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Virtual reality ads make their way to Facebook's Oculus headsets

reuters.com

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Re: Virtual reality ads make their way to Facebook's Oculus headsets

#21

Post by ascagnel_ »

bogwog wrote: post #19
haxiomic wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Support the companies that offer this an encourage others to do the same - I worry about a future where VR is monopolized by Facebook and held there by network effect

> I worry about a future where VR is monopolized by Facebook and held there by network effect That's why it's awesome that Valve is so heavily invested in VR to counter that. They might not have more money than Facebook, but they have more than enough to compete with them. Plus, they have the expertise in video games that Facebook doesn't. It's just a shame that Valve is by all accounts a highly dysfunctional company…

The problem any competitor will have fighting FB is entry price -- FB is the only player right now that sells a standalone unit and that unit is one of the cheapest, if not the cheapest, headset on the market with a $300 MSRP. Everyone else is far more expensive and requires a PC with a discrete GPU (or game console, in the case of the PlayStation VR), so the total cost of entry ends up being far higher.

What Valve is doing with the Index is really cool, but they're still operating as if they're trying to sell to VR enthusiasts, while Facebook is cornering the market by trying to sell to the general public.

Re: Virtual reality ads make their way to Facebook's Oculus headsets

#22

Post by nindalf »

philipswood wrote: post #2

Is it just me? I would rather just pay for stuff and be done with it rather than have my attention and sensorium sold to the highest bidder.

It’s not just you, but you are a tiny minority. You’ve expressed a sentiment that’s very popular on HN, but not among the general population. Take YouTube - a popular ad supported service with a premium tier. How many people are willing to pay to remove ads? Less than 1%. Even on HN I don’t think that number would be more than 10%.

Re: Virtual reality ads make their way to Facebook's Oculus headsets

#23

Post by croon »

Agentlien wrote: post #11
philipswood wrote: post #2

Is it just me? I would rather just pay for stuff and be done with it rather than have my attention and sensorium sold to the highest bidder.

My first response when seeing this article was that I'm, yet again, so happy I did not get an Oculus. I'm very happy with my Vive Cosmos and it works without a Facebook account and hasn't shown me any ads so far.

I get what you're saying, but honestly the Quest is in a whole other league, as a product. I had an original Vive, and understand that Cosmos has higher fidelity etc, but the Quest inside-out-tracking is good enough, and can be used with or without a PC, with or without a cable to said PC, the resolution is great, and the compression on the PC interfaces while noticable is, again, good enough.

I sincerely don't miss the lighthouses and cables, and can make a new area in any part of the house, at any time.

I just wish it wasn't owned by Facebook. But there's no competitor, unfortunately.

Re: Virtual reality ads make their way to Facebook's Oculus headsets

#25

Post by cj »

prepend wrote: post #8

> Facebook said it will use the test to explore ways to help developers earn revenue on the Oculus platform. How about by just selling games? I hate this mealy-mouthed way of deflecting that it’s not about Facebook’s revenue, but about “helping developers.”

Aren't Oculus games typically $20-50?

The price points for games always seemed very high to me. In an ideal world they'd offer a "no ads, full price" version and a "discount with ads" version. My guess is we'll probably just be left with "full price with ads" as the only option.

Re: Virtual reality ads make their way to Facebook's Oculus headsets

#26

Post by NullPrefix »

prepend wrote: post #8

> Facebook said it will use the test to explore ways to help developers earn revenue on the Oculus platform. How about by just selling games? I hate this mealy-mouthed way of deflecting that it’s not about Facebook’s revenue, but about “helping developers.”

Why not both?

Re: Virtual reality ads make their way to Facebook's Oculus headsets

#28

Post by nuclearcookie »

cj wrote: post #25
prepend wrote: post #8

> Facebook said it will use the test to explore ways to help developers earn revenue on the Oculus platform. How about by just selling games? I hate this mealy-mouthed way of deflecting that it’s not about Facebook’s revenue, but about “helping developers.”

Aren't Oculus games typically $20-50? The price points for games always seemed very high to me. In an ideal world they'd offer a "no ads, full price" version and a "discount with ads" version. My guess is we'll probably just be left with "full price with ads" as the only option.

What would you consider a fair price for a game? Are you talking about games in general or just games on Oculus?

Re: Virtual reality ads make their way to Facebook's Oculus headsets

#29

Post by wlesieutre »

ascagnel_ wrote: post #21
bogwog wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I worry about a future where VR is monopolized by Facebook and held there by network effect That's why it's awesome that Valve is so heavily invested in VR to counter that. They might not have more money than Facebook, but they have more than enough to compete with them. Plus, they have the expertise in video games that Facebook doesn't. It's just a shame that Valve is by all accounts a highly dysfunctional company…

The problem any competitor will have fighting FB is entry price -- FB is the only player right now that sells a standalone unit and that unit is one of the cheapest, if not the cheapest, headset on the market with a $300 MSRP. Everyone else is far more expensive and requires a PC with a discrete GPU (or game console, in the case of the PlayStation VR), so the total cost of entry ends up being far higher. What Valve i…

Oculus Quest 2 is the most popular headset on Steam's hardware survey, and that's only counting the ones who have it hooked up to their computer

https://store.steampowered.com/hwsurvey/Steam-Hardware-Softw...

Re: Virtual reality ads make their way to Facebook's Oculus headsets

#30

Post by scrollaway »

mbank wrote: post #15

The saddest thing about these VR companies (or any other hyped yet insubstantial new thing for that matter) to me is the fact that they got acquired too quickly that one cannot short them on the stock exchange...

Calling VR insubstantial is absurd. Just because VR helmets won't be as popular as mobile phones doesn't make them so. It's like calling an Xbox insubstantial.

What VR lacks in game variety, it makes up for in how unique the experience is. VR consoles will be able to get new games and apps, while "regular" consoles won't get more unique without releasing new models.

Gaming in VR is also a lot more beginner friendly. Console Controllers are not intuitive, whereas VR controls almost always are.

In short, VR is already very viable and its future is extremely promising. But if you want to short stuff, be my guest.

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