VR headset that's coming.


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## jonthedit (Mar 26, 2014)

LoyalZero1 said:


> There's always that PS4 VR headset that's coming.


 
With social integration to compete with the Rift's social integration features!


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## Veho (Mar 26, 2014)

Finally we will have FarmVille in full VR


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## shakirmoledina (Mar 26, 2014)

I dont understand why there is so much hate. What possibly indicates that facebook buys companies that begin to fail?

I haven't seen Whatsapp or Instagram die.

I bet this will gain even more momentum because currently I haven't seen this being applied into the majority of the gaming market or any other audience for that matter.


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## chartube12 (Mar 26, 2014)

Minecraft creator dropped development for the Oculus Rift because of this..."because I find facebook creepy" his words.


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## Kwartel (Mar 26, 2014)

shakirmoledina said:


> I dont understand why there is so much hate. What possibly indicates that facebook buys companies that begin to fail?
> 
> I haven't seen Whatsapp or Instagram die.
> 
> I bet this will gain even more momentum because currently I haven't seen this being applied into the majority of the gaming market or any other audience for that matter.


We don't think that it will fail. Most people don't really feel like Facebook needs to be able to get so much info about someone. I migrated from WhatsApp as much as possible for the sole reason that I don't trust them.


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## ProtoKun7 (Mar 26, 2014)

FAST6191 said:


> Well I did not see that one coming.


 
Nor did I, and there could well be hints of irony in that, given what it is they do.


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## Coto (Mar 26, 2014)

jonthedit said:


> Are you kidding me? I was so looking forward to the Oculus but it seems we're fucked now.
> Oculus Facebook Edition = Shit + Spyware + NSAWare


 

NSAWare, you sir, have created a brilliant word


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## Sheimi (Mar 26, 2014)

Watch, it will scan your eyes and mine information from your mind.


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## ProtoKun7 (Mar 26, 2014)

Sheimi said:


> Watch, it will scan your eyes and mine information from your mind.


 
It even happened to your avatar.


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## Hells Malice (Mar 26, 2014)

shakirmoledina said:


> I dont understand why there is so much hate. What possibly indicates that facebook buys companies that begin to fail?


 
People are assuming Facebook will be the _reason_ it fails.
People seem to be too stupid to realize that Oculus Rift is just a highly advanced monitor strapped to your face. The idea that it can be bloated with spyware or facebook integration is just an absolute joke.
But hey it wouldn't be GBAtemp if people didn't blindly spout nonsense at the sight of keywords, regardless of what the actual news consists of.


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## Tom Bombadildo (Mar 26, 2014)

Hells Malice said:


> People are assuming Facebook will be the _reason_ it fails.
> People seem to be too stupid to realize that Oculus Rift is just a highly advanced monitor strapped to your face. The idea that it can be bloated with spyware or facebook integration is just an absolute joke.
> But hey it wouldn't be GBAtemp if people didn't blindly spout nonsense at the sight of keywords, regardless of what the actual news consists of.


 
This so much. 

And people don't even read the source/info previously posted, either. It's been said again and again that Facebook will take absolutely no part in the development of the Rift, that they'll be working on applications and other shit instead of the actual hardware but nooooo people are goddamn retarded


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## Gahars (Mar 26, 2014)

Hells Malice said:


> People are assuming Facebook will be the _reason_ it fails.
> People seem to be too stupid to realize that Oculus Rift is just a highly advanced monitor strapped to your face. The idea that it can be bloated with spyware or facebook integration is just an absolute joke.
> But hey it wouldn't be GBAtemp if people didn't blindly spout nonsense at the sight of keywords, regardless of what the actual news consists of.


 

In all fairness, it's not just GBAtemp...


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## MassiveRican (Mar 26, 2014)

Listen Facebook is evil, plain and simple and anything they back up, whether it fails or not is headed in the same direction. Is it really that far fetched to believe that the hardware can be modified to scan your eye, to get personal information and to once again continue to help big brother monitor your one and every move, amongst possibly a million other ways to do other equally grotesque things.. Subliminal intent through VR and the list could go on and on.

