If I was OVR's Software Product Manager :)

VR Content Market Place;

This is the most obvious business 101 move that I can think of. So obvious that at first I wasn't even intending on explaining it. It doesn't need an explanation. It should be self explanatory right? Just do exactly what Valve is doing with their Steam Store, or just copy what Apple is doing with their App Store but instead call it Oculus Share. Done and Done. Send out the memo and call it a day....

However In the interest of being thorough...

My main concerns here are;
-decentralized approach or centralized approach? or perhaps a combination of both?
-flexible but complex? or locked in and over simplified?
-quality over quantity? or quantity over quality?
-who do you support? AAA or indies? can't make everyone happy... choose wisely
-an open equal opportunity market place is impossible so why bother trying?
-if you open it up you get flooded with subpar experiences and clones clones and more clones..
-a gold rush and get rich quick developer mindset will ultimately saturate said market and kick off the race to zero
-so perhaps the opposite approach is better? be more like Nintendo & horde your market with an iron clad grip of quality over quantity.

obvious is not always easy.

First lets focus on the core services:

the core services are;
-merchant services
-distribution services
-social layer & multiplayer services
-advertisement services

additional services I'm interested in experimenting with;
-crowd source funding services
-donation services

additional thoughts/concerns
-full retail, low end, freemium (in app purchase and ads) do not mix well together in a centralized marketplace
-so perhaps it is not wise to present them side by side in one centralized marketplace?

this is what I propose;
-offer the core services to any and all developers who wish to utilize them from high end to low end
-flexible; services can be utilized with scaled payment options and/or revenue sharing packages
-oculus discover: a suite of APIs that allows any third party (especially reviewers) the ability to set up and manage their own unique marketplaces iterations while also having access to core services analytics (top paid top free top grossing ect)
-oculus share: would just be a popular landing page that focuses on presenting editor picks. highlighting just the cream of the crop. content that is compelling innovative and impressive to the team at OVR

decentralized approach;

in a decentralized approach there is no need to even host or manage a centralized marketplace. the focus would instead be on offering the best possible services to any and all developers who wish to use them, with sliding scale fees or even profit sharing packages. also the focus is on ensuring content that wishes to utilize the core services is held to a security & best business standard (i.e no malicious code, no scams, no male-ware, viruses, and absolutely no installation of irrelevant software nor irrelevant browser add ons whatsoever)

then simply design and utilize a ubiquitous download button that can be displayed on any web page or any web app. and also roll out oculus discover which is a suite of apis that allows any third party to manage and set up their own personal iterations of content marketplaces from any and all content that utilizes the core services complete with core service analytics.

clicking on the download button will initiate an immediate high speed download that finishes within 30 seconds for highspeed internet connection without having to be redirected to a specific web site and without having to open a specific application nor download manager. the download button should be able to automatically detect the platform if it cant detect the platform then an overlay will appear allowing the user to manually select the appropriate platform.

what the user just downloaded is what i call "a pre-sell/pre-purchase agent" that is instantly executable and ties into both the core services and discover apis and much much more...

the pre-sell agent will have a few interesting features;
-visually it will be a rich one off download manager and installation wizard rolled into one preferably with the same art style as the actual game menu
-this pre-sell/pre-purchase agent is a way to give developers a chance to instantly upsell their potential customers
-this pre sell agent will automatically detect that minimum requirements are met
-user will be able to download a trial version (if the developer chooses to offer a trial)
-automatically detect Facebook login and any financial credentials associated with a Facebook account
-require password to confirm any purchases
-designed in a way that developers can easily customize and personalize pre-sell agent templates with their own art style, and content
-pre-sell agent must be able to contain or fetch trailers, slides of game art and details
-but still be small enough to download in 30 seconds
-done and done

i would love to hear your thoughts for or against a decentralized approach. I would especially love to hear your thoughts about the pre-sell/pre-purchase agent.

