Facebook acquire Oculus VR on Tuesday, March 25 for $2 billion. Oculus VR is the company behind the Oculus Rift virtual reality headset. You can read the article on IGN for more information.
Mark Zuckerberg said that Facebook acquiring Oculus VR will allow them to expand further with Oculus Rift by reaching "new kinds of experiences."
"By feeling truly present, you can share unbound spaces and experiences with the people in your life," said Zuckerberg. "Imagine sharing not just moments with your friends online, but entire experiences and adventures."
To be honest, I haven't been keep up too much with the virtual reality news, but I find what Zuckerberg said to be very fascinating. From everything I've heard and read, Oculus Rift was mainly for gaming, but what if this technology was used for something beyond gaming? Just think about what Oculus Rift could do if these bits are implemented into it.
While I only see virtual reality as sort of a gimmick in terms of gaming, I here Oculus Rift has great potential. I agree that it does have potential, and with what Zuckerberg said about Oculus Rift expanding, who knows what it could have in store for the future. If Oculus VR can manage to meet these new experiences now that Facebook is helping them, they may have something cool to look forward to.
Thursday, March 27, 2014
Tuesday, March 25, 2014
The PS4-demand struggle
It's no secret that the PS4 is very difficult to find right now. While IGN has stated that the PS4 is available on Amazon, retail continues to have a scarce supply of PS4's.
What's surprising is Sony won't be able to keep up with the demand for PS4 until this summer, as stated by Sony to The Wall Street Journal at GDC this year.
This is why I purchased the PS4 at its launch. I didn't want to go through the stress and hassle of going out to retail stores only to find that they don't have the PS4 in stock. Remember the Wii? That was a pain to get back when it was released, and I was lucky I even got one some time early the following year after its original release of 2006. It seems I made the right decision to buy the PS4 when it came out.
It's a shame that the PS4 is not in an abundant supply at retail. I know that there a ton of people who want the PS4 over the Xbox One, and it's easy to see why. It's cheaper and more powerful than the Xbox One.
Of course, I can also see why some people would wait before buying a PS4 or even an Xbox One. Right now, there aren't that many games out for either system. Both systems just recently got their first games worth buying in the forms of Titanfall for the Xbox One and Infamous: Second Son for PS4.
I am glad that gamers won't have to wait to long before having a chance buy a PS4, and let's hope that Sony, Microsoft, and even Nintendo can provide a strong library of games at E3 and beyond.
What's surprising is Sony won't be able to keep up with the demand for PS4 until this summer, as stated by Sony to The Wall Street Journal at GDC this year.
This is why I purchased the PS4 at its launch. I didn't want to go through the stress and hassle of going out to retail stores only to find that they don't have the PS4 in stock. Remember the Wii? That was a pain to get back when it was released, and I was lucky I even got one some time early the following year after its original release of 2006. It seems I made the right decision to buy the PS4 when it came out.
It's a shame that the PS4 is not in an abundant supply at retail. I know that there a ton of people who want the PS4 over the Xbox One, and it's easy to see why. It's cheaper and more powerful than the Xbox One.
Of course, I can also see why some people would wait before buying a PS4 or even an Xbox One. Right now, there aren't that many games out for either system. Both systems just recently got their first games worth buying in the forms of Titanfall for the Xbox One and Infamous: Second Son for PS4.
I am glad that gamers won't have to wait to long before having a chance buy a PS4, and let's hope that Sony, Microsoft, and even Nintendo can provide a strong library of games at E3 and beyond.
Wednesday, March 12, 2014
Award-winning journalist, Mark Mazzetti, comes to UCO
Earlier this week, award-winning journalist Mark Mazzetti of the New York Times came to UCO and discussed the Shadow Wars.
The Shadow Wars are, according to Mazzetti, a "war" that has been waged since 9/11. It's about the CIA's interrogation facility where they did manhunts instead of spying and getting intelligence. These manhunts were orders by President Bush to assassinate Al Qaeda detainees where armed predators were used.
During his speech, Mazzetti answered several questions. One answer he gave was that the Shadow Wars are a battle for influence, and Iran will play a bigger role in the Shadow Wars in a decade.
He explained how an intelligence agency is harder to get sources from, and he is more concerned about surveillance than he did before.
When drones were discussed, Mazzetti said that drones aren't the important point but rather the officials who make the orders.