I loved the idea of VR and I like the people and head team/devs involved with OR.. unfortunately they've made a business decision that I for one regardless of the innovative tech, will not support due to the plain fact that Facebook is fucking EVIL no matter how you slice it! It continues to show it's a plague to humanity, serving to spread ignorance and a sense of false social values, community and "togetherness". I don't want to get into it here, but damn.. couldn't they purchase an up and coming competitor instead.. dammit. So sad for this.


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## Tom Bombadildo (Mar 26, 2014)

MassiveRican said:


> Listen Facebook is evil, plain and simple and anything they back up, whether it fails or not is headed in the same direction. Is it really that far fetched to believe that the hardware can be modified to scan your eye, to get personal information and to once again continue to help big brother monitor your one and every move. *Yes. Yes it is. If you honestly think anyone can get any kind of "personal information" from scanning your eye you are deluded and gullible beyond all belief. Please properly educate yourself. *
> 
> I loved the idea of VR and I like the people and head team/devs involved with OR.. unfortunately they've made a business decision that I for one regardless of the innovative tech, will not support
> 
> ...


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## frogboy (Mar 26, 2014)

Cool.

I'm still getting one.


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## MassiveRican (Mar 26, 2014)

Tom Bombadildo Yes retinal scanning is real & the NSA and other government bodies have databases with everything from fingerprints, retinal scans, hair strands and shit tons of other ways to identify you sir... look it up man it's real. You're obviously an "educated invididual right", I gave one example, far fetched for some maybe, but there's a multitude of other ways that unfortunately it's going to be used to continue the trend. By no means is this isolated, Sony & Microsoft are just as guilty of leaking our info to necessary parties, there's no way around it.

OR is no longer in control here, there's contracts and agreements put in place through ownership now. If you think for one second that OR won't have to comply to whatever the fuck FB want's to add you're wrong. FB is in control now, they'll say whatever is going to please the community to soften the blow, but it's bullshit, their going to integrate FB into it one way or the other. They don't have our best interest in mind, they're interest is for more global control.

Maybe you should look into what FB is really doing prior to so easily dismissing them, check out any and all extensions of their network from OR to Onavo and anything else u can find. Honestly it's sickening and it bothers me that someone as educated as yourself doesn't see the harm that FB is causing to society and the entire planet as a whole. Seriously I don't throw the word EVIL into my everyday vocab here, they're evil for a reason.


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## paulfalcon (Mar 26, 2014)

Well, it said that it won't have any influence over their development so, all should be fine. Geez, some people make it sound like there will be needles sinking into our heads once we turn them on, so that they could extract all our information and put up ads that will peek our interest... or get the FBI knocking our doors down...


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## Psionic Roshambo (Mar 26, 2014)

Gahars said:


> In all fairness, it's not just GBAtemp...





This ones better lol


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## Hells Malice (Mar 26, 2014)

MassiveRican said:


> Listen Facebook is evil, plain and simple and anything they back up, whether it fails or not is headed in the same direction. Is it really that far fetched to believe that the hardware can be modified to scan your eye, to get personal information and to once again continue to help big brother monitor your one and every move, amongst possibly a million other ways to do other equally grotesque things.. Subliminal intent through VR and the list could go on and on.
> 
> I loved the idea of VR and I like the people and head team/devs involved with OR.. unfortunately they've made a business decision that I for one regardless of the innovative tech, will not support due to the plain fact that Facebook is fucking EVIL no matter how you slice it! It continues to show it's a plague to humanity, serving to spread ignorance and a sense of false social values, community and "togetherness". I don't want to get into it here, but damn.. couldn't they purchase an up and coming competitor instead.. dammit. So sad for this.


 
Does your way of thinking come with a free tinfoil hat?


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## Psionic Roshambo (Mar 26, 2014)

Hells Malice said:


> Does your way of thinking come with a free tinfoil hat?


 

No that is one of the micro transactions needed to beat the game... lol


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## 3bbb7 (Mar 26, 2014)

meanwhile, hundreds of thousands of potential customers are reconsidering getting the device

I can just picture a little Facebook logo on the device itself


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## MassiveRican (Mar 26, 2014)

You can choose to ignore it, but like most things we only accept as valid what we want in our reality. If u don't mind it or don't care that FB owns OR and will back it, well good for u 

I on the other hand try not to willingly support anything FB does, publicly or privately.


