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Minecraft creator says he’s canceled talks for Oculus Rift version

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Re: Minecraft creator says he’s canceled talks for Oculus Rift version

#171
post #108
post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> nice to see Notch take a stand taking a stand against Instagram, Facebook, WhatsApp and now Oculus ? I know that Notch wants to develop games with passionate people, but he has to understand that this acquisition was the best thing that could happen to both VR and Oculus. Anyway, Notch has been infamously known for his quick rants (see the "youtuber he insulted" issue)

The best thing? There is really no other company you could think of who would be a better partner? Like google? Or Microsoft?

Valve maybe? Lack of output aside, they know how to "get it right" the first time, whenever that time may come.

Re: Minecraft creator says he’s canceled talks for Oculus Rift version

#172

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> scaling crisis for VR. That's supposing Facebook knows how to scale production of electronic items... apart from the cash, they have no relevant experience about that. If it had been Google or Microsoft there would already be people who know how to make it scale to mass production.

The "scale" JC is referring to is not hardware production. It's the virtual reality. Millions of people interacting in real time in a virtual universe in which they are actually present . Think of it as similar to the scaling challenges of MMORPGs. Only much worse.

I don't think that's true. There is no scaling involved with virtual reality except the hardware, because the hardware enables the platform. "Virtual reality" isn't a single application, it's a bunch of applications created by developers.

Re: Minecraft creator says he’s canceled talks for Oculus Rift version

#173
post #108
post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> nice to see Notch take a stand taking a stand against Instagram, Facebook, WhatsApp and now Oculus ? I know that Notch wants to develop games with passionate people, but he has to understand that this acquisition was the best thing that could happen to both VR and Oculus. Anyway, Notch has been infamously known for his quick rants (see the "youtuber he insulted" issue)

The best thing? There is really no other company you could think of who would be a better partner? Like google? Or Microsoft?

I'd like to think Berkshire Hathaway would have been a good fit. They could expand into an entirely new technology sector, Buffett seems like an insanely smart guy who would get along with Carmack, and BH seems to be focused on making companies succeed in their own fields instead of folding them into existing lines of business.

Re: Minecraft creator says he’s canceled talks for Oculus Rift version

#175
post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Indeed, nice to see Notch take a stand and provide some sliver of redemption today for the thousands of nerds (myself included) upset about the Oculus Facebook deal today. I can't imagine the Oculus team ever reaching their fundraising goal if backers knew the founders were going to sellout before ever reaching the vision they shared to get people to back it in the first place. EDIT: Notch seems to have just confirme…

Exactly. But this goes further and lays bare the sheer stupidity inherent in kickstarter or any other crowd-sourcing platform. Just like facebook's Frankensteinian monstrous mish-mash of consumer/content/advertiser/publisher crowd-funding in its current state is a mish-mash that ends up meaning nothing in the end. You are not an equity partner, you really have no say in how decisions are made, you are not a lender, y…

Kickstarter is not charity. The people/businesses that raise money on kickstarter use the funds as an income stream. They're selling their brand and you're buying good feelings. It's a source of income for them. It's a product, an intangible one.

Re: Minecraft creator says he’s canceled talks for Oculus Rift version

#176

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> scaling crisis for VR. That's supposing Facebook knows how to scale production of electronic items... apart from the cash, they have no relevant experience about that. If it had been Google or Microsoft there would already be people who know how to make it scale to mass production.

The "scale" JC is referring to is not hardware production. It's the virtual reality. Millions of people interacting in real time in a virtual universe in which they are actually present . Think of it as similar to the scaling challenges of MMORPGs. Only much worse.

Second Life?

Re: Minecraft creator says he’s canceled talks for Oculus Rift version

#177
post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's emotional, but common, what is the proper reaction if one of the greats thing is bought by one of the worst? The only scenario worse than this i can image is Oracle. How would you feel if SpaceX, if you invested in it's technology, would have been bought by John Deere? This is more tragic than the acquisition of Bell Labs by Alcatel.

As an investor I would be overjoyed.

That's because investors think about short-term profits, not about world-changing technologies.

Re: Minecraft creator says he’s canceled talks for Oculus Rift version

#178
post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Indeed, nice to see Notch take a stand and provide some sliver of redemption today for the thousands of nerds (myself included) upset about the Oculus Facebook deal today. I can't imagine the Oculus team ever reaching their fundraising goal if backers knew the founders were going to sellout before ever reaching the vision they shared to get people to back it in the first place. EDIT: Notch seems to have just confirme…

> nice to see Notch take a stand taking a stand against Instagram, Facebook, WhatsApp and now Oculus ? I know that Notch wants to develop games with passionate people, but he has to understand that this acquisition was the best thing that could happen to both VR and Oculus. Anyway, Notch has been infamously known for his quick rants (see the "youtuber he insulted" issue)

Wha?

Why couldn't Oculus have been it's own company?

Facebook made it without a partner.

Re: Minecraft creator says he’s canceled talks for Oculus Rift version

#179
post #81

"And I did not chip in ten grand to seed a first investment round to build value for a Facebook acquisition." I'm guessing that pretty much sums up the reaction of everyone who backed the initial kickstarter. Sounds like a serious lapse of "dance with the one who brung ya" to me.

It blows my mind how much people will throw their money at Kickstarter projects for the simple feeling of goodwill or novelty knick knacks (bumper stickers, buttons, etc). $10,000 should have bought some small amount of equity, even if it was only non-voting and non-dilutable.

Well, this guy is a bit of a special case. IIRC he literally made more money than he knew what to do with on minecraft

Re: Minecraft creator says he’s canceled talks for Oculus Rift version

#180
post #8

I can't honestly blame him here. I doubt the issue is Facebook 'creeping [him] out', so much as it is that it's uncertain what exactly Facebook is going to want out of the deal. Facebook isn't primarily a games company, and it's even less a 3D/desktop games company. There doesn't appear to be any obvious motivation for Facebook to use this tech for its intended purpose, so the question becomes what exactly they do wa…

>>I doubt the issue is Facebook 'creeping [him] out' I think that's very much the issue. Seriously, "virtual reality" and "Facebook" are two things I don't want to think about in the same context. The former is an extremely promising piece of technology that can change the way people work, talk and play. The latter is a gigantic online advertising engine. Put them together and there's only one direction virtual reali…

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