I remember playing an arcade "Game" around 1998 that was very immersive. It was crude 3D, like Dire Straits type 3D, but you were definitely in there moving around a battlefield.
I remember playing an arcade "Game" around 1998 that was very immersive. It was crude 3D, like Dire Straits type 3D, but you were definitely in there moving around a battlefield.
that little fa... wait a minute!
I remember playing an arcade "Game" around 1998 that was very immersive. It was crude 3D, like Dire Straits type 3D, but you were definitely in there moving around a battlefield.
Kickstarter should send up a red flag btw. Developers turn to kickstarter when they can't get traditional investors. If your product is actually good/working then you shouldn't need kickstarter.
Sound like it might be Dactyl Nightmare, by Virtuality.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v6t69mp0ZhE (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v6t69mp0ZhE)
Although the resolution for the dev kit is (much) lower than anyone would consider ideal, the distortion from the lenses concentrates the highest pixel density in the center of the field of vision, where its needed most. (The consumer version is supposedly targeting 1080p in 2013, but now we are really in vaporware territory.)
I think it will be interesting to try these when they are released.
Sound like it might be Dactyl Nightmare, by Virtuality.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v6t69mp0ZhE (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v6t69mp0ZhE)
That is definitely the type of thing I remember. Found this pic now that I have the title and this is it.
(http://hackadaycom.files.wordpress.com/2012/06/dactyl-nightmare-pods.jpg)
Kickstarter should send up a red flag btw. Developers turn to kickstarter when they can't get traditional investors. If your product is actually good/working then you shouldn't need kickstarter.
Also the thing is that this tech already exists... duct-tape a wiimote plus to your head and you've got head tracking.... then it's only a matter of finding an affordable display. That's the key right there... it will probably end up costing more than your typical game console. These vr devices have been released steadily over the past decade or so and none of them have caught on, mostly becuase you get a very low-res display on a device that costs hundereds of dollars. This one will be no different. Get halfway through the video and they tell you that the resolution is only 640x800.
A useable vr headset isn't going to catch on until they can make at least a 720p display. Really a higher resolution is needed though because the closer something is to your eye the more you can notice pixelation.
now if you'll excuse me, we've got to install microwave ovens, custom kitchens, refrigerators
Sound like it might be Dactyl Nightmare, by Virtuality.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v6t69mp0ZhE (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v6t69mp0ZhE)
That is definitely the type of thing I remember. Found this pic now that I have the title and this is it.
(http://hackadaycom.files.wordpress.com/2012/06/dactyl-nightmare-pods.jpg)
Yeah, that's the game I meant though I mangled the title. I played that too - $10 for 10 minutes or whatever it was. I got to peek behind the scenes, it was run on an Amiga 3000. I had a chance to buy 2 pods and the system for a couple of grand way back when but didn't. Wish it'd been cheaper, I'd have jumped on it.
Yeah, that's the game I meant though I mangled the title. I played that too - $10 for 10 minutes or whatever it was. I got to peek behind the scenes, it was run on an Amiga 3000. I had a chance to buy 2 pods and the system for a couple of grand way back when but didn't. Wish it'd been cheaper, I'd have jumped on it.
I seem to remember the same sale. Maybe it was on ebay? I don't remember for sure but I do remember a couple units for sale for a price that at the time was well out of my range. Probably still would be, who knows.
Although the resolution for the dev kit is (much) lower than anyone would consider ideal, the distortion from the lenses concentrates the highest pixel density in the center of the field of vision, where its needed most. (The consumer version is supposedly targeting 1080p in 2013, but now we are really in vaporware territory.)
I think it will be interesting to try these when they are released.
the funny thing about the human vision is, you don't need a super high resolution display...your brain tends to fill in missing portions of the image. that's why we don't see our blind spots constantly...why the world isn't a blur when we move our eyes around...why we can't see the scanning of the lines on a CRT.