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## Psionic Roshambo (Mar 26, 2014)

MassiveRican said:


> You can choose to ignore it, but like most things we only accept as valid what we want in our reality. If u don't mind it or don't care that FB owns OR and will back it, well good for u


 

On a less kidding note (most of my posts are jokes) 

I think the 2 billion investment into the company might actually allow them to get the thing to the shelves and maybe do some really interesting things. 

That's the positive spin on this. 

On the downside they could just blow the money on hookers and drugs then monetize this thing with a bazillion facebook advertisements.... 

That's the negative spin. 

The truth will likely be somewhere in the middle.


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## LoyalZero1 (Mar 26, 2014)

I just wanna see CyberConnect2 make a .hack game with the VR unit like they pretend is in the .hack series. That would be cool.


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## Hydrazine (Mar 26, 2014)

It's a PC peripheral so it doesn't matter even if they f**k up the software. PC is an open platform that's know specially for mods and hacks.

If they force facebook integration and user tracking? Mods and hacks will pop up soon after that removes it.

If they lock down games to a facebook/oculus-only store? Mods and hacks will pop up soon after that allows non-approved games.

If there's a lot of social and casual games? Don't play those games. Just because there will be s**t content made doesn't mean there won't be good content as well.

Since PC hardware/software is way easier to hack than consoles, it doesn't matter what FB wants to do. They can f**k up the software, but that can be fixed my the community in no time.

Don't get me wrong, I'm pissed that FB has bought Oculus, but it isn't as bad as some people are saying it is.


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## CompassNorth (Mar 26, 2014)

Hydrazine said:


> It's a PC peripheral so it doesn't matter even if they f**k up the software. PC is an open platform that's know specially for mods and hacks.



Yes, yes it does matter if they screw up.
Not everything on PC is open-sourced.


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## Hydrazine (Mar 26, 2014)

CompassNorth said:


> Yes, yes it does matter if they screw up.
> Not everything on PC is open-sourced.


 
Even if it's close source, community-made/3rd party drivers are always an option. The only "software" part of the rift excluding the games is the driver, and like all PC software, easy to hack.

If even completely locked down consoles can end up getting hacked, the oculus will be hacked in a third the time or less.


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## Deleted-236924 (Mar 27, 2014)

MassiveRican said:


> Listen Facebook is evil, plain and simple


 
And that's not all, I hear that they're... worse than the mafia.


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## yuyuyup (Mar 27, 2014)

This solidifies my decision to buy the upcoming dev model update and skip the 1st retail design.


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## Sterling (Mar 27, 2014)

http://valleywag.gawker.com/oculus-grift-kickstarter-as-charity-for-venture-capita-1551921517

http://kotaku.com/oculus-kickstarte..._source=Kotaku_Facebook&utm_medium=Socialflow

BortzANATOR: Now I can see your hesitation in backing these things. Definitely thinking twice before I do any more.


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## Tom Bombadildo (Mar 27, 2014)

Hydrazine said:


> The founder of Oculus, Palmer, made 7 promises about the Facebook buyout yesterday. If all or most of these end up true, it probably won't end up too bad for the product. Otherwise, this whole ordeal will have a very negative impact. Since it's confirmed that the Oculus team will be operating independently under Facebook, it's possible that these states will actually turn out to be true. These are all direct quotes coming from Palmer's official confirmed Reddit account.
> 
> “You will not need a Facebook account to use or develop for the Rift.”
> 
> ...


There you go guys, now quit being all butthurt


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## MassiveRican (Mar 27, 2014)

Uh huh.. he promised to cure cancer too? Don't give a rat's ass. FB is FB, fuck' em. When he delivers on those things then I'm sure it will be great. Either way not backing a company supported by FB, gonna have to start looking at Sony's piece of crap now :*(


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## CompassNorth (Mar 27, 2014)

Hydrazine said:


> Even if it's close source, community-made/3rd party drivers are always an option. The only "software" part of the rift excluding the games is the driver, and like all PC software, easy to hack.
> 
> If even completely locked down consoles can end up getting hacked, the oculus will be hacked in a third the time or less.


Where's that Xbone controller driver if it's so simple then?


