With gamers in an uproar over Facebook’s purchase of Oculus VR, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said that we should not be focusing solely on gamers but rather turn our attention to people who are happy or even indifferent to the news like blind people.iwillneversleepwithstockingWhile the initial Kickstarter for the product said that the Oculus Rift was “designed for gamers, by gamers,” many are questioning whether or not this will still hold true. In a conference call with Zuckerberg discussing the purchase of Oculus VR, he said that there must be people who are happy with the decision.“We have made no changes to the Oculus Rift in the eight hours we have owned the company,” said Zuckerberg, “So for everyone who’s complaining that we’ve ruined it, have they forgotten that we actually haven’t reached that point? Besides, there are probably tons of people who are happy about the purchase. I personally have not met one yet, but I did talk with a blind person at a local coffee shop who seemed fairly indifferent to the news.”In a statement put out by a representative, Oculus VR founder Palmer Luckey reiterated Zuckerberg’s statements and was even bolder in his assertion that Facebook will do nothing to impact the Oculus Rift.
I want to make this very clear, nothing will change at Oculus VR and our mission for the Oculus Rift remains the same. We wanted to make virtual reality mainstream and today we have accomplished that mission. Now it is time to set new goals with advice from the people at Facebook who have shared our vision from the beginning of making the world’s first virtual marketplace.
John Carmack, legendary programmer and chief technology officer at Oculus VR, seemed to be unaware of the Facebook purchase when talking to reporters earlier today.“I just want to program things,” stated Carmack, “I don’t care what company took over Oculus VR while I was busy improving the Oculus Rift because it is not going to impact my job as a programmer. Yesterday I was working on how to decrease latency on certain graphical functions and today I’m working on new algorithms to determine proper spatial distance for viewing advertisements. Nothing has changed.”Zuckerberg also said that people who were looking forward to the Oculus Rift for gaming have nothing to fear as great games like Farmville and Bubble Witch Saga will be 100 percent compatible with the Oculus Rift.