The eye is designed pretty much the same as the VR display is... with high resolution centred in the image and lower resolution on the outside peripheral. your looking at your monitor right now...only the tiny portion you are currently looking at is in focus and sharp... i'll bet you as you read this... if you stop and stare at a letter you'd have a hard time even identifying something you are seeing as a letter 10 or 15 characters back.
your brain knows it's there...your eyes aren't looking at it...there is a super fuzzy peripheral image that your brain is on the fly trying to remember what it was to fill in that info. if you look at it...then look back. you'll likely be able to ID it now because your brain has the info needed to "fill in" the missing information.
ever look at a clock and think "that clock was stopped...it just started when i looked at it, i swear" It's because for a second as you moved your eyes your brain didn't process any visual information...when your eyes stopped at the clock, your brain now has a fraction of a second to fill in...so it does this with the first thing you see...the clock. so for the first time you see it, the time in the image has been stretched to fill in the gap. (this is called Chronostasis)
the brain is always trying to create this uninterrupted experience with reality, unfortunately with the design of the human body, this isn't always possible. So there are many ways to cope with it.
What are being viewed as "shortfalls" on the VR headset, are actually things that are designed to fool the mind into using your coping mechanisms to fill in the information and make the virtual reality more REAL. Your brain creates the reality you currently view. it only makes sense to me to use the brain to do the "leg work".
Get really close to your computer monitor right now, I mead headset close... you can see the pixels right? Well that's a HD dot-pitch right there and even with focused pixels it isn't going to have that high a dot-pitch, so even if the bulk of the pixels are centered on the eye, it's going to look bad.
Regarding my statement about kickstarter. It was intended as a blanket statement, but in general it holds true. Yes of course lots of times it's just that the profit margin isn't big enough to get proper investors and if you are buying a widget that doesn't matter... pay X dollars, get your widget... Tim Shauffers game kickstarter is a good example... you'll get your game regardless of how well the title sells. But this is a gaming controller if a lot of people don't buy it then it won't be widely supported and thus you'll have a nice paperweight. Aside from resolution issues, if you look back at every vr headset released thus far, this has been the other major issue... if they have any type of special interface/controller they got support for maybe 2 or 3 games before they disappeared. This also holds true for these psuedo consoles that are popping up like the Ouya and these "smart tv" add-ons. How do you expect the things to get any software on them if nobody buys them?
Is that where bottom heavy is always better than top heavy?
:gobama
Is that where bottom heavy is always better than top heavy?
:gobama
Not just there. The majority of america doesn't seem to have the sensibility to know so, though. ANHH! ANHH!
Had another beautiful dream last night. I make people, and one of them in this one was a girl. We fell in love. And made love. And I woke with the sweet scent of that in my mind and body. No need to have one here when I have one there with situational perfection. (Incidentally, she was not bottom heavy, and she didn't have perfect teeth. But she otherwise met my, rather specific, criteria.)
Is that where bottom heavy is always better than top heavy?
:gobama
Not just there. The majority of america doesn't seem to have the sensibility to know so, though. ANHH! ANHH!
Had another beautiful dream last night. I make people, and one of them in this one was a girl. We fell in love. And made love. And I woke with the sweet scent of that in my mind and body. No need to have one here when I have one there with situational perfection. (Incidentally, she was not bottom heavy, and she didn't have perfect teeth. But she otherwise met my, rather specific, criteria.)
....... :-\
Is that where bottom heavy is always better than top heavy?
:gobama
Not just there. The majority of america doesn't seem to have the sensibility to know so, though. ANHH! ANHH!
Had another beautiful dream last night. I make people, and one of them in this one was a girl. We fell in love. And made love. And I woke with the sweet scent of that in my mind and body. No need to have one here when I have one there with situational perfection. (Incidentally, she was not bottom heavy, and she didn't have perfect teeth. But she otherwise met my, rather specific, criteria.)
....... :-\
(http://forums.arcade-museum.com/images/smilies/eek.gif)
isn't this the storyline from an aerosmith music video?
