Remember that lawsuit that we heard about earlier in the year between Palmer and Zenimax? You know, the one where Zenimax (these guys are the parent company to Bethesda, id, Arkane Studios and more) sounded like it was whining
about the misappropriation of trade secrets in order to get what is quite likely a rather undeserved peace of the VR pie; all because Palmer Luckey and John Carmack decided to get together and trade a bit of info in order to get VR off the ground? Well it turns out a judge has decided to keep the lawsuit moving forwards, denying movements to dismiss the (ridiculous sounding) case altogether. Which, while in my opinion isn’t likely, will hopefully not be something that delays or even prevents completely the launch of the consumer version of the Oculus Rift – and Oculus Rift Porn.
Now before you go thinking I’m just addled from all the awesome VR Porn I’ve been consuming over the course of the last few months (over on /r/NoFap it is widely accepted that excessive masturbation can lead to brain-fog), I should point out that this wouldn’t be the first time that technology has been held back due to legal issues. In 2007 Canon told the world that prolonged litigation between Applied Nanotech and itself would hold back the launch of SED TV, and they were correct. The SED display tech was held back long enough to be eclipsed by LCD technology a few years later, and SED never even made it to market; and we are all aware of just how patent trolls have put a damper on much innovation. And while it is a dubious claim that anybody in their right mind would ever even think to grant such an injunction in the wake of VR’s amazing progress, just remember that not everybody is sane or acts in a sane manner. Authoritarian or otherwise.
Wouldn’t it be a sad thing indeed were the Oculus Rift to be cancelled from release altogether, or delayed by months or even years, just because some stick-in-the-mud can’t be happy without taking a piece of somebody else’s pie?
So what can we do to help Oculus succeed in its quest to bring amazing VR to the masses, and get it done on schedule in Q1 of 2016? Well, aside from perhaps staging a Chaosian Magick style wankathon, ala Grant Morrison in his bid to keep “the Invisibles” from being cancelled (this might not actually be a bad idea guys. I don’t know about the rest of you but knowing what I do about the human subconscious realms, energy coupled with focused intent makes for a powerful tool that is almost undeniable in its efficacy. Just be sure you don’t have uncontrollable OCD or you might manifest something that isn’t quite in alignment with the best-case scenario for the future of VR!) , there really isn’t a whole heck of a lot we can do other than watch and keep our fingers crossed; and given that the reality of the situation is what it is, I would recommend everybody else here do just that.
