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So basically, Facebook is buying out devs? Surprising practices... I remember when I had to decide on a Samsung monitor over an Asus monitor because Samsung ha

So basically, Facebook is buying out devs? Surprising practices... I remember when I had to decide on a Samsung monitor over an Asus monitor because Samsung had the exclusives I wanted. Wait...that didn't happen because that would be insane.

SeanBoocock 10y ago
Facebook is funding game development through its Oculus publishing arm to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars. Part of those publishing contracts include a clause to keep Oculus published titles exclusive to their store for some duration of time. To speak to your example, no monitor manufacturer is funding the development of games to play exclusively on their monitors as monitors are largely a commodity at this point.
- hatsunearu 10y ago
  The real infuriating thing as a Vive owner myself is that Facebook paid off a bunch of Vive compatible games and made them retract the compatibility. Completely scummy. There was a massive drama incident about it on /r/vive about this as well.
  - cma 10y ago
    Kingspray was releasing in a couple weeks for Vive and has been "mysteriously" delayed until around the supposed timeframe of the Touch launch. Giant Cop was even already pre-sold on Humble store with Vive support and then the support was pulled back and it became an Oculus timed-exclusive.
ajmurmann 10y ago
I also find the concept of exclusivity for a VR headset very problematic. People in conversations have been comparing it to console exclusivity. However, I don't need to connect my console to a $1k PC and now am not only committed to one platform, but to a combination of two. I was really excited about VR when Oculus was still a kickstarter project. The Facebook acquisition killed some of that excitement. However, what really killed it for me was learning that it wasn't just another PC peripheral, but that these things have their own stores, etc. Until I can connect a VR headset and play a game I bought anywhere with it, I will stay away from this. I understand that some things don't work due to technical limitations like Vive's room tracking, but that's not the issue here.
- curiousgal 10y ago
  >The Facebook acquisition killed some of that excitement. I knew then that it wouldn't take long for them to bring their shitty business practices to the VR table.
- batmansmk 10y ago
  WebVR works, only needs a compatible web browser. Chrome and Firefox.
  - cma 10y ago
    Oculus makes you click an "allow outside sources" scare-switch to use it. The switch has no security purpose like on Android, because if you run an executable and already get through Microsoft's code signing prompt, you are already owned regardless of which way you toggled the scare-switch. It's just to lower adoption of anything outside of the limited Oculus store environment.
    - MikusR 10y ago
      Improper VR causes real nausea and real (often long) headache. They are curating experience.
      - throwaway2048 10y ago
        does anyone actually buy this?
        Natanael_L 10y ago
        If and only if they manage to build a track record of doing exactly that.
- Taek 10y ago
  Eh, I think comparing it to consoles is sufficient for now. The VR hardware is pretty significantly different. Something programmed for the vive controllers is going to be designed a lot differently than something programmed for the Occulus. (not sure how that changes when the Occulus hand controllers come out). There's a lot of experimentation happening right now, and it's probably going to be a while until we know the minimum subset of hardware that's required to make an immersive game.
rasz_pl 10y ago
except IT DOES happen because Asus monitors support G-Sync, Samsung one dont. Yes it is insane, thank Nvidia for pushing proprietary crap and anti consumer features (gameworks working similar to intel compilers)
- MikusR 10y ago
  Gameworks utilizes features that are faster on nvidia cards similar to code using AMD's implementation of async compute.
- ajmurmann 10y ago
  Big difference is that I can still play the game with or without G-Sync
dave2000 10y ago
It's like any other platform choice though. PC vs console, gameboy vs PlayStation etc.
- saiya-jin 10y ago
  nope - stuff you mention has different architecture (so you have to program for specific CPUs), different hardware (memory constraints, overall performance to get and maintain adequate FPS) and so on. this has same base PC, just displayed differently. It is another layer of complexity compared to displaying it on LCD screen, but not THAT big. games can be relatively easily developed to work well for both platforms, and many will be. this is about content locking and competition between companies.

SeanBoocock 10y ago

Facebook is funding game development through its Oculus publishing arm to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars. Part of those publishing contracts include a clause to keep Oculus published titles exclusive to their store for some duration of time. To speak to your example, no monitor manufacturer is funding the development of games to play exclusively on their monitors as monitors are largely a commodity at this point.

hatsunearu 10y ago
The real infuriating thing as a Vive owner myself is that Facebook paid off a bunch of Vive compatible games and made them retract the compatibility. Completely scummy. There was a massive drama incident about it on /r/vive about this as well.
- cma 10y ago
  Kingspray was releasing in a couple weeks for Vive and has been "mysteriously" delayed until around the supposed timeframe of the Touch launch. Giant Cop was even already pre-sold on Humble store with Vive support and then the support was pulled back and it became an Oculus timed-exclusive.

ajmurmann 10y ago

I also find the concept of exclusivity for a VR headset very problematic. People in conversations have been comparing it to console exclusivity. However, I don't need to connect my console to a $1k PC and now am not only committed to one platform, but to a combination of two. I was really excited about VR when Oculus was still a kickstarter project. The Facebook acquisition killed some of that excitement. However, what really killed it for me was learning that it wasn't just another PC peripheral, but that these things have their own stores, etc. Until I can connect a VR headset and play a game I bought anywhere with it, I will stay away from this. I understand that some things don't work due to technical limitations like Vive's room tracking, but that's not the issue here.

curiousgal 10y ago
>The Facebook acquisition killed some of that excitement. I knew then that it wouldn't take long for them to bring their shitty business practices to the VR table.
batmansmk 10y ago
WebVR works, only needs a compatible web browser. Chrome and Firefox.
- cma 10y ago
  Oculus makes you click an "allow outside sources" scare-switch to use it. The switch has no security purpose like on Android, because if you run an executable and already get through Microsoft's code signing prompt, you are already owned regardless of which way you toggled the scare-switch. It's just to lower adoption of anything outside of the limited Oculus store environment.
  - MikusR 10y ago
    Improper VR causes real nausea and real (often long) headache. They are curating experience.
    - throwaway2048 10y ago
      does anyone actually buy this?
      - Natanael_L 10y ago
        If and only if they manage to build a track record of doing exactly that.
Taek 10y ago
Eh, I think comparing it to consoles is sufficient for now. The VR hardware is pretty significantly different. Something programmed for the vive controllers is going to be designed a lot differently than something programmed for the Occulus. (not sure how that changes when the Occulus hand controllers come out). There's a lot of experimentation happening right now, and it's probably going to be a while until we know the minimum subset of hardware that's required to make an immersive game.

rasz_pl 10y ago

except IT DOES happen because Asus monitors support G-Sync, Samsung one dont. Yes it is insane, thank Nvidia for pushing proprietary crap and anti consumer features (gameworks working similar to intel compilers)

MikusR 10y ago
Gameworks utilizes features that are faster on nvidia cards similar to code using AMD's implementation of async compute.
ajmurmann 10y ago
Big difference is that I can still play the game with or without G-Sync

dave2000 10y ago

It's like any other platform choice though. PC vs console, gameboy vs PlayStation etc.

saiya-jin 10y ago
nope - stuff you mention has different architecture (so you have to program for specific CPUs), different hardware (memory constraints, overall performance to get and maintain adequate FPS) and so on. this has same base PC, just displayed differently. It is another layer of complexity compared to displaying it on LCD screen, but not THAT big. games can be relatively easily developed to work well for both platforms, and many will be. this is about content locking and competition between companies.