I actually have a kit for myself as well from the original Kickstarter way back and I'm very excited about it as well :)
Here is a cool vid of inside the actual headset.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EwiVP_I2RiQ (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EwiVP_I2RiQ)
Just thought this would be of interest here :)
It uses the Razer Hydra controllers as well so it should be pretty immersive.
Sadly I still haven't recieved my kit they have only started to send a small batch overseas and even smaller batch for australia so I will have to wait to try this one.
But who knows maybe a Virtual Arcade could be created.
Umm... unless I'm really misunderstanding something that's just a platform. The project home bills it as an "omi directional treadmill" but seeing as how there are no belts or moving parts of any kind, they've just put a really slick bowl in the middle and you slide around in your socks.
Umm... unless I'm really misunderstanding something that's just a platform. The project home bills it as an "omi directional treadmill" but seeing as how there are no belts or moving parts of any kind, they've just put a really slick bowl in the middle and you slide around in your socks.
"The Omni's strongest part is that it has no electronics and no moving parts, which keeps the cost down," says Goetgeluk. "It has a low-friction surface with grooves, and comes with a pair of low-friction shoes that have a plunger pin at the bottom that fit in the surface grooves. As such, your foot is stabilized when walking, instead of sliding left and right as if you were walking on ice. The gait feels natural and effortless," he tells us.
Umm... unless I'm really misunderstanding something that's just a platform. The project home bills it as an "omi directional treadmill" but seeing as how there are no belts or moving parts of any kind, they've just put a really slick bowl in the middle and you slide around in your socks.
"Special shoes." :lolQuote"The Omni's strongest part is that it has no electronics and no moving parts, which keeps the cost down," says Goetgeluk. "It has a low-friction surface with grooves, and comes with a pair of low-friction shoes that have a plunger pin at the bottom that fit in the surface grooves. As such, your foot is stabilized when walking, instead of sliding left and right as if you were walking on ice. The gait feels natural and effortless," he tells us.
Umm... unless I'm really misunderstanding something that's just a platform. The project home bills it as an "omi directional treadmill" but seeing as how there are no belts or moving parts of any kind, they've just put a really slick bowl in the middle and you slide around in your socks.
"Special shoes." :lolQuote"The Omni's strongest part is that it has no electronics and no moving parts, which keeps the cost down," says Goetgeluk. "It has a low-friction surface with grooves, and comes with a pair of low-friction shoes that have a plunger pin at the bottom that fit in the surface grooves. As such, your foot is stabilized when walking, instead of sliding left and right as if you were walking on ice. The gait feels natural and effortless," he tells us.
Well that's even worse. Sounds like a good way to break an ankle. I'm not kidding, that seems inherently dangerous.
Vigo: that's pure awesome.
I watched the video, but I also kept in mind that they have people that worked on it's development doing the demo. If you know the device inside and out you know how to walk on it. Even then, it looked like he was kind of locked in place to me.
Just thought this would be of interest here :)
It uses the Razer Hydra controllers as well so it should be pretty immersive.
Sadly I still haven't recieved my kit they have only started to send a small batch overseas and even smaller batch for australia so I will have to wait to try this one.
But who knows maybe a Virtual Arcade could be created.
My Kit shipped, so hopefully I'll be getting it soon. Also, don't forget to get this when it kickstarts - http://www.virtuix.com/ (http://www.virtuix.com/)
(http://virtuix.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/001-1024x588.jpg)
Omni + Rift = True VR (TF2) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qpHWJMytx5I#)
I watched the video, but I also kept in mind that they have people that worked on it's development doing the demo. If you know the device inside and out you know how to walk on it. Even then, it looked like he was kind of locked in place to me.
It's a natural walk there isn't any learning to walk or get your balance on it or a possibility of the groves to make twist your ankle etc it really isn't any different than walking.