OVR Client; (steam clone)

ideally most of this software will be pre-packed with the CV1 (but it could also be downloaded)

perhaps it would have a couple options to choose from during installation;
-tick box option: "Give me everything, I am new to PC gaming"
-tick box option 2: "Just the basics please, I prefer using Steam"

goals;
-essentially alleviate installation of the HMD
-installs drivers, establish new services, runs them, and makes registry entries et all
-unless steam tick box is checked it will also establish a media folder where new games are to be installed so that content is neatly organized and easy to visualize.
-makes updating of the client, drivers, firmware, and updates of individual games as simple and painless as possible
-keep it lightweight

I do not work for Oculus so I am not aware of their overall relationship with steam now that facebook has acquired them. so all I can really do is speculate. Unless Oculus wants to completely upend and steal Steams dominance, the Steam option would be a nice way of working/collaborating with valve by installing the basics and incorporating the rest into the steam client itself. thus prompting the steam client to initialize and install any software that would have been exclusive to the OVR client. basically all it would really do is activate vr tools and add an extra features in the menus. and of course in the footer of the steam client window somewhere between the add game and the user profile thumbnail a cute little oculus rift HMD icon with a smiley status indicator. when the smiley/emoticon graphic is wearing a rift that means the rift is in use by a game or program, when the smiley/emoticon is not wearing the rift that means the HMD is open and available for use. when the HMD is unplugged or undetected the icon itself will just be grayed out and there will be no smiley.

but on the other hand if they do not want to play nice with Steam they could just skip the tick boxes and install the OVR client by default automatically :P

now the interesting part:
-if user chooses basics and prefers steam then all of the purchasing, social features and online multiplayer will be handled controlled and profited from by valve/steam
-if user chooses everything then they will be prompted at some point during the installation phase to associate a facebook account(or create one) with their OVR client and utilize facebook for purchasing, social features and online multiplayer therefore the core services would handle and profit from the content distrobution
-of course one could also offer google+ but i don't think that network is adequate enough to justify an association option on merit alone but it is nice to give users a choice so there's always that option as well...

then there is the matter of how to design the store tab on the local application.....
since i am leaning toward a decentralized approach relying on third parties to organize and maintain content marketplaces it would probably be best to just go at it from a search engine and related recommendation perspective first and foremost. and instead supply users with a list of popular marketplaces and allow the user the choice of associating a particular marketplace with their client (which could easily be changed in the settings the same way you can change default search engines in a browser).

all the marketplaces share the same source they are just organized in a unique fashion. for instance a marketplace associated with a media company like IGN would probably cater to AAA games first and foremost. where as a source such as one that cymaticbruce or some enthusiast would organize and maintain would probably cater more towards promoting indy games...

also the idea of a decentralized approach to content marketplace presentation and promotional management is a consideration a thought experiment nothing more and personally i am still on the fence of weather a decentralized approach to market place presentation and promotion would even be viable

i think it would be interesting in that third party would certainty love the opportunity to run their own marketplaces and have their own promoted content and editor picks which they could monetize....

anyways just some food for thought

one last point of discussion....

Gravatar for VR: viewtopic.php?f=26&t=8156&hilit=gravatar+for+vr

the idea is to offer/monetize a centralized platform for avatar creation, customization and management in the suite of core services.

if my intuition is correct there will only be maybe a handful of full blown virtual worlds that pop up that try to do everything.but on the flip side there will be hundreds if not thousands of sand boxed VR hangouts that will become extremely popular especially if they are content focused/driven.

the initial idea was to alleviate the need for users to create a new avatar for each and every individual vr hangout. while also making it easier for developers to incorporate avatar creation and customization into their games without having to create and manage all the art assets and models themselves.

actually i do have one more thing to discuss.....

the creation of a R&D team that focuses specifically on pioneering 3D computer applications for stationary VR use

initial focus is on developing a VR optimized web browser
secondly a VR optimized media player

stationary as in you don't move an avatar around in a game space, but 3D as in the GUI is wrapped around you or otherwise presented on virtual displays drawn within a 3D VR space




something like this would be great for a VR optimized media player...

but how would you optimize a web browser for VR?

actually on second thought I'm seriously considering taking a decentralized approach to the client as well. Make it open source and approach it like a firefox or chromium project so developers could utilize the core client engine APIs to easily create and customize their own unique game specific clients.