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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

#231

Post by shaneofalltrad »

wtallis wrote: post #183
fchollet wrote: post #169

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Ok. But how much realtime stuff has Facebook done? (IM doesn't count.) Do they have any credible experience with anything more specifically relevant than just running large data centers?

If they can get MySQL to scale in those data centers, I am sure they can attach a tv helmet to a large population. I still think Sony will come out on top though, they know this business better and have the battle scars with Microsoft.

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

#232

Post by sirkneeland »

mercutio2 wrote: post #226
cwyers wrote: post #208

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I doubt the sincerity of your apology. But if you really desire more convincing, all of those companies have large existing business units devoted to selling consumer devices or licensing things to people selling consumer devices. Those business units have executives, budgets, reporting structures, etc. It is very unlikely any of those companies would buy Oculus to run it as an autonomous unit, like Facebook is sayin…

Apple does not have business units. Apple would also never spend that much money on an acquisition, so your general point stands, but your specific statement is false.

"Would never" is less accurate than "has not yet to date".

Never say never. Especially with a company that likes to surprise...

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

#233

Post by masklinn »

Karunamon wrote: post #135
benched wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes. All of us who hate this development are irrational. That's the only explanation for this groundswell. I can't think of a single reason to be cynical about Facebook or about this deal.

Snark aside, people tend to lose all sense of perspective and objectivity anytime Facebook is mentioned. Especially the crowd around here. I really, really don't understand the pathological and irrational hate for Facebook and/or ads.

> I really, really don't understand the pathological and irrational hate for Facebook and/or ads.

Just look at Facebook's past relations with developers in their ecosystem, that should fix it.

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

#234

Post by hellbanTHIS »

elohesra wrote: 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…

They're probably thinking post-Facebook. They aren't dumb, they know what they have now won't last and when it dies out they can cash in their user data and go into the virtual reality business.

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

#235

Post by InclinedPlane »

anigbrowl wrote: post #218
InclinedPlane wrote: post #101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

True. But back then there was no other option for crowd funding. That's only changing just now as the SEC is finally implementing the crowd funding provisions of the JOBS act.

Yeah, I'm surprised there hasn't been more discussion of that here, though obviously the slow nature of the rulemaking process causes people's interest to wane. Considering the fact that large acquisitions will continue in the future (even if we are in a bubble or unusually inflated period right now), and that even a micro-investment at the right time can lead to huge multiples, it'll be very interesting to see how t…

Well, also, the SEC made the crowdfunding regulations a bit ridiculous so they may not actually end up having a major impact on investment funding.

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

#236

Post by cousin_it »

avar wrote: post #138
gfodor wrote: post #128

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You are not listening to the person you are responding to. Nobody is going to argue that kickstarter backers are entitled to equity in the company, or that they have legal rights beyond what is guaranteed in the kickstarter. What the person is trying to get across is that in any financial transaction there are non-legal aspects involved. There are human relationships. The world runs on favors as much as it runs on co…

I'm listening. Are you? The parent of this thread quoted: "And I did not chip in ten grand to seed a first investment round to build value for a Facebook acquisition." If you didn't chip in ten grand of seed money for that purpose why didn't you make that part of the deal then ? There are no non-legal aspects of financial transactions. When you give someone money they're going to try to retain that money and not give…

The future of Kickstarter depends on how well companies honor the non-legal aspects of their relationships with backers, which you say don't exist. I'm not saying I would have refused the acquisition offer, though :-)

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

#237

Post by yaeger »

enraged_camel wrote: post #14
elohesra wrote: 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…

> the way people work, talk and play

Um, that is also what Facebook did. Maybe not for work but definitely for communication and play.

And if you read the announcement you would know where FB wants to go with VR. Since neither WhatsApp nor Instagram require you to log in with your FB account, I doubt the first thing you'd see after putting on the Rift would be a FB login page.

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

#238

Post by Riesling »

Jack000 wrote: post #27
nostromo wrote: post #16

Am I way off in thinking Zuck wants to make Oculus Facebook's response to Google Glass?

I don't see it, they're completely different products

There are already developments towards blending in the real world into the VR space again. Attach stereo cameras to the front of the device detect certain important features (like other persons or mouse and keyboard) and merge them into the picture created by the VR device. In my opinion, this is much better than the Google approach because it gives you more control over the visualization. Now imagine the devices having the size of regular sunglasses. Imagine all the possibilities. I have seen a project displaying the picture from the front cameras in HDR mode. Therefore, making reality looking better that it really did. Now think of Facebook having the lead in this development… Still makes me sad if I think about it, because they are not going to use this power responsibly.

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

#239

Post by bowlofpetunias »

Camillo wrote: post #79
noonespecial wrote: post #63

"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.

When I said that it was silly to simply donate money to a commercial venture without gaining any stake in it, they called me a naysayer. Who's saying nay now?

Lot's of people agree with you. In crowdfunding circles, Kickstarter is considered a bubble that will burst hard when people realize they're funding companies in exchange for beads and trinkets.

Sure there are plenty of projects for which the Kickstarter formula is perfectly valid. Funding companies isn't one of them, and that's where most of the money is.

If that stops happening, Kickstarter's may not be enough to keep them afloat.

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

#240

Post by XorNot »

amirmc wrote: post #124
XorNot wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It'll fail. The hard lesson over the coming decade or 2 is going to be that UI design for virtual reality tolerates much less intrusion then a desktop PC. If you're remotely computer literate and organize your desktop the way you like, it hurts when you lose that and it already feels like an invasion when a program does something you don't want it to. I suspect transposed to virtual reality, people are going to be ev…

> "... people are going to be even less tolerant of trying to force things on them because the experience is much more intimate." Perhaps not if that's how you 'grew up with it' (so to speak). If you're clever enough and insert yourself into the system early enough then you get to shape all the 'norms' that will eventually emerge.

Except that's not what's happening. Virtual reality isn't an abstract interface to a complex piece of hardware - it's intended to mimic your everyday experience of reality.

A lot of UI paradigms will simply disintegrate against that issue. You'll be able to transpose existing ideas into virtual reality by projecting them onto things which are those abstract interfaces (virtual displays etc.), but you're not going to be able to expect to control how the user moves or interacts.

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