Also Palmer Luckey (Oculus Rift Creator), Chris Roberts (Wing Commander) and Paul Bettner (Zynga with Friends) tried the Omni at SXSW in Austin and loved it so much they allowed filming of them using it to be used in the Kickstarter that is coming soon.
Umm... unless I'm really misunderstanding something that's just a platform. The project home bills it as an "omi directional treadmill" but seeing as how there are no belts or moving parts of any kind, they've just put a really slick bowl in the middle and you slide around in your socks.
I watched the video, but I also kept in mind that they have people that worked on it's development doing the demo. If you know the device inside and out you know how to walk on it. Even then, it looked like he was kind of locked in place to me.
It's a natural walk there isn't any learning to walk or get your balance on it or a possibility of the groves to make twist your ankle etc it really isn't any different than walking.
Also Palmer Luckey (Oculus Rift Creator), Chris Roberts (Wing Commander) and Paul Bettner (Zynga with Friends) tried the Omni at SXSW in Austin and loved it so much they allowed filming of them using it to be used in the Kickstarter that is coming soon.
Well considering I have zero faith in the OR, that doesn't really help me any. People keep quoting this big time developers that are endorsing the OR, but if you look into it they are the very same developers that endorsed all the lame VR attempts in the 90's that crashed and bombed. I'm sure it will be a serviceable device, but thus far there are zero games that support it, people have just hacked up existing games to work with the thing. So unless it catches on, the thing will be devoid of support in just a short time.
Why is it always a first person "run around with guns and shoot anything that moves" game? :banghead:
Granted, the answer is probably that this is far easier to design from a story point of view. Drop everyone into an environment with a weapon and let them kill each other. I'd much rather see a puzzle solving type game here or an Indiana Jones type quest with some randomization of item locations and such.
Why is it always a first person "run around with guns and shoot anything that moves" game? :banghead:
Granted, the answer is probably that this is far easier to design from a story point of view. Drop everyone into an environment with a weapon and let them kill each other. I'd much rather see a puzzle solving type game here or an Indiana Jones type quest with some randomization of item locations and such.
You're right. After watching those intro vids I have to stay seated for a while. That looks amazing if it's real. :cheers:
EDIT: Meh. The OR has no release date, development timeline, or anticipated price. Not exactly promising.
I'll believe when they announce it for themselves. They haven't even done that much. Until it has at least a projected quarter for release it's just another product candidate. Not an actual product.
I would imagine any game that supports nvidia 3d vision or AMD HD3D will support this device.
and hello?! Minecraft FTW! Minecraft would be absolutely wonderful with this.
There is not a single person that has put it on that has a single negative thing to say about it.. I have been looking. Everyone goes on about not only the sense of depth but now everything has a sense of scale. There is no software that has been built to VR because there has never been a VR helmet that worked. Now that there is and even more important it will be at a price that anyone can afford, VR is not going to go away like it did in the 90’, now it is just a question on how fast it will kick off.
Very true but see above plus they have the whole gaming industry buzzing with support built or being built into most of the major game engines.
Compared to previous VR we have it where most devs can make a OR game that the engine supports it and a lot of them are adding it to the engine as well for their projects that don't support it.
Yeah that's kind of what I was getting at. Good things and positive buzz don't get us actual games or an actual consumer level product.
And like I said before these "industry giants" that are endorsing the thing... they are more or less the exact same ones that said the previous 12 attempts at VR were great and perfect and that they would make tons of games for it. They are just older and fatter now. ;)
And for the record, I've seen tons of negative comments about the thing. Perhaps you just aren't looking in the right places. Complaints of eye strain, disorientation, ect.... sounds like Virtual Boy stuff to be honest. People say that it has a very impressive 3d effect, and that's great, but they also say that you can't play it very long for the aforementioned reasons and that the display is decidedly low-res, despite the developers ridiculous claims of "putting the pixels where eye sees them most". Sorry guys, but if they were doing that they'd be manufacturing custom lcd screens, which would have made the dev kits cost thousands. They just stuck a lens in front to distort the image.
