Cliff B. defends Oculus-FB deal calls Notch pouty kid

PC GAMER

LOL

In addition to making the Unreal series, Cliff Bleszinski is also an investor in Oculus VR. He admits in a recent blog post that, as an early investor in the company, he stands to make a lot of money fromFacebook’s $2 billion acquisition. But he also thinks the deal is great for Oculus VR overall.

“IF [Oculus Rift] is going to be (hopefully) a dedicated system instead of a (ugh) peripheral they need their version of whatever the app store would be,” Bleszinski said. “Your device is only as good as the store and community around it; if users can’t say shut up and take my money, if developers can’t post their work then the device will ultimately flounder. Facebook can assist with this sort of thing, as well as having a multi billion user reach.”

Bleszinski then goes on to explain what he thinks Kickstarter backers actually buy into when they back a product, Mark Zuckerberg's assurances about keeping Oculus Rift as a gaming device first, and other arguments you already heard elsewhere, including in our reaction to the acquisition.

Interestingly, in a postscript, Bleszinski calls out Markus “Notch” Persson specifically, who announced he was pulling the plug on an Oculus Rift version of Minecraft shortly after news of the deal first broke.

“Notch, your cancelling Minecraft makes you look like a pouty kid who is taking his ball and going home,” he said. “It’s a bratty and petty move and it saddens me greatly.”

He's short and hasn't made a good game since Unreal Tournament was released in 199ninty somthing.

""programming god John Carmack" lolololol Except he's not produced anything of worth in the past 15 or more years, Maybe If you go back in time to windows 95 he was a programming god but not so much now.

This is the first gaming device that I've ever truly wanted to see fail.

But it IS a peripheral. I dont wanna have to use ANOTHER digital storefront. He just made it sound much worse.

@WilliamRLBaker: you realize John Carmack is like the most respected guy in gaming.

You know your in system wars when some random guy who built minecrafts opinion is taken more seriously than some of the founding fathers of gaming.

Here´s the response from Notch.

@WilliamRLBaker: while carmack 'the executive' may not everyone's favorite. Gotta admit he laid some foundations. I don't think the FPS's we've seen would've happened without his contributions. When he describes how Wolf 3D and Doom were made, he was pretty much flying blind and figuring shit out on the go. Didn't have the tooklits and middleware that others have now.

Why do people make what ever this guy says news? They need to stop.

He used to be respected,not so much anymore

It won't matter what Notch has to say, Cliffy will just hide behind some conveniently placed waist high cover.

In addition to making the Unreal series, Cliff Bleszinski is also an investor in Oculus VR. He admits in a recent blog post that, as an early investor in the company, he stands to make a lot of money fromFacebook’s $2 billion acquisition.

__

That's where Cliffy loses all credibility.

So they want to sell this as a seperate device with its own app store? I really think buying into the already established steam, psn, and xbox live would be smarter. Getting people to buy into yet another app store...its getting to be a bit much.

Cliff does know a thing or two about being pouty.

Too funny. Like two kids on a playground at recess.

He just made Notch look better as far as I'm concerned.

Oh snap!

I bet people that kickstarted it are really butthurt right now.

Notch did seem like a pouty kid. I doubt there was anything really in development though anyways. If there was, then damn was that a shit business decision on Notch's part--the cancellation I mean. He may have made bank off of Minecraft, but making stupid business decisions--such as cancelling projects on a whim--will come back to harm him and his team.

Last time I checked the top of the "pouty kid list" Cliffy B was at the top, let me check the list again....yup he's still at the top.

The Xbox One says hi.

I've always loved Cliffy B

Notch reminds me of some of the gamers you see on these boards that act like petulant children. Because of that I don't like him.

We're talking about the same Cliffy B that was all for the Xbox having DRM, the same cliffy B that attacked PC gamers when his games didn't sell on the PC and jumped straight into accusing anyone who was against DRM of being a pirate

Edit: forgot to add, this is the same Cliffy B that wanted the used game market to go away and defended horrendously bloated budgets for games that ultimately don't sell too well

John Carmack did a lot for gaming, but nowadays many don't respect him as much anymore since he sold out

I have more respect for Notch for sticking for what he believes in and not be a sellout

I would only buy the Oculus Rift as a peripheral for my PC. I'm not going to buy an entirely new system, especially with news of cheap alternatives coming out almost weekly....

http://www.oculusvr.com/blog/introducing-michael-abrash-oculus-chief-scientist/

Michael abrash is has also joined and is now chief Scientist. I have pre-ordered the DK2, i had and sold the DK1.

Notch dropping his support in no way effects Oculus or VR. There is already a mod available called minecrift. Its his own choice and thats cool but he should have waited a day to think things over but like alot of people, he had a knee jerk reaction. I have no doubt alot of these people will be enjoying the rift in the future.

I cant wait for DK2.

Having a new Store for Occulus would only make the product worse.

@LegatoSkyheart: how?

At this point I agree. 'Facebook creeps me out' isn't a good business reason to cancel development. As an instinct, it could have prompted him to re-evaluate the situation, or shelved the project until he was sure.

But 'Facebook creeps me out' sounds like some fanboy thing, 'principles' my ass.

