That's kind of disappointing.  They could be so much more!

This must be big news in Irvine, right? Why disappointing -- won't Facebook spend a lot on this?

It is big news, but from a gamer standpoint, it's disappointing.  The value I saw in OR was hardcore gaming, but now it's going to be a social network experiment in sharing virtual experiences....on Facebook. 

They are preventing it from becoming. 

Instead of this:

It's going to become this:

Does this mean that something new and competitive now has an opportunity to emerge, as people look for solutions that aren't owned by Facebook?

Doubtful, they were the king of the crop.  Maybe there will be a halo effect though for other cutting edge, VR/AR/virtualization companies getting a second look.   I'd like to see the guys at Oblong do well.  http://www.oblong.com/

http://www.oblong.com/our-story/

I like their story, and I hope they do well.

But you're right, there's no #2 in the emerging Oculus industry.

Just the experimental Morpheus system from Sony, which is not ready for primetime.

Facebook bought a conduit:

http://techcrunch.com/2014/03/25/facebook-buys-a-virtual-world/

Facebook now claims 1 billion monthly mobile users and 200mm monthly Instagram users:

http://techcrunch.com/2014/03/25/million-vs-billion-joke-goes-here/

Facebook is buying the future, says Alexis Madrigal:

http://www.businessinsider.com/facebooks-oculus-profit-2014-3

Rid-Oculus Blowback:

http://techcrunch.com/2014/03/26/blowback-from-the-rift/

Facebook Oculus Rift memes:

http://techcrunch.com/2014/03/29/the-11-memes-that-define-oculus-riftbook-nsfw/

Zuck said after WhatsApp he was done acquiring for "a while".

I guess now we know how long a while is for him.

The Whole History of Oculus:

http://techcrunch.com/2014/03/26/a-brief-history-of-oculus/

Their lead founding engineer died in June 2013. RIP. 

Facebook just bought one of the greatest hackers in the world, John Carmack.

The company has received a total of $93.4M in funding so far from Spark, Matrix, Founders Fund, Formation 8, BIG Ventures and Andreessen Horowitz. Oculus got a big boost in legitimacy recently when one of the founding fathers of 3D gaming, John Carmack, left ID Software to become its CTO.

Mark Zuckerberg sounds super excited:

“I’m excited to announce that we’ve agreed to acquire Oculus VR, the leader in virtual reality technology,” said Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg in a statement today.

Our mission is to make the world more open and connected. For the past few years, this has mostly meant building mobile apps that help you share with the people you care about. We have a lot more to do on mobile, but at this point we feel we’re in a position where we can start focusing on what platforms will come next to enable even more useful, entertaining and personal experiences.

This is where Oculus comes in. They build virtual reality technology, like the Oculus Rift headset. When you put it on, you enter a completely immersive computer-generated environment, like a game or a movie scene or a place far away. The incredible thing about the technology is that you feel like you’re actually present in another place with other people. People who try it say it’s different from anything they’ve ever experienced in their lives.

Zuckerberg says that their efforts with Oculus will continue to focus on gaming initially, and that the company will continue to operate independently of Facebook. But after gaming, Zuckerberg says, they’re going to expand into a variety of other arenas.

“After games, we’re going to make Oculus a platform for many other experiences. Imagine enjoying a court side seat at a game, studying in a classroom of students and teachers all over the world or consulting with a doctor face-to-face — just by putting on goggles in your home,” he says. “This is really a new communication platform. By feeling truly present, you can share unbounded spaces and experiences with the people in your life. Imagine sharing not just moments with your friends online, but entire experiences and adventures.”

And now we know the Facebook strategy.

Mark Zuckerberg is looking to own as many communication platforms as possible.

"Mobile is the platform of today, and now we're also getting ready for the platforms of tomorrow," said Facebook founder and CEO, Mark Zuckerberg. "Oculus has the chance to create the most social platform ever, and change the way we work, play and communicate."

Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp... and now Oculus.

Coming just a few months after Google bought Nest, it's a hardware landgrab. 

http://techcrunch.com/2014/03/25/facebooks-oculus-buy-signals-a-hardware-landgrab-and-company-fit-isnt-a-concern/

232+ comments on The Verge including many hilarious animated gifs:

http://www.theverge.com/2014/3/25/5547456/facebook-buying-oculus-for-2-billion

Business Insider has a few good posts on this acquisition, too:

http://www.businessinsider.com/facebook-to-buy-oculus-rift-for-2-billion-2014-3

http://www.businessinsider.com/what-its-like-using-oculus-rift-2014-3

http://www.businessinsider.com/investor-chris-dixon-oculus-rift-2014-3

http://www.businessinsider.com/how-a-21-year-old-college-dropout-built-oculus-2014-3

http://www.businessinsider.com/zuckerberg-why-facebook-bought-oculus-2014-3

http://www.businessinsider.com/why-facebook-bought-oculus-vr-2014-3

The best reaction so far...

Haha, that's "could you not" Chloe:

http://pandawhale.com/post/37063/could-you-fucking-not-girl-chloe-gif-meme-origin

That is a great reaction. :)

More reactions: http://pandawhale.com/post/39927/best-wtf-gif-ever

I wish Google had got them first. I dont like that Facebook has a stake in mainstream gaming now.

I find myself wishing the same thing. Google. Or Microsoft. Or Sony. But not Facebook.

Google would have probably been best because they'd try to make it work with all platforms.

Facebook's past history as a platform owner does not give me confidence.

Blowback: http://techcrunch.com/2014/03/26/blowback-from-the-rift/

Why does Facebook even want the platform? It seems so bizarre. Are they trying to be like Google? Do they really see themselves competing with Sony's new VR. Do they want to be in the games industry? I really don't get it (or maybe I do). It feels like they're just land grabbing start ups.