Facebook wants to believe in a future where Virtual Reality goes hand in hand with your gaming experiences. That’s why they’ve invested so heavily into the Oculus Rift, the most promising device on its way to the market right now. Thing is, it’s going to take a couple of million sales to make the device actually mean something in the industry
That’s according to Facebook CEO and “guy I wish I had stolen ideas from”, Mark Zuckerberg. Facebook purchased Oculus a while ago, and since then has made massive strides forward as they push for a retail launch. Just last month Oculus revealed their third prototype, Crescent Bay, although the final retail release still remains a mystery.
And if Zuckerberg is anyone to go by, that’s just the start. He’s convinced that it’s going to take several “cycles” until the Oculus Rift becomes a common, meaningful gaming platform. Which means the first few years could be bumpy roads to travel.
“Our efforts here will take longer to achieve their full impact, but we’re going to continue preparing for the future by investing aggressively. So that’s how we’re approaching our strategy over the next 3, 5 and 10 years while focusing on our big goals of connecting everyone, understanding the world and building the next generation of platforms.”
He then went on to say that it would take around 50 – 100 million devices sold to make a meaningful difference to the market, warning that it could take a few years and multiple Oculus Rift cycles. The Oculus Rift has already sold 100 000 units to developers, and there’s definitely some keen interest from some big studios globally.
But will it have the massive impact that Facebook is expecting? If confined to gaming, I’m not entirely sure. If the Oculus Rift transforms into an all-inclusive media device that can hook up to anything in my man cave, then I can certainly see the VR future on the horizon. Regardless, I’m pretty excited to level up my gaming with the Rift.
Last Updated: October 29, 2014
Admiral Chief 0
October 29, 2014 at 13:40
Why does the header remind me of a certain Wookiee….
Kensei Seraph Forget Terra
October 29, 2014 at 13:41
It’s probably the shirt.
Rock789
October 29, 2014 at 13:48
The header – Rince, is that you?! 😉
Hammersteyn
October 29, 2014 at 13:57
The beard is too manly
Rock789
October 29, 2014 at 14:00
You do have a point… 😉
RinceThis
October 29, 2014 at 14:12
You too? *Goes to look for another site.
Alien Emperor Trevor
October 29, 2014 at 14:13
Don’t listen to them, I think your beard looks very manly.
BWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAsorryicouldntkeepastraightface
Admiral Chief 0
October 29, 2014 at 14:15
LOOOOL
RinceThis
October 29, 2014 at 14:09
What do you know about beards, kid 😛
Hammersteyn
October 29, 2014 at 14:22
I know your mom likes it.
*RUNS
Admiral Chief 0
October 29, 2014 at 14:26
O_O
OH NOES HE DIDN’T!!!
Admiral Chief 0
October 29, 2014 at 14:13
XD
RinceThis
October 29, 2014 at 14:14
There you are, took your time for the obligatory XD 😛
Admiral Chief 0
October 29, 2014 at 14:15
What can I say, jokes that are true really makes me XD
RinceThis
October 29, 2014 at 14:40
*Anything that is aimed at you makes me XD*. There we go fella 😛
Admiral Chief 0
October 29, 2014 at 14:41
That is not entirely true.
This is more like it:
“Anything aimed at a Lagz regular from a Lagz regular makes me XD”
Its like some sort of messed up family, and it is HOME
😛
RinceThis
October 29, 2014 at 14:42
BWAHAHAH. That HOME bit got me XD XD XD
Admiral Chief 0
October 29, 2014 at 14:43
Home away from home then
HvR
October 29, 2014 at 14:42
Not true there was that joke about …… hmmmmm ……
Hammersteyn
October 29, 2014 at 13:58
That guy is so watching boobs. The face says it all.
Rock789
October 29, 2014 at 14:01
He’s enjoying the Dead or Alive “realistic jiggle physics”… in 1080p! Must be on PC then… :p
HvR
October 29, 2014 at 14:41
To keep up with popular trends he should be looking at big jiggling butts.
