[quote]Oculus can’t seem to catch a break this year, as they suffered through ordering and shipping problems this winter and spring, and now here in summer, the debate turns to DRM and platform exclusivity.
More so than other VR headsets, Oculus seems determined to keep walls up when it comes to the exclusivity of many “Oculus only” titles. As recently as this week, Oculus founder Palmer Luckey was defending the decision, comparing the Rift to the exclusivity that PlayStation VR will offer.
“You see Sony investing in their content the same way,” explained Luckey, via TechCrunch. “They want to make things that take advantage of their features that they have in the best way possible. Over time, that’s how the VR industry is going to move forward. In the short‑term and the long‑term, it’s good.”
But Oculus may have taken a step forward to please fans angry about their practices, namely, after a recent update, it seems that the headset check has been removed from the Rift as a form of DRM. Previously, when running a game, the Rift would check to see if you were using an Oculus headset, with that removed, presumably, that opens the door for gameplay using other headsets. This change was only noticed hours ago, and so far, Oculus has not made an official statement on the headset check’s removal, and fans should probably wait and see what exactly Oculus has planned. Theoretically, this seems like a step toward a more open platform, or the headset check wasn’t working well, and they’re coming up with some other form of DRM that’s even more effective. Hopefully it’s the former, but it’s too early to rule out the latter.
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[quote]Update: Here’s an [b]official statement from Oculus[/b] on the removal, indicating this was intentional, and they are doing away with hardware checks as a form of DRM.
“We continually revise our entitlement and anti-piracy systems, and in the June update we’ve removed the check for Rift hardware from the entitlement check. We won’t use hardware checks as part of DRM on PC in the future.
We believe protecting developer content is critical to the long-term success of the VR industry, and we’ll continue taking steps in the future to ensure that VR developers can keep investing in ground-breaking new VR content.”[/quote]
[url]http://www.forbes.com/sites/insertcoin/2016/06/24/oculus-removes-controversial-headset-check-drm-potentially-changing-exclusivity-stance/[/url]
Took way too long. Shouldn't have been there in the first place.
I'm glad it's gone; it was very anti-competitive. Is there any confirmation that Rift games will now work with other headsets?
[QUOTE=Dr. Evilcop;50590957]I'm glad it's gone; it was very anti-competitive. Is there any confirmation that Rift games will now work with other headsets?[/QUOTE]
No because that's not how it works, the software isn't the same. That's up to the devs.
Having DRM to prevent other devices from running certain games is [i]exactly[/i] what people were saying they should avoid from the beginning. How on Earth did they think this was a good idea?
VR is currently owned by a tiny, tiny fraction of the market. You don't want to do anything to restrict that further, all the DRM did was make people who are skeptical of VR even more wary of getting a headset, seeing as it was cracked almost immediately anyway.
[QUOTE=*Freezorg*;50592589]No because that's not how it works, the software isn't the same. That's up to the devs.[/QUOTE]
Revive translates the software calls between the two headsets
I guess Oculus is failing as a business venture for reasons that nobody but the guys running the thing are surprised about, and they're panicking now.
Oculus failed with their launch, became synonymous with trying to bring Console exclusivity to the PC platform.
Meanwhile their competitor has Vive's stocked everywhere worldwide and you can receive them within 3 days.
It's really sad that a company that was going to stand at the front of VR technology ends up being the one that brings it closer to the end already.
[QUOTE=FezianEmperor;50593660]Oculus failed with their launch, became synonymous with trying to bring Console exclusivity to the PC platform.
Meanwhile their competitor has Vive's stocked everywhere worldwide and you can receive them within 3 days.
It's really sad that a company that was going to stand at the front of VR technology ends up being the one that brings it closer to the end already.[/QUOTE]
I don't think that way of looking at it is as widespread as you think.
When I talk to people about VR and shit, most of them haven't heard of / don't care about things like that.
[QUOTE=paul simon;50593892]I don't think that way of looking at it is as widespread as you think.
When I talk to people about VR and shit, most of them haven't heard of / don't care about things like that.[/QUOTE]
Well, I probably overreacted with that statement (VR isn't going away with major players such as Xbox and Playstation joinng in on the technology). I'm glad Oculus removed the DRM at least.
I see VR being much more relevant when the release of Playstation VR arrives. But, yeah the common Norwegian probably cares very little about a toy that's pretty much just for enthusiasts right now with a hefty premium price tag.
Yeah the reason they did this is pretty much Zuckerberg realized he didn't have the monopoly he thought he bought, Vive was getting more support because they didn't do bullshit like this
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