Facebook to Acquire Oculus VR for $2 Billion!

Facebook to Acquire Oculus VR for $2 Billion!

Facebook has announced that it will acquire Oculus VR, makers of the Oculus Rift for $2 billion. Announced today, the social networking giant will acquire the Oculus VR for $400 million in cash and 23.1 million in Facebook shares.

"While the applications for virtual reality technology beyond gaming are in their nascent stages, several industries are already experimenting with the technology, and Facebook plans to extend Oculus' existing advantage in gaming to new verticals, including communications, media and entertainment, education and other areas." a Facebook press release read. "Given these broad potential applications, virtual reality technology is a strong candidate to emerge as the next social and communications platform."

Notch Says He's Canceled Oculus Rift Minecraft Because Of Facebook

Of course, [Oculus] wanted Minecraft. I said that it doesn't really fit the platform, since it's very motion based, runs on java (that has a hard time delivering rock solid 90 fps, especially since the players build their own potentially hugely complex levels), and relies a lot on GUI. But perhaps it would be cool to do a slimmed down version of Minecraft for the Oculus. Something free, similar to the Minecraft PI Edition, perhaps? So I suggested that, and our people started talking to their people to see if something could be done.

And then, not two weeks later, Facebook buys them.

Facebook is not a company of grass-roots tech enthusiasts. Facebook is not a game tech company. Facebook has a history of caring about building user numbers, and nothing but building user numbers. People have made games for Facebook platforms before, and while it worked great for a while, they were stuck in a very unfortunate position when Facebook eventually changed the platform to better fit the social experience they were trying to build.

Don't get me wrong, VR is not bad for social. In fact, I think social could become one of the biggest applications of VR. Being able to sit in a virtual living room and see your friend's avatar? Business meetings? Virtual cinemas where you feel like you're actually watching the movie with your friend who is seven time zones away?

But I don't want to work with social, I want to work with games.

Fortunately, the rise of Oculus coincided with competitors emerging. None of them are perfect, but competition is a very good thing. If this means there will be more competition, and VR keeps getting better, I am going to be a very happy boy. I definitely want to be a part of VR, but I will not work with Facebook. Their motives are too unclear and shifting, and they haven't historically been a stable platform. There's nothing about their history that makes me trust them, and that makes them seem creepy to me.

And I did not chip in ten grand to seed a first investment round to build value for a Facebook acquisition.

I have the greatest respect for the talented engineers and developers at Oculus. It's been a long time since I met a more dedicated and talented group of people. I understand this is purely a business deal, and I'd like to congratulate both Facebook and the Oculus owners. But this is where we part ways.

Oculus Rift Development Kit 2

Oculus today announced another huge leap toward bringing its Rift virtual reality headset to market with the debut of the Rift Development Kit 2 — the first version of the headset to made available for sale since the original dev kit began shipping last year. Priced at $350 and available for pre-order now, the Rift Development Kit 2 (DK2) leap frogs over the last-generation, integrating all of the new features and technology of the Crystal Cove prototype unveiled at CES in January, including a higher resolution OLED display, low-persistence motion tracking, latency reducing software, and included infrared camera.

The Xbox 360 version of Titanfall has suffered another delay

The Xbox 360 version of Titanfall has suffered another two-week delay, EA has confirmed.

Respawn Entertainment's shooter will now launch for Xbox 360 on April 8 in the US, with a European release following on April 11.

Titanfall on Xbox 360 which was originally down to launch alongside Xbox One and PC versions last week, but was bumped back to March 28 in February. Xbox 360 owners will now have to wait another two weeks to get their hands on the game.

"I want to update everyone on Titanfall for Xbox 360 in development with Bluepoint Games," said EA exec Patrick Soderlund. I’ve been playing the game a lot, and it is fantastic."

"But we see a few things that can be made even better, so we’re giving Bluepoint a little more time to do just that and deliver an epic Titanfall experience for Xbox 360 players. Titanfall for Xbox 360 will now be releasing on April 8 in North America, and beginning on April 11 in Europe. The game will feature the same 6v6 gameplay, maps, modes, weapons and Burn Cards as the Xbox One and PC versions of the game."

"We appreciate everyone’s patience as we get the last details right. See you on the Frontier."

Titanfall 2

The as-of-yet unannounced sequel to Titanfall will, like its predecessor, be published by Electronic Arts, according to a report.

The rights to Titanfall 2, or whatever form the sequel to Titanfall takes, have been secured by EA, a source has told GameSpot. This development comes as a result of the sales performance of Titanfall, which was released last week on PC and Xbox One (and was just today delayed until April on Xbox 360).

2 New Assassins Creed games this year?!

Assassin's Creed Unity may be one of two Assassin's Creed games releasing this fall. Unity, according to Kotaku, will release on Xbox One and PS4, and is set at least partially in 18th century Paris. The other, codenamed Comet, will release on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. So what do you think? is it a good idea to have two Assassins Creed Games at once or in the same year?

Project Morpheus GDC 2014

Sony has formally announced its virtual reality prototype for PlayStation 4, dubbed Project Morpheus. The head-mounted display features a white visor with a black wrap-around piece along the eye-line, and the edges of the device give off a blue LED glow. The prototype will be available for developers to begin creating games soon.

During the GDC 2014 presentation, PlayStation head Shuhei Yoshida spoke of how the gaming industry has changed over time, thanks to technological advancements. Virtual reality, he says, "may well shape the future of games," by increasing immersion with a sense of presence while playing. Yoshida showed the early development of the VR headset, beginning with a PlayStation Move literally duct-taped to a prototype.

"We believe Morpheus will further enhance the world of PlayStation 4 with seamless integration with PlayStation Camera, DualShock 4, and PS Move," said Yoshida.

Dr. Richard Marks, PlayStation research and development, was quick to point out VR capabilities will go beyond games, as well. One of the projects Marks is currently working on involves a virtual walk on the surface of Mars, in partnership with NASA. Sony believes the six principles of VR focus on sight, sound, tracking, control, ease of use, and content.

Marks believes Sony has an advantage in the sight and sound department, thanks to its existing expertise in high-definition displays and audio. Tracking for the Morpheus can be handled by PlayStation Move technology, in addition to the PlayStation Camera. In regards to control, Morpheus will take advantage of the DualShock 4's sensors and glowing light. Marks says Sony intends for Morpheus to be easy to use, with the headset simply slipping over your eyes and just working.

Sony has also indicated a number of software developers, including Epic Games and Crytek, are already on-board with Project Morpheus. PlayStation's Anton Mikhailov says the company is treating VR as "a medium, not a peripheral."

As far as compatible games, Sony showed off an undersea adventure demo from Sony London called The Deep, in addition to announcing Morpheus compatibility for Thief and EVE Valkyrie.