Until we see anything more than dev kits I equate this thing to the Ouya. Boy you guys were excited about that one. Don't hear much about it lately do you? Perhaps it's because since then companies have been releasing "android on a stick" devices with twice the specs for half the price.
I think the problem is people are used to product announcements from legitimate game companies. When Nintendo, Microsoft or Sony announce a project you can pretty well count on it being released and it being a rough approximation of what they previewed. When joe nobody and their friends do a kickstarter you won't know what the actual product is and if it will be released until it's actually released. That isn't a knock on kick-starter, it's just that they use previews as hype to get funding... so the truth might be stretched, they might make promises they can't keep ect....you never know.
I would genuinely like to be wrong on this, VR is really cool, but I'm pretty sure I won't be.
Yeah that's kind of what I was getting at. Good things and positive buzz don't get us actual games or an actual consumer level product.
And like I said before these "industry giants" that are endorsing the thing... they are more or less the exact same ones that said the previous 12 attempts at VR were great and perfect and that they would make tons of games for it. They are just older and fatter now. ;)
And for the record, I've seen tons of negative comments about the thing. Perhaps you just aren't looking in the right places. Complaints of eye strain, disorientation, ect.... sounds like Virtual Boy stuff to be honest. People say that it has a very impressive 3d effect, and that's great, but they also say that you can't play it very long for the aforementioned reasons and that the display is decidedly low-res, despite the developers ridiculous claims of "putting the pixels where eye sees them most". Sorry guys, but if they were doing that they'd be manufacturing custom lcd screens, which would have made the dev kits cost thousands. They just stuck a lens in front to distort the image.
I think the problem is people are used to product announcements from legitimate game companies. When Nintendo, Microsoft or Sony announce a project you can pretty well count on it being released and it being a rough approximation of what they previewed. When joe nobody and their friends do a kickstarter you won't know what the actual product is and if it will be released until it's actually released. That isn't a knock on kick-starter, it's just that they use previews as hype to get funding... so the truth might be stretched, they might make promises they can't keep ect....you never know.
I think any completely immersive headset is going to have issues with eye strain and disorientation. There are too many variations in focal distance, visual processing, inner ear shapes, etc among people. No single fixed device is going to be comfortable for everybody. Even passive 3D movie tech has these issues to a lesser extent. I go to some 3D movies and it's great. I go to others and it's like I'm watching two separate async images. Ironically, it's usually the lower end horror movies like the Texas Chainsaw remake that are best for me. The last Harry Potter movie was a total visual fail to my eyes.
If it matters I never had any of those issues with the VB. I had an injury a few years ago and played through the whole US library lying on my back. Not one headache and I was skipping the pauses. I think a lot of those headache complaints were neck problems from the crappy stand.I would say it is the neck issues that cause the rest of the problems but the screen probably did cause a few issues as well which just made it worse but there is a VB emulator for the rift which I am excited to play I am curious if you have any games you recommend to try out first seeming as your had a chance to play the whole US library of games :)
Time will tell whether games are actually released to support it. At the end of the day I would expect you to be more right than wrong as history has a strong indication of how these things go. I've had a chance to play previous incarnations of VR headsets/systems and I've played TF2 on the Occulus and it's a big difference from the old. Distortion and eye strain most certainly exist but it didn't take away from the play experience I had. If I had to scale them the Occulus is definitely a revolution technology/experience wise compared to that of the old.
Ouya wise it wasn't ever really about the specs, but more the entire package and ecosystem. The amount of money they generated provided them with a platform to launch a successful ecosystem that has the possibility to be something pretty fantastic. I'm indifferent about the Ouya but having played TF2 on the Occulus I'm a happy campaign funder.