Lastly, he said that partisanship isn't a bad thing. It can be either helpful or difficult to get information about the Shadow Wars from.
Overall, his presentation on the Shadow Wars showed some interesting information that can be helpful when dealing with this topic.
The Shadow Wars are, according to Mazzetti, a "war" that has been waged since 9/11. It's about the CIA's interrogation facility where they did manhunts instead of spying and getting intelligence. These manhunts were orders by President Bush to assassinate Al Qaeda detainees where armed predators were used.
During his speech, Mazzetti answered several questions. One answer he gave was that the Shadow Wars are a battle for influence, and Iran will play a bigger role in the Shadow Wars in a decade.
He explained how an intelligence agency is harder to get sources from, and he is more concerned about surveillance than he did before.
When drones were discussed, Mazzetti said that drones aren't the important point but rather the officials who make the orders.
Lastly, he said that partisanship isn't a bad thing. It can be either helpful or difficult to get information about the Shadow Wars from.
Overall, his presentation on the Shadow Wars showed some interesting information that can be helpful when dealing with this topic.
Tuesday, March 4, 2014
Are games limited to online doomed to fade away?
IGN's latest Nintendo Podcast focused on the news that Nintendo killed off Wi-fi support for the Nintendo Wii and DS. This means that games like Mario Kart DS, Super Smash Bros. Brawl, and Mario Kart Wii cannot be played online anymore.
One of the main points discussed in the podcast was the thought of so many games that use online (even games that aren't that old) will lose the online at some point, and there will be no way to play modes completely dedicated to online anymore.
They mentioned that Sony and Microsoft went into the next generation of consoles not even bothering to put backwards compatibility in the PS4 and Xbox One. They bring up that there may be the streaming services like Gaikai that could somehow make it possible to keep some of the online features in tact for some games.
Wii U is the only one of the new consoles that has backwards compatibility. In fact, almost the whole Wii OS is a separate mode on the Wii U. Not everything is there like the weather and news apps, but it's practically the same as turning on the Wii and seeing the menu screen.
Titanfall was brought up in the podcast. They said that in the future, there is a chance that playing Titanfall will be impossible because the online may one day be cut off. This is a scary thought when you realize that Titanfall is solely focused on online multiplayer. Without the online, Titanfall is nothing.
IGN then talked about how many MMOs are dead because the servers for those games were cut off.
We are in an age where online dominates a lot of what we do. Video games are no exception. To think that one day, a game that many people love to play online will no longer be. So many people that grew up with online-focused games may have nothing to go back to and relive great moments from the past. They are forced to stick with only newer games. Sure, some games have offline modes so people can play with friends, but in an age where multiplayer is mostly played online, this will hurt many gamers.
If streaming sevices do find a way to bring back some those online gaming experiences, there may be hope, but with Nintendo killing off Wii and DS Wi-fi, there may be some games that will inevitably be left in the dust.
One of the main points discussed in the podcast was the thought of so many games that use online (even games that aren't that old) will lose the online at some point, and there will be no way to play modes completely dedicated to online anymore.
They mentioned that Sony and Microsoft went into the next generation of consoles not even bothering to put backwards compatibility in the PS4 and Xbox One. They bring up that there may be the streaming services like Gaikai that could somehow make it possible to keep some of the online features in tact for some games.
Wii U is the only one of the new consoles that has backwards compatibility. In fact, almost the whole Wii OS is a separate mode on the Wii U. Not everything is there like the weather and news apps, but it's practically the same as turning on the Wii and seeing the menu screen.
Titanfall was brought up in the podcast. They said that in the future, there is a chance that playing Titanfall will be impossible because the online may one day be cut off. This is a scary thought when you realize that Titanfall is solely focused on online multiplayer. Without the online, Titanfall is nothing.
IGN then talked about how many MMOs are dead because the servers for those games were cut off.
We are in an age where online dominates a lot of what we do. Video games are no exception. To think that one day, a game that many people love to play online will no longer be. So many people that grew up with online-focused games may have nothing to go back to and relive great moments from the past. They are forced to stick with only newer games. Sure, some games have offline modes so people can play with friends, but in an age where multiplayer is mostly played online, this will hurt many gamers.
If streaming sevices do find a way to bring back some those online gaming experiences, there may be hope, but with Nintendo killing off Wii and DS Wi-fi, there may be some games that will inevitably be left in the dust.
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