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## Tom Bombadildo (Mar 27, 2014)

CompassNorth said:


> Where's that Xbone controller driver if it's so simple then?


 
http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2014/03/xbox-one-gamepads-finally-unofficially-supported-on-pc/


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## Guild McCommunist (Mar 27, 2014)

MassiveRican said:


> Uh huh.. he promised to cure cancer too? Don't give a rat's ass. FB is FB, fuck' em. When he delivers on those things then I'm sure it will be great. Either way not backing a company supported by FB, gonna have to start looking at Sony's piece of crap now :*(


 

"I don't care I like living in ignorance."

Okay buddy.


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## MassiveRican (Mar 27, 2014)

Hahaha  yea we're all guilty of that in one way or the other.


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## Guild McCommunist (Mar 27, 2014)

MassiveRican said:


> Hahaha  yea we're all guilty of that in one way or the other.


 

Some so very much more than others.

Like I can see not liking Facebook because you don't like social networking but to say they're "evil" is a bit of a step.


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## Hydrazine (Mar 27, 2014)

CompassNorth said:


> Where's that Xbone controller driver if it's so simple then?


 
There IS a hacked PC driver recently released. And you can bet that if the Oculus gets locked down (doubt it), it'll be hacked even faster.

The reason the Xbone controller took some time is cause no one actually CARED about the Xbone controller. The 360 controller, DS3, and DS4 controllers all worth with PC already. The Xbone controller adds no functionality over the already existing ones. If the Oculus is locked down, people WILL CARE (Oculus already has a large following and it's not even out), and will put much more effort into hacking it.


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## MassiveRican (Mar 27, 2014)

Guild McCommunist said:


> Some so very much more than others.
> 
> Like I can see not liking Facebook because you don't like social networking but to say they're "evil" is a bit of a step.


I stand by my statement. It's my firm belief they are evil, due to their business ethics, practices and contractual agreements with some of the big dawgs in the gov't body, it's not just from a social network standpoint, I think those things have both pro's & cons, I'm not against it at all, I'm against how it's achieved and what happens on the sidelines to us haphazardly. I wouldn't claim it as ignorance not at this level.

I maybe ignorant to many other things, willfully and unknowingly so I keep an open mind, I will continue to take a back seat to OR since who they have partnered with goes against my beliefs (many others find facebook "creepy" as well lol) but deep down inside I still want OR to be a success, and I think they will be, unfortunately it just won't be with my dime.


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## Deleted-236924 (Mar 28, 2014)

Picture relevant to subject:


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## ferofax (Mar 28, 2014)

I can see them developing a version that can receive stereo 3D streams, probably with some sort of 360-live-view-cameras in sports, most notably something like basketball. At least, that's how I imagine them doing media. Of course, revenue would then be from advertisements injected into the stream, maybe something like augmented reality markers in-location that appear as billboards to viewers (imagine just a sort of beacon at the location; when the viewer looks this way, the Rift pulls an advertisement and projects it as a billboard in the distance).

I LOL'd at all the paranoid comments though. I mean, social media sites like Facebook can only have what you give them. Sure, they have algorithms that push and prod you to put more information in, but at the end of the day, it's all about what you put in there. Information isn't necessarily evil, it's what you do with it.


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## BORTZ (Mar 28, 2014)

Sterling said:


> BortzANATOR: Now I can see your hesitation in backing these things. Definitely thinking twice before I do any more.


 

/Looks up, figures out what we are talking about, smiles and nods


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## CompassNorth (Mar 29, 2014)

Tom Bombadildo said:


> http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2014/03/xbox-one-gamepads-finally-unofficially-supported-on-pc/





Hydrazine said:


> There IS a hacked PC driver recently released. And you can bet that if the Oculus gets locked down (doubt it), it'll be hacked even faster.
> 
> The reason the Xbone controller took some time is cause no one actually CARED about the Xbone controller. The 360 controller, DS3, and DS4 controllers all worth with PC already. The Xbone controller adds no functionality over the already existing ones. If the Oculus is locked down, people WILL CARE (Oculus already has a large following and it's not even out), and will put much more effort into hacking it.


I was wrong, time to commit sudoku. bye guys


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