I would say it is the neck issues that cause the rest of the problems but the screen probably did cause a few issues as well which just made it worse but there is a VB emulator for the rift which I am excited to play I am curious if you have any games you recommend to try out first seeming as your had a chance to play the whole US library of games :)
I would say it is the neck issues that cause the rest of the problems but the screen probably did cause a few issues as well which just made it worse but there is a VB emulator for the rift which I am excited to play I am curious if you have any games you recommend to try out first seeming as your had a chance to play the whole US library of games :)
Best game for the system is Wario Land, IMO. The game that probably makes best use of the tech is Mario's Tennis if it isn't Wario Land. Not surprisingly the best games that were released in the US were first party Nintendo.
Best game for the system is Wario Land, IMO. The game that probably makes best use of the tech is Mario's Tennis if it isn't Wario Land. Not surprisingly the best games that were released in the US were first party Nintendo.
This guy is already making virtual boy like game for the rift, he says it looks great on it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JiSqI868Zjc (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JiSqI868Zjc)
THINE WILL BE DONE!
Minecraft Oculus Rift Mod! (Minecrift + Gameplay) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HZUcR8OUySU#ws)
I think any completely immersive headset is going to have issues with eye strain and disorientation. There are too many variations in focal distance, visual processing, inner ear shapes, etc among people. No single fixed device is going to be comfortable for everybody.
...then I noticed that while I was looking in the bottom left my cursor was in the upper right aiming at the sky, I was the damn noob lol.
The Occulus rift is not a revolution of VR, but perhaps a new evolution? I'm pleased with owning it and trying it out and having fun with it.
anybody hear? one of the founders of the Oculus company got taken out during a police chase??? CRAZY!
http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/story?section=news/local/orange_county&id=9122999 (http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/story?section=news/local/orange_county&id=9122999)
QuoteThe Occulus rift is not a revolution of VR, but perhaps a new evolution? I'm pleased with owning it and trying it out and having fun with it.
I have heard some people say playing TF makes you think the Rift is not as good as it is. Have you tried the room demo what did you think of that?
$194,252
pledged of $150,000 goal
48
days to go
736 Backers $283,927 pledged of $150,000 goal 48 days to go
Dude! If you watch the vids it's just a fancy keyboard encoder. Who is going to be the first to get one and make a MAME cab out of it?! :laugh2:
Quote736 Backers $283,927 pledged of $150,000 goal 48 days to go
Well it's just I doubt the new version is going to cost anymore. So you paid just as much for an inferior version just to play some hacked in games on it. Now if you are an actual developer that's one thing, but if you are some of these people that bought it because they just had to have it now.....
Well it's just I doubt the new version is going to cost anymore. So you paid just as much for an inferior version just to play some hacked in games on it. Now if you are an actual developer that's one thing, but if you are some of these people that bought it because they just had to have it now.....
And yet to be screwed you have to have lost something. They got exactly what they paid for and they sound pretty happy with it.
And yet to be screwed you have to have lost something. They got exactly what they paid for and they sound pretty happy with it.
Well it's just I doubt the new version is going to cost anymore. So you paid just as much for an inferior version just to play some hacked in games on it. Now if you are an actual developer that's one thing, but if you are some of these people that bought it because they just had to have it now.....
Well.....unless they were thinking/hoping more games and such would be available for it. That's where Howie's sentiment would come in.
In case you didn’t see the announcement, we have great news to share: we’ve raised $16 million in a Series A funding round co-led by Spark Capital and Matrix Partners, along with Founders Fund and Formation 8. This level of financial support opens incredible new doors for Oculus, and I’d like to provide a bit of context and backstory.
I have been working on virtual reality technology for years. Starting in a garage, prototyping new hardware, and collaborating with other virtual reality enthusiasts was a blast long before anyone thought VR was poised for a comeback. Hackers, makers, and enthusiasts live on the bleeding edge of tech not because it makes financial sense, but because it is a thrill that you cannot get anywhere else.
I got into VR because it seemed like the obvious path to the best possible gaming experience, but never expected it to take off so quickly. In less than a year, incredible game developers all over the world are building games designed explicitly for virtual reality, and people are beginning to understand that the tech is finally viable. Even with "next generation" consoles on the horizon, VR still came away with dozens of awards and accolades at E3.
