Oculus Announcement

[dburne]

Received the below from Oculus via email as I am sure many other Rift owners did.

 

Unveiling the next era of VR.

For the last five years, Oculus and our community of developers have worked together to bring the dream of VR to life. Join us tomorrow for the announcements that will redefine how far that dream can go.

 

Should be an interesting Keynote address tomorrow.

Trying not to get my hopes up too much.

 

Let the speculation begin...

 

Edited September 26, 2018 by dburne

[Urra]

1 hour ago, dburne said:

Received the below from Oculus via email as I am sure many other Rift owners did.

 

Unveiling the next era of VR.

For the last five years, Oculus and our community of developers have worked together to bring the dream of VR to life. Join us tomorrow for the announcements that will redefine how far that dream can go.

 

Should be an interesting Keynote address tomorrow.

Trying not to get my hopes up too much.

 

Let the speculation begin...

 

Wow, ok.  I just hope it doesn't have a 100 degree view and 1600x1400 resolution. The statement sounds like its about a specific game or addon,  not an actual unit.   

So, hopes are low, just to be safe.

[BeastyBaiter]

I'm expecting the formal announcement of Santa Cruz's upcoming release and probably showing off Half-Moon (CV2 prototype) some more.

[A_radek]

54 minutes ago, BeastyBaiter said:

I'm expecting the formal announcement of Santa Cruz's upcoming release and probably showing off Half-Moon (CV2 prototype) some more.

Definitely all about Santa Cruz. Understandable.

I'd be very surprised if they now announced anything substantial that could steal the attention from the cruz launch. Perhaps showing of some prototype vr-glove gadgery or new varifocal tech with no real production plans, for future interest.

Edited September 26, 2018 by SvAF/F16_radek

[dburne]

It's live now... 

Oculus Quest ( Santa Cruz stand alone) shipping in the spring for 399.00 USD. 

[dburne]

Well I am somewhat disappointed. Whilst they are not abandoning the Rift, no real idea when the next version might be coming was mentioned - at least so far. They are putting a lot of focus on the Ecosystem, continuing to fund more developments for Rift games also. Lone Echo 2 was announced with preview, looks pretty cool - loved Lone Echo, along with others. 

 

I get where they are coming from, they are wanting to build a huge market for VR and they see the Go, the Quest, and the Rift as being all part of that huge market. Maybe when Quest is released they will turn the focus back to the Rift finally.

 

I will say though, after watching more that Quest headset looking pretty cool. I may have to pick one of those up when released. I do enjoy other VR games as well that will be available through it.

Edited September 26, 2018 by dburne

[OrLoK]

shame there's no upcoming Rift 2.0 but Im still rather happy with mine as is and would rather wait for a quantum leap before shelling out again

 

as long as the Rift is still supported/updated etc, its not perfect but im happy

[JonRedcorn]

lol more mobile rift crap. I'll pass. Let me know when they give rift users a reason to upgrade, until then, I'll eagerly await the pimax 5k+.

[Guest deleted@134347]

just like with the apple eco-system it's hard to leave the oculus one. But alas it must be done.

 

Enter the darkness to see the light, guys!

[dburne]

1 hour ago, OrLoK said:

shame there's no upcoming Rift 2.0 but Im still rather happy with mine as is and would rather wait for a quantum leap before shelling out again

 

as long as the Rift is still supported/updated etc, its not perfect but im happy

 

Yeah no danger there , they are still supporting Rift in a big way with the games they are funding for development. And obviously developing some very cool technology for when they do develop a CV2.

I was just bummed with no new information on a true next gen Rift yet. Well maybe 2020.

[chiliwili69]

I couldn´t see the live stream. But exactly as expected. This previous mail sent by Oculus is like a bad joke for true Rift users who expected the CV2.

 

In any case, Oculus is doing exactly what is more profitable for their shareholders. Just go to the masses with an all-in-one device with low FOW (100) and not surprising resolution (1600x1440). A kind of a self contained game console not only for games but also for experiences, TV, etc. And with an affordable price for many who can not afford an expensive PC.

Personally I think it is a bit wrong here. Oculus has enough resources to develop both (Mobile and PC) lines in parallel. So, it is a pity that they has been really lazy in the last 3 years in the PC line. (exactly 3 years ago Rift was fully finished, in fact Rift was first announced in May-2015!!). Noting technical is preventing Oculus to launch a CV2 in mind 2019.

 

Oculus will never serves us (flight simmers) any more. A heavy-PC niche. There will be other companies that will produce leading edge devices for flight simmers, racing, space sim, etc. Pimax is one example but more should arrive.

 

So, Rift CV2 will be then announced in OC6, so ready for spring 2020. Just as Abrash predicted. It seems that the VR-link on new 20 series card is going to be unused for a long time.

 

Now the only one upgrade option is the Pimax 5K+. But we will need to test it during October/Nov just to be sure it is a firm replacement of the Rift.

 

My backer number is around the 1000, I believe the first batch of 100 has been sent to early backers.

[A_radek]

I try but don’t understand their strategy. It’s not the lack of a new rift that puzzles but rather these cruz/quest things that don’t make any sense.

