虚拟现实争霸战蓄势待发

    上周，游戏开发者大会（Game Developers Conference，GDC）在旧金山举行。这次大会上，虚拟现实开始成为一大趋势。虚拟现实眼镜Oculus Rift由年仅21岁的帕尔默•勒基设计，2012年7月在众筹网站Kickstarter上筹得240万美元。今年已经是它连续第二年让参会观众惊叹不已。Oculus VR公司首次推出了第二代开发者工具套件（Developer Kit 2），其中增加了更多能让人身临其境的技术，包括OLED显示和位置追踪。

    Oculus VR打动了众多公司，其中最大牌的是Facebook公司。Facebook在这次大会上也有一个不大的展位。这家社交巨头的首席执行官马克•扎克伯格在宣布将斥资20亿美元收购Oculus时表示：“Oculus有机会打造有史以来社交能力最强的平台，同时彻底改变我们工作、娱乐和交流的方式。”

    电子游戏研究公司Newzoo首席执行官彼得•沃曼说：“Oculus对Facebook的意义可能正如谷歌眼镜对谷歌公司（Google）的价值一样。这两家公司都在为未来的一大趋势做好准备，即物理屏幕将被全新的、更自然的与内容和人互动的方式所取代。作为全球最大的社交网络公司，Facebook肯定不能冒险，太晚才投身这股势不可挡的发展潮流，哪怕要真正靠它挣钱很可能还得等上好多年。”

    为了打造虚拟现实的伟业，勒基召集了一支大牌云集的明星团队。这些顶级创意大师都来自知名游戏公司，包括id Software公司的创始人约翰•卡马克、云游戏公司Gaikai高管布兰登•艾利布、Activision高管莱尔德•M.马拉梅德和艺电公司（Electronic Arts）高管戴维•德•马提尼。除了在众筹网站Kickstarter上获得众多玩家投资支持，同时还获得了Epic Games公司前设计总监克里夫•布莱斯金斯基这样的早期投资者投资外，Oculus还打动了众多风投。2013年6月，这家公司募得了总额为1600万美元的天使投资和风投；同年12月，它又获得Spark Capital, Matrix Partners, Formation 8和安德森•霍洛维茨基金（Andreessen Horowitz）共计7500万美元的投资。

    布莱斯金斯基说：“尽管Facebook对Oculus来说可能显得不那么门当户对，但它的投资对公司来说可能正是他们需要将其非凡产品推向市场的强心针。Facebook将确保Oculus拥有多种资源、资金和支持，不仅能让他们开发出多种游戏，还能开发多种应用。Facebook还有能力帮助Oculus打造自己的平台，从而与苹果应用商店这样的生态系统较量一番。”

    其实早在索尼公司（Sony）在本届GDC大会上发布“梦菲斯计划”（Project Morpheus），表示要进军虚拟现实领域之前，Oculus VR公司的Oculus Rift开发工具套件就获得了超过75,000个订单（这款产品的消费者版仍在研发）。勒基深信，虚拟现实必将成为业界主流。

    他在本届大会上称：“玩家们一直就想置身于虚拟环境中。长期以来，虚拟现实在流行文化中深得人心是有原因的。因为人们对它期盼已久。”

    One of the big trends from the Game Developers Conference (GDC) in San Francisco last week was virtual reality. Oculus Rift, which was conceived by 21-year-old Palmer Luckey and raised $2.4 million in crowdfunding on Kickstarter back in July 2012, wowed convention attendees for the second year in a row. Oculus VRdebuted its Developer Kit 2, which adds more immersive technology including OLED displays and positional tracking.

    One of the companies Oculus VR impressed was Facebook, which had its own, much smaller, booth at GDC. "Oculus has the chance to create the most social platform ever, and change the way we work, play and communicate," Facebook (FB) CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in his statement announcing the social giant would acquire Oculus for $2 billion.

    "Oculus might be the equivalent of what Glass is for Google (GOOG)," said Peter Warman, CEO of video game research firm Newzoo. "These companies are preparing for the day and age where physical screens will be substituted by a new intuitive way of interacting with content and people. As the biggest social company in the world, Facebook simply cannot take the risk of being too late to join this inevitable development, even though chances are high it will be many years before any serious money will be made."

    Luckey has assembled a stellar team of creative minds to make virtual a reality, including id Software founder John Carmack,Gaikaiexec Brendan Iribe, Activision exec Laird M. Malamed and Electronic Arts exec David De Martini. In addition to its Kickstarter backing by gamers, as well as early investors like former Epic Games design director Cliff Bleszinski, Oculus has impressed VCs. The company raised $16 million through angel and venture capital investments in June 2013 and an additional $75 million in December 2013 from Spark Capital, Matrix Partners, Formation 8, and Andreessen Horowitz.

    "While Facebook might seem like a weird match for Oculus, it might actually be just the shot in the arm that the crew needs to bring their fantastic device to market," said Bleszinksi. "Facebook will ensure that Oculus has the resources, funding, and support to not only make games happen, but for a myriad of applications. They also have the muscle to help the Oculus become its own platform, complete with an app-store style ecosystem."

    Even before Sony (SNE) made its own commitment to virtual reality with Project Morpheus at GDC 2014, Oculus VR had received orders for over 75,000 Oculus Rift development kits. (The consumer version of the product is still being developed.) Luckey believes that virtual reality will become mainstream naturally.

    "Gamers have always wanted to be in virtual environments," said Luckey at GDC. "There's a reason virtual reality has been so entrenched in pop culture for so long. It's because people have always wanted it."