The New York Times have spoken to a person involved in the purchase of Oculus Rift by Facebook and they have said that virtual reality hardware will be rebranded.
“Facebook eventually plans to redesign the Oculus hardware and rebrand it with a Facebook interface and logo,” said their source. Now normally we stay away from rumours from unnamed sources but this is the New York Times so I think they are quite trustworthy.
Facebook have said they will continue to support the current plans for Oculus Rift but they are looking at new applications. “People will build a model of a place far away and you’ll go see it,” explained head honcho, Mr. Zuckerberg. “It’s like teleporting.”
The purchase of the VR company by the social media giant has already caused one developer to pull support, Markus “Notch” Persson, creator of Minecraft has cancelled any plans to use the hardware.
We were in talks about maybe bringing a version of Minecraft to Oculus. I just cancelled that deal. Facebook creeps me out.
— Notch (@notch) March 25, 2014
“I definitely want to be a part of VR, but I will not work with Facebook,” he added. “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.”
Severn2j
Okay, now I’m worried.. :(
lambchop
Farmville 2 will look superb on this……..
ron_mcphatty
Not good, not good at all. A lot of us had a bad gut feeling about the first news article, maybe it was irrational, this update makes me think not.
TSBonyman
“Facebook interface”.. And so it ends.
The Von Braun
When has ‘rebranding’ ever been a good thing? (or Facebook for that matter? no, best ignore that aspect..).
Opal Fruits, now Starburst.
I can only buy a Snickers bar….
Every god damn thing in creation i seem to buy games wise these days wants me to link it to my Facebook page and share it with…no, no, NO.No dice, don’t have a Facebook account…
But hold on…people will build a model of a place far away and go and see it…err, they will…ok….
It’s like teleporting…mate pass that crack pipe over here, just how on earth is it ‘like teleporting’ ohhh i get it it…it’s not facking real…..
Teleporting my bloody backside, i bet BBC’s Blakes 7 had more convincing sets when they ‘teleported’ down than this contraption.Least with the BBC sets, wobbly as they were, they were’nt plastered with advertising and destroyed your soul/will to live/delete as per….each time you clapped eyes on them.
Teleporting indeed, my giddy aunt! people think i’m clinically mad, look what these s*unk trumpets are coming out with….
kjkg
I read that last paragraph wrong and now have the best insult in the world.
Skunk trumpets.
SamBeThyName
What do you do if you find a trumpet growing in your garden? You root-it-oot
RudeAwakening
Ha! I also read it as skunk trumpets!
blarty
Well, looks like those ads to buy in game coins will be more in my face than ever before…..
Oculus Rift – the Alderaan of gaming. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EZG0fBMT7Tc
Sad Panda
Between this and skunk trumpets, this is shaping up to be one of the funniest TSA threads in a while.
As for this announcement, I hate Facebook, I’ve seen first hand the damage it can do and will never have an account there.
While I personally had little interest in VR, this is still bad news for the industry as a whole.
bigchrissyc
Not that I was ever particularly interesting in Oculus Rift, or VR in general, I would be repulsed by it seeing Facebook has no bought it. Facebook is the absolute pits, them rebranding it into basically Facebook strapped to your head is now even more dire. We really dont need anymore Facebook. The Skunk trumpets!
bigchrissyc
Interested* and now*. I should really proof read posts!
bunimomike
Whilst Sony might be happy with Oculus potentially shifting focus (with the industry or industries it might be applied to) you can’t help think that the top brass over at Sony HQ are sitting there thinking “Eh? What just happened?”.
XPH
Did someone say FaceRift?
Amphlett
I was at a footy match last night and halfway through noticed someone sat about 3 rows in front of me checking facebook constantly for about 10 minutes and watching a goals video (I couldn’t make out the teams in the video). So, pay £20 for a ticket to a match and then sit and stare at facebook… what’s the world coming?