We were fortunate enough to be able to pick investors who we thought would be a great fit. They really believe in our vision for the future of VR. These are people who have taken companies from startup to mass market many times, entrepreneurs who have a ton of meaningful experience building hardware and software consumer technology.
As I mentioned before, the funding opens up all sorts of doors for Oculus. It helps us hire the best and brightest minds in VR from around the world. It lets us experiment and prototype with more cutting-edge tech. And it allows us to build a badass, consumer VR gaming platform, the likes of which the world has never seen.
Virtual reality will be one of the most significant technologies of the 21st century. It has the potential to drastically alter the way we play, communicate, and learn. I think that VR can (and will) be as widely used as Facebook or Twitter, and the societal implications will be far greater!
I want to thank everyone for their support. None of this would be possible without you, the people who supported Oculus when it was nothing but a rough prototype and a dream of changing gaming forever!
-- Palmer
In high tech R+D you can burn through $16mill in one fiscal quarter. That's not nearly as much as it sounds.
most of the RnD leg work has been done already, it's just a matter of splashing some extras on it and call it good-to-go.
mind you, much of the research and development has been done for free by the creators to get it to this point, so i suppose they could start getting paid for their work now.
most of the RnD leg work has been done already, it's just a matter of splashing some extras on it and call it good-to-go.
mind you, much of the research and development has been done for free by the creators to get it to this point, so i suppose they could start getting paid for their work now.
Heh, no it hasn't. They don't have even the first production model built yet. And they don't have their SDK released yet. It's all proof of concept early beta stuff. That is a whole lot of R+D away from calling it good to go. At this point they have something attractive enough to get themselves VC backing. That's all they have.
You just described a proof of concept model. Build a small handful and test it out with a limited number of users. They have yet to reach what would be described as an official beta product. Beta will involve final specs on all of the major design elements. The fact that they just announced a change in resulation, which is pretty damn major, shows that POC feedback must have told them the existing resolution wasn't good enough. There's no way they would do something like that this far into the design unless they couldn't sell the existing design. If it were a case of "well, this will sell, but we'd really like to see 1080p" then they'd move forward with the existing design and begin planning for an upgraded 2.0 version after that.
It's probably also not a coincedence that they finally got their VC at just about the same time they announced 1080p. I'm guessing that the VC was predicated upon getting to that benchmark in the lab.
Do you people not understand what a Developer kit means? It means it was made for the Software Developers …WTF
What they have sent out is at best alpha hardware so certain partners can get a feel for the device. It is not more than that.
Maybe, just maybe the reason some of these projects couldn't get traditional funding is the fact that they never made good business sense in the first place.
KS is fantastic for small, entry, level projects, but bigger stuff really needs traditional backing, not for the actual money, but the supervision and oversight that comes with it.
Which is perfectly alright, and acceptable... if you are a developer. But we have idgits on this thread that bought the alpha kit to play games on and/or suggested other people do so. The same goes for kickstarter... people who are NOT developers paid for... a alpha dev kit. I mean seriously, that's not bleeding edge, that's buying a dull razor and attempting to sharpen it by rubbing it against your face!
I think this whole kickstarter thing is going to die real quick if this sort of thing keeps up. Did you hear about Tim's Schaufer's game? He only needed 300,000... he got 4 MILLION. Now one year later he's ran out of money and is suggesting that he'll cut the game into two parts.. the last part that won't be released until well after 2015. So the dude gets way more money than he needed, and he still can't deliver on his promises.
Maybe, just maybe the reason some of these projects couldn't get traditional funding is the fact that they never made good business sense in the first place.
KS is fantastic for small, entry, level projects, but bigger stuff really needs traditional backing, not for the actual money, but the supervision and oversight that comes with it.
Feel like sharing? ;D
Honestly, I wouldn't mind trying one out. If it's fun as I think it would be, I'd totally buy one.