 

The very casual gamer: Angry birds/candyCrush on the daily comute to work already tried cardboard-VR and I’d say is very unlikely to pay 399 for more of it. Next step would be the guy/girl with 399 in their pocket wanting to spend that on computer games. Not enough for a gaming rig so they return home with a ps4 because the games look cool, unlike the simple mobile type games for the Oculus quest. Lastly there are the grown children that have plenty of money and like Vr. Naturally they already went somewhere else. 

 

So who will actually buy this? Developing a product for a market they need to create through their funding of developers just seems incredibly off compared to feeding an already existing one. Please do share if there is a comprehensible logic in oculus strategy I fail to see.

 

Edited September 26, 2018 by SvAF/F16_radek

[BeastyBaiter]

If you listen to Zuckerberg, what he essentially wants is for Oculus VR to be a social media platform. Your Rift isn't for gaming, it's for Facebook VR, Twitter VR, Slack VR, Webex VR and remote desktop VR. With that mindset, the focus on mobile devices makes a lot of sense. It makes no sense for gaming, but he clearly doesn't see that as anything but a side feature, much like it is on phones.

 

They will release a CV2 at some point, but them neglecting to mention it in any meaningful way does strongly suggest that Oculus will completely skip the second generation of PC VR headsets.

[dburne]

I just don't see any viable alternatives out there for the immediate future either.

Will wait and see how this Pimax thing turns out, but I just don't have a good taste for them at this time.

 

Well at least I guess I will be getting more out of my money's worth with my Rift for a while.

 

 

[JonRedcorn]

4 minutes ago, dburne said:

I just don't see any viable alternatives out there for the immediate future either.

Will wait and see how this Pimax thing turns out, but I just don't have a good taste for them at this time.

 

Well at least I guess I will be getting more out of my money's worth with my Rift for a while.

 

 

It's literally the only option that is even remotely viable in the near future.

[dburne]

1 hour ago, BeastyBaiter said:

If you listen to Zuckerberg, what he essentially wants is for Oculus VR to be a social media platform. Your Rift isn't for gaming, it's for Facebook VR, Twitter VR, Slack VR, Webex VR and remote desktop VR. With that mindset, the focus on mobile devices makes a lot of sense. It makes no sense for gaming, but he clearly doesn't see that as anything but a side feature, much like it is on phones.

 

They will release a CV2 at some point, but them neglecting to mention it in any meaningful way does strongly suggest that Oculus will completely skip the second generation of PC VR headsets.

 

I think you would have to break that down somewhat. When you say gaming, you are thinking more along the lines for the gaming we do here. The flight sim enthusiast, racing sim enthusiast, space sim enthusiast.

 

The Rift,   and the upcoming Quest, are very much for gaming as well. Just not the kind we do here. But there will be many decent VR games available for the Quest, as there are many now available for the Rift. I have had a lot of fun in playing some VR games in my Rift and will continue to do so. Those type of games will fit nicely into the Quest also. Games like Star Trek Bridge Crew, Lone Echo, Robo Recall, Arizona Sunshine, etc. And the upcoming Star Wars Darth Vader episode 1 for the Quest.

 

Oculus is still dumping a tremendous amount of money into helping fund VR game development and building up the ecosystem for it. Which is very good for the VR industry as a whole. I too am very disappointed that no information was shared for a second generation Rift, but from what I heard it is still very much on the roadmap. Just not as soon as we all would like.

 

[Urra]

I was right mostly?  I was even going to joke yesterday about star wars...

Edited September 27, 2018 by TunaEatsLion

[A_radek]

Beasty you could very well be right. But then they really are trying to create a market for their products because what existing group of the social media crowd would pay for this. The selfie people already have their phones, the -“here’s what I had for dinner” also and the millennials that need their daily dose of likes won’t get a better self-esteem with these things. Not for long anyway. 

 

Letting vr/ar slowly evolve to a point where it could assist you drive a car or when interaction with a virtual environment feels natural, and then aim at the masses, that to me would make sense. Not these mid range headsets. 

[A_radek]

6 hours ago, dburne said:

Those type of games will fit nicely into the Quest also. Games like Star Trek Bridge Crew, Lone Echo, Robo Recall, Arizona Sunshine,

While you can make visually stunning games on todays mobile platforms, VR by nature complicates things. The games you mention require a pc with a rather hefty gpu. Beat saber and fruit ninja would be be closer to my expectations of Quest games. 

[Alonzo]

I was listening to his argument about needing 10 million people on a platform for it to be commercially successful, and was thinking "ooh, he's going to announce a partnership with HTC, no more lock-in, an open ecosystem to promote VR for everyone!" and then of course he didn't. He's building a walled garden mobile VR platform because Facebook want to own all of our social interactions in VR. (Which by the way is about 10x more dangerous than the data they already have -- when you can track someone's emotional response to a conversation as well as record exactly what their eyes are looking at.....yeesh).

 

I can buy Vox Machinae on Oculus Store or I can buy it on Steam. Why on earth would I want to lock into my Rift headset when the next upgrade is years away and I might basically be forced to go Pimax in the meantime? About the only argument is SteamVR performance issues but I *believe* if a game has native Oculus support it'll just use that even if you launch via Steam.

 

I'll be very interested to read reviews for the Pimax 5k from people with high-end rigs using it for IL2.

[HunDread]

If Oculus has a bit of self-irony they should make a game or experience titled "Zuckerberg's Mind" and sell it under the Horror category.