J_Joestar
October 29, 2014 at 19:40
Alien Emperor Trevor
October 29, 2014 at 14:00
Gimmick.
frikkenator
October 29, 2014 at 14:03
I thought so too, until I had a go on the latest dev kit. It is friggin awesome!
Alien Emperor Trevor
October 29, 2014 at 14:06
I’ve tried the previous model. It’s impressive tech, but still nowhere near ready for the big time. I doubt it’ll ever take off the way they want it to unless they can make it much smaller – something google glass like – and also work on consoles, not just PC.
RinceThis
October 29, 2014 at 14:09
Agreed. I don’t discount it if, as he suggest, it evolves past this ‘virtual boy’ stage.
frikkenator
October 29, 2014 at 14:11
The size on the second one is fine, it can’t be like google glass as it needs to block everything else out to create a sense of immersion.
The only problem for me was the resolution, which has been upped drastically since the previous model but is still not good enough.
It is still far from a polished, finished product, but it was a hell of a lot more than I expected.
RinceThis
October 29, 2014 at 14:13
They also need to work on the frame rate, when we tried it after a few minutes you thought you were about to re-meet your lunch.
frikkenator
October 29, 2014 at 14:13
True. I was impressed by the tracking though, quite sensitive and very accurate.
Rags
October 29, 2014 at 14:14
Can’t make it work on consoles. 30 fps lolz.
Sgt. M
October 29, 2014 at 14:03
Sword Art Online here we come!!!! In 3, 5 or 10 years
RinceThis
October 29, 2014 at 14:08
Why would you want it as an all-inclusive device if you had an Xbox One already?
Ryanza
October 29, 2014 at 14:13
You know, if they just strapped a screen in front of my eyes and have a PC or console stream the games to the screen while I lay in bed or sit on the toilet, with a wireless controller. I might even buy it to use it for those rare times.
But they went all gimmicky. I don’t want to turn my head to turn in the damn game. I just want to play the damn game in the bath without having a big ass tv falling onto me.
Anyway they got to gimmicky. I ain’t buying this shit.
http://i.imgur.com/eiTIRZJ.gif
RinceThis
October 29, 2014 at 14:15
HAHA! I can relate with this, really disconcerting!
Rags
October 29, 2014 at 14:16
Explain how they went gimmicky?
Alien Emperor Trevor
October 29, 2014 at 14:17
Never go full gimmick? 😀
RinceThis
October 29, 2014 at 14:18
You’re a gimmick!
Alien Emperor Trevor
October 29, 2014 at 14:19
Yes, but I own it – I go fool gimmick.
RinceThis
October 29, 2014 at 14:20
Fool gimmick! That’s almost as bad as full gimmick!
RinceThis
October 29, 2014 at 14:19
I like the idea of total immersion though. The one game I tried was terrifying, sitting in front of a screen (as in, you are inside the game, playing a game) and then shit starts happening outside of THAT game but inside your the other game… gah!
Admiral Chief 0
October 29, 2014 at 14:21
Dude yeah, I saw the video about that “game” you are referring to, crazy!
RinceThis
October 29, 2014 at 14:28
Heck was it called again?
Admiral Chief 0
October 29, 2014 at 14:30
The House?
But I know exactly what you are talking about, saw a “lets play” type video of it, moerse crrreeeeeeeeepy
Kensei Seraph Forget Terra
October 29, 2014 at 14:36
I want VR like in Legendary Moonlight Sculptor, Ark, ½ Prince, or Only Sense Online.
HvR
October 29, 2014 at 14:59
LOL, as if on cue this start playing on the radio while I’m reading the article
HvR
October 29, 2014 at 15:26
Seeing as your gaming market “hardcore” enough to fork out a couple thousand for gaming platform or dedicated gaming visual device is set at around 100 million people (very rough estimate from console sales) and 40% suffer from motion sickness isn’t there total market limited to 50 to 60 million people?
Ghost In The Rift
October 29, 2014 at 16:48
Well if the rift is gonna cost R4500 up its gonna take a while…………long while…………..longer while……..you get the point:-P