@HalcyonScarlet: exactly. This whole fanboy mentality is ruining the gaming community. So when I see a dev act like a system wars poster I instantly get turned off. I want nothing to do with it. I'm just not going to support that type of behavior. Not someone in his position.

I agree with his Notch comment. Facebook bought it and now you won't support it? What kind of logic is that? It wasn't the third Reich that bought it. He reacted the same with windows 8 too. Always jumping on what's the newest hate fad on the internet like some teenager.

agreed

So Cliffy is big investor and wants it as a standalone platform with it's own app store. Well that sounds like the antithesis of what the people who kickstarted it would have wanted. Imagine the pitch without the fucking deception, "Yes, come one come all you plebs! Invest in the new totally awesome Facebook VR Headset, it plays beetleborgs intro and won't be built around existing core PC gaming, but rather have an appstore like iPhone!"

When it comes to the essence of games, the gameplay, I'll side with the guy who still has design chops and will choose honor over selling out. Kinda sad, old Cliffy and Johnny C buried knee deep in facebook's bidding. Weaksauce.

Sounds like Cliff B. is being the pouty one. Translation : "Bu..bu...I want more money! :(" *baby pouty face*

Facebook isn't just a social network - it's one of the biggest data mining companies on this planet. They take the information they learn about you and sell it for loads of money to advertisers. Notch understandably doesn't want the Occulus to be primarily a marketing tool for advertisers. Facebook isn't a gaming company, they aren't trying to figure out how to make the Occulus a great gaming device, but rather how to use it to collect as much information and money from people as possible. Obviously they will say *anything* in the mean time to keep the current Occulus fans happy. They aren't going to come out and announce "Yea, Occulus is actually about the future of marketing", when could simply say "Occulus is the future of gaming".

Standalone device with an appstore? Dafuq?

It was conceived of and was developed as a peripheral. What is Cliffy smoking?

Was just coming in to say that.

That's a sellout mentality if i've ever seen it

"I don't like Facebook but this deal will probably secure more money... LET's DO IT"

If I was running a business, the last thing I would do is associate with companies I don't trust or "creep me out", it's common sense, only a sellout would go for a partnership with a company they don't like simply because it's the better "business" decision

He made a knee jerk reaction because 'they creep him out', it's dumb.

It's also nothing to do with selling out. He has to come up with something better than 'they creep me out'. What has more money got to do with it? Merely supporting a product he would have anyway, except it has a new parent company.

Two of the more repulsive "figures" in the gaming "industry"

Cliff - Manchild

Persson - made a block-building simulator in Java

Not sure how anyone could like either one of these people.

Cliffy Bitchinszki was his name.

Every game Carmack's worked on looked ridiculous for its time. Games don't have to be good to make you an amazing programmer, and that's exactly what Carmack is. I'm glad he's not working on games anymore, it's not really his thing.

Because he has an opinion? Let me ask you a simple question..Have you ever stood against something?

Lol, well said Markus (OP tweet). Love it.

It's his game. He has a right to put it on whatever system he wants. If he doesn't like Facebook, like many people, there is no reason he has to work with them.

Yeah, those hundreds upon hundreds of millions they've made so far will sure come back to bite him and his team in the ass. Notch has cancelled a few projects by now that we know of, probably more behind the scenes. He's a man of principles, which is freakin' great to see for a change in a business where people backstab each other for pennies.

CliffyB has always rubbed me the wrong way, always gotten a heavy douchebag vibe off him. Notch, while maybe a little paranoid, i do respect the fact hes principled and not always chasing the money. That said, I dont believe facebook is some evil corporation that exists as a detriment to gaming, but I do respect the fact that if notch believes that, he remains principled and puts his money where his mouth is. At least in my mind i think notch is more interested in the success of the industry than his own personal success, which is respectable imo.... even if I dont necessarily agree with him.

Yeah, but I wouldn't necessarily say he's a great businessman though. They can only milk Minecraft for so long, and if they're not putting out new products, they might find themselves in trouble; it's not just one guy at the company anymore. I just don't see Notch as a particularly good businessman--he's very reckless with his money. The Oculus is a great example. He threw 10k at its Kickstarter, knowing full well that he'd see no return on that. He could have just done what Cliff did and invest directly into the company, which would have entitled him to a portion of the Facebook money, but he didn't. It was too "corporate" for him or whatever. It's silliness.

No he really isn't. Carmack is an amazing code monkey and is really quite smart but that's pretty much it. It isn't even like carmack created any games, he always had other people creating them with him. And even then they weren't the best games, they were just the first in the 1st person genre and blew peoples minds. I mean hell colleco football was the first real football game and red dots drove people crazy with its mind blowing tech and a lot still have nostalgia for it but its hardly that great to go back and play. If carmack is the most respected then surely doom 3, and rage would have been better correct instead of completely tanking?

Guys who only know a little about gaming spit out his name as a gaming god. While he was important there are a dozen or more guys who easily have been more important in gaming than him.

And minecraft is just as important to gaming. That game opened up the possibility of success through indie games like no one else and has brought millions of people who had never gamed into the fold. Plus it opened up creative multiplayer and has a staggering about of creativity for the player. But of course youll never see it because youre a contrarian and someone who will never see beyond your own limited sight range.

Then you have the fact his statement is purely opinion which makes him neither right nor wrong.