3 ms·
I think the "if they wanted to they would have argument" misses some nuance of how business actually works. The impression from the stories available was that t
by batoure 13y ago
I think the "if they wanted to they would have argument" misses some nuance of how business actually works. The impression from the stories available was that this deal was inked very quickly. I think that people at Microsoft are probably equally as stunned as the rest of us that this company was acquired. People from Facebook were actively hanging out at Oculus and watching development, you don't get the impression that other companies had this type of access.
I wouldn't be to fast to leap to expecting a Microsoft competitor. The botched Sony launch combined with uncertainty about this purchase by Facebook may make them more likely to pursue other products in the next year and avoid seeming like a band-waggoner.
- foobarian 13y agoKnowing how corporations work, I think it's more likely that MS doesn't really have anything in the works. VR is a funny technology. It's been around a very long time, and attempts keep being made and failing. That means that most big labs probably have had long running programs. A problem with such projects is that once they build up some codebase or knowledge base, it becomes very very hard to start fresh or change directions. I think the Sony project suffers from this, the product really is not in the same league as Oculus, both in hardware specs and the software/UI support. It feels like one of those clunky early MP3 players vs. the iPod.
- Aloha 13y agoI think the concept of augmented reality that things like google glass offers a greater chance of finding purchase over any fully immerse environment short of one that operates in something akin to dream space.
- Pxtl 13y agoWell, they're different markets. The full VR experience targets core gamers. The AR experience better ties into the modern mobile revolution. Even if I weren't playing a fully AR game, I'd want something semi-transparent if I were playing on the train. Completely shutting off my eyes in transit would be weird.
- Dwolb 13y agoI'd doubt this. Hardware requires a supply chain and the suppliers try to sell to everyone, at least initially. The same guys that sell to Sony, sell to Microsoft, sell to Oculus, etc and there's a data exchange of 'what's coming next' in this manner. As soon as you know an idea is possible, reaching into the supply chain can help you link pieces together to get what you need (hardware, software, engineers, etc.) to create a working product. I'd bet that if Microsoft knows about VR, cares about VR, believes in VR, they have working VR.
- foobarian 13y agoGood points. It could be a case similar to iPod. The supply chain is there, and the parts are there, someone just needs to come along and show us how to tie it all together; and show us that it's not OK to: 1) ignore industrial design, 2) optimize for lowest price, 3) ignore software integration/UI. Once that happens get ready for a flood of copycats.