Hey everybody,

I had another topic lined up for tonight, something about narrative delivery in games, but this takes priority for now  - so in case you missed today's brewing shitstorm on the internet:
Facebook is buying Oculus VR, Inc, for $2 billion

First knee-jerk, one-word reaction:  shit.

Facebook, to me, represents one of the worst platforms as a whole for anything game-related; an 'ecosystem' where buzzwords like 'whales' and 'monetization' are considered perfectly acceptable terms, clones and lookalikes are basically uncontrolled, and the userbase is treated less as people and more like livestock.  And while one could consider the Oculus Rift as something applicable beyond gaming, let's not kid ourselves:  it is in prime position for the consumer VR market due in large part to it's ever-more-comfortable fit into gaming, and gamers' ravenous desire for a quality, affordable VR device.

Let's set aside my own moralities and principles for a second, and consider the business implications:

Oculus now has a significant financial backer
Good, bad?  Most certainly 'good' - while they were no slouch in garnering financial support, Facebook has a huge stockpile of cash and personnel; and with other very large players stepping into the ring (to wit, Sony with their 'Morpheus'), effective consumer-level VR is just about within reach of consumer-level purchasability.  Add to that the pretty neat development things Facebook has done (privacy and security gaffes not withstanding), and Oculus has a great backing of money, technology, and developers.

Facebook is a gateway to the incoming generation(s)
No question that Facebook's userbase is huge, and that the base demographic is shifting to the younger crowd.  Upcoming techno-literates and likely offspring of techno-veterans will see Oculus not as the niche hardware vendor we came to understand, but as a part of a platform, a service they've been using for years.  Sony's already a household name for other things, and there's no doubt that ye olde electronics consumer (i.e. everyone) will hear about Morpheus in some capacity.  Now, at the very least, their children will hear about Oculus.

Ostensibly non-gamers backing a very gaming-related device
Now, I won't lie - with Valve's very recent , very awesome backing of Oculus, I would have preferred, if an acquisition was required, that they would have done it.  But inbreeding has a way of destroying anything, and while I would be more than happy to mark another notch in Facebook's belt of 'screwing up royally', they might bring the non-gaming perspective that could truly benefit Oculus and VR as a whole.

Look, I'm not saying I like Facebook buying Oculus - it made a part of my soul die, really - but there's enough other factors that it's not an insta-lose situation.  Competition in the VR space has ramped up enough that Facebook can't really afford to fuck this one up.  And if they do, it'll be another black eye, one that may not be forgiven quite so easily (by me, and many others, I'm sure).

That's all for now.

Cross-post:
Desura