In reference to kickstarter, as long as you look at what the person/company want to accomplish, have a solid idea/product, and you feel with the amount they have set they can accomplish it. then go for it.
if it looks like they are shooting low and seem to be just looking for extra money to pay for staff and advertising, pass.
if they are shooting WAY high and have a whack idea that doesn't look like it will fly, stay away.
you have to look past the buzz and look at reality... flying cars? sure, you can build it and it would be totally awesome, but it will take a few billion to get it FAA certified.
If you live near Milwaukee Wisconsin I wouldn't mind letting you play it but shipping it somewhere probably not. At least not yet.
I completely agree. The biggest problem I have with Kickstarter now is that it's not a loan. And the people funding don't expect ROI. They're just donating to someone else's capital fund. It is becoming the norm to give stuff like a $5 t shirt for a $50 donation. $100 gets your name on a white board in the meeting room. In marker. There is nothing on the line for the recipients so they have no reason to be efficient with the money. And if the end result is achieved, and let's face it that's not happening in most Kickstarters that get funded, the recipient has built a business or product on someone else's money but keeps all of the returns.And this is why Kickstarter can't legally operate in Canada. Our laws make it impossible without requiring disbursing shares to the "investors". It's meant to protect people from exactly what you're describing. But at the same time, it's stifling small upstarts who can't participate in this new funding model (well they can by partnering with an American business, but it's extra headache).
The only Kickstarter I have donated more than a couple of bucks to is the PAPA Live Event Streaming (http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/papapinball/papa-tv-livestreaming-pinball) project. I know some of the folks involved personally and it's for the benefit of the hobby. They were also smart enough to run several multi hour live broadcasts of a major event to prove the concept works before they asked for any money.
I completely agree. The biggest problem I have with Kickstarter now is that it's not a loan. And the people funding don't expect ROI. They're just donating to someone else's capital fund. It is becoming the norm to give stuff like a $5 t shirt for a $50 donation. $100 gets your name on a white board in the meeting room. In marker. There is nothing on the line for the recipients so they have no reason to be efficient with the money. And if the end result is achieved, and let's face it that's not happening in most Kickstarters that get funded, the recipient has built a business or product on someone else's money but keeps all of the returns.
The only Kickstarter I have donated more than a couple of bucks to is the PAPA Live Event Streaming project. I know some of the folks involved personally and it's for the benefit of the hobby. They were also smart enough to run several multi hour live broadcasts of a major event to prove the concept works before they asked for any money.
And this is why Kickstarter can't legally operate in Canada. Our laws make it impossible without requiring disbursing shares to the "investors". It's meant to protect people from exactly what you're describing. But at the same time, it's stifling small upstarts who can't participate in this new funding model (well they can by partnering with an American business, but it's extra headache).
Ah well. In other (2 week old) news: John Carmack appointed CTO of Occulus Rift.
And if the end result is achieved, and let's face it that's not happening in most Kickstarters that get funded, the recipient has built a business or product on someone else's money but keeps all of the returns.
Did I say I had a problem with it? No, just stating my country's government does.QuoteAnd this is why Kickstarter can't legally operate in Canada. Our laws make it impossible without requiring disbursing shares to the "investors". It's meant to protect people from exactly what you're describing. But at the same time, it's stifling small upstarts who can't participate in this new funding model (well they can by partnering with an American business, but it's extra headache).
Ah well. In other (2 week old) news: John Carmack appointed CTO of Occulus Rift.
Don’t get what you people are complaining about. The people that donate to someone’s Kick Starter is because they believe in the product, they believe in the person selling it. If you don’t than don’t donate :-\ . The government steels anywhere from 6 to 10 thousand in different taxes from you every year and this is what you have a problem with…
Just bought one the other day. Probably wont get to me before I hop across the pond for a few months....which makes me a sad panda
I suppose I can have it shipped by my brother when it arrives.