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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

#161

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.

Facebook has the buying power to put together a solid hardware production team. I don't think Google has much internal hardware production knowledge right now, aside from the knowledge they bought when they acquired Motorola. Before that, they mostly made things through hardware partners like HTC, Samsung, and LG. I think they produce the Chromecast internally, but it's not much fancier than a USB stick. I'm sure the…

> Facebook has the buying power to put together a solid hardware production team.

Well I have worked in companies making physical goods (shipping millions every year), and you just don't buy a team from one day to another. It's not just about production, it's about supply chain, it's about quality management and quality assurance, regulations for sale in different countries/states, market research, product qualification to improve the design, actual customer support, vendors, distribution, etc...

It's a whole new area of skills/functions you don't have, and that does not mix very well with a software-only company mentality. I think it's going to be very tough for them to make something solid with Facebook.

EDIT: They would have been better prepared for scaling with a company like Apple (whose main business is already making hardware), Microsoft or Google for that matter. Many people say Valve could have been a good choice, but Valve has said several times they don't want to go into the hardware business (and won't make Steam boxes themselves).

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

#162

'Within the last hour EVERY friend I know was developing a rift game has canceled. That's around 11 projects just gone.' from a Reddit comment

I predict something similar to the Modern Warfare 2 boycott: http://dbzer0.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/Boycott-Modern-...

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

#163

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It's nice to compete with friends and show to your network what you and your friends are up to. I've never understood this mindset in gaming. Maybe I'm just showing myself as an introverted curmudgeon, but I only game when I'm not programming, and I just game to try to unwind. Being forced to do something 'social' when I just want to relax is just annoying to me personally. I'm not saying I hate other people (I do)…

If you look at the size of Twitch.tv and lots of game-related subreddits, it's obvious that "social gaming" is a very big market with a lot of potential money to be made.

The trick is that "social gaming" does not mean what many seem to think it means.

Watch a live stream of Scott Manley having some beers and flying some kerbals to the Mun? Sure, I'm on board with that.

Receive a notification that my mother has topped her previous high score in [who cares]Ville? No. No not at all.

I've seen absolutely no indication that Facebook understands that "social gaming" should not mean "annoying your friends".

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

#164
post #116
post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Facebook isn't primarily a games company, and it's even less a 3D/desktop games company" So what? What were you guys thinking back when Google was purely an Internet/search engine company, and tried to foray into other ventures (Android, self-driving cars, etc)? Companies expand their markets, create new products. It is natural. Why does the Oculus acquisition seem to perplex the HN crowd?

I don't think the general consensus is perplexed at all. By the way, could you send me one of these driver-less cars you speak of? Maybe some other vaporware?

I've seen driverless cars driving, without human input, on city streets and highways in the Bay Area for over a year. You can't possibly call it vaporware just because it's not being sold immediately -- with the risks involved, they'll probably need 10-20 years of validation before they hit the market. We need more companies thinking that far out, not fewer.

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

#165
post #163

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you look at the size of Twitch.tv and lots of game-related subreddits, it's obvious that "social gaming" is a very big market with a lot of potential money to be made.

The trick is that "social gaming" does not mean what many seem to think it means. Watch a live stream of Scott Manley having some beers and flying some kerbals to the Mun? Sure, I'm on board with that. Receive a notification that my mother has topped her previous high score in [who cares]Ville? No. No not at all. I've seen absolutely no indication that Facebook understands that "social gaming" should not mean "annoyi…

Why is what you want the only thing that is worth doing? What about the people who do care that their mom topped their previous score in [they care]Ville?

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

#166
post #118

Does anyone have any insight into Occulus' incentive or motive to do this deal? Edit: beyond the obvious monetary incentive, which I'm not sure was that much of an incentive since hordes of people seemed ready and willing to throw money at the oculus rift. 2 billion sounds like a bargain right now.

Sony was about to steam roll them? and Microsoft in the next year as well? The Sony morpheus system is already better than oculus feature wise, with better position tracking, and accessory tracking as well. And don't under estimate that, I've read some pretty strong "never again" comments from people using VR headsets and loosing grip of the controls and floundering and/or having to take the headset off to get the co…

Excellent analysis. So many companies are promising until they get swamped by far larger competitors, and all their fans are caught off guard. Then they disappear and become "remember when" stories. Oculus surely saw the writing on the wall.

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

#167
post #129
post #116

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think the general consensus is perplexed at all. By the way, could you send me one of these driver-less cars you speak of? Maybe some other vaporware?

You have never heard of Google's research on self-driving cars? http://www.google.com/about/careers/lifatgoogle/self-driving...

In a similar capacity, the B&MGF/IV have a laser that blasts mosquitoes out of the air. However despite it actually existing, it would be perfectly reasonable to refer to it as vapor ware at this point. You'd even be excused for asserting that it was just a PR stunt and funding sink.

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

#168
post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

I'm curious how you feel about open source, then. Specifically, node.js. Donating hours of your time working on something that eventually got sold for lots of money that you won't see a dime of. Sounds similar.

Except if I'm a major contributor on an open source project, I A) get to shape software that I (generally speaking) am a consumer of, and B) can put that on my resume.

Donating to a Kickstarter may give you some superficial "control" over project direction, but it's a far cry from open source, and it doesn't have the future career impact.

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

#169

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Heh, from Carmack's twitter 1m ago: https://twitter.com/ID_AA_Carmack/status/448629403740692481 For the record, I am coding right now, just like I was last week. I expect the FB deal will avoid several embarrassing scaling crisis for VR. Glad to see Carmack is still being Carmack. EDIT: By the way, if anyone is wondering why people are having a negative reaction to this Facebook deal, I think one way to understand it…

> 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.

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

#170
post #3

> "Facebook creeps me out." Whether or not you agree with his decision, having Notch pull away from talks with you creates an instant credibility "situation". It's also noteable that Notch had been meeting with the Oculus team just two weeks ago[0], was tweeting about them in rather gushing terms[1] and seemed incredibly inspired to work on VR ideas[2]. He is now the personification of the a near universal feeling of…

Heh, from Carmack's twitter 1m ago: https://twitter.com/ID_AA_Carmack/status/448629403740692481 For the record, I am coding right now, just like I was last week. I expect the FB deal will avoid several embarrassing scaling crisis for VR. Glad to see Carmack is still being Carmack. EDIT: By the way, if anyone is wondering why people are having a negative reaction to this Facebook deal, I think one way to understand it…

The problem with grokking Facebook's involvement is the lack of any apparent connection between VR and FB's core competencies. Google at least can use Glass for ever-more data mining. VR? FB? Carmack can sure put the $2B to good use, but how it benefits FB nobody seems to know.
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