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posted by Fnord666 on Sunday February 25 2018, @03:47AM   Printer-friendly
from the nothing-to-see-here dept.

Facebook removes VR shooting demo at top conservative conference out of 'respect for the victims' of Florida shooting

Facebook has removed a virtual reality shoot-em-up experience from a tech demo at a top American conservative conference after recieving criticism for being "tone deaf" following last week's deadly school shooting in Florida. The social network has a presence at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) conference in Maryland, this week, including a booth running a demo of its Oculus Rift virtual reality headset. This demo included a first-person shooting game.

People on Twitter have criticised Facebook for running this demo so soon after the deadly shooting attack at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School that left 17 people dead.

The game, Bullet Train, was just one of a number of standard Oculus games/demos that Facebook has included at public events. In fact, Bullet Train has been around since 2015, and the team that made it released a full game called Robo Recall, funded by Oculus:

The game will be an Oculus exclusive — that company is funding its development — and the five-to-ten-person team that created Bullet Train has ballooned into a full 15 person team at Epic in order to turn this into a real game with a release date in "early 2017." It will include a number of graphical jumps from Bullet Train, and this benefits Epic in other ways as well.

Yet, Facebook still tried to distance itself from the original demo:

The demo for the game, called "Bullet Train," is being developed by a third-party game-maker, not Oculus, the company said.

Why is Facebook at CPAC? Probably as part of an ongoing effort to placate conservatives angry at the platform.

This comes a few months after the Puerto Rico hurricane VR debacle.

Also at The Guardian and The Hill.


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  • (Score: 4, Interesting) by takyon on Sunday February 25 2018, @04:09AM (17 children)

    by takyon (881) <reversethis-{gro ... s} {ta} {noykat}> on Sunday February 25 2018, @04:09AM (#643317) Journal

    You wouldn't normally have a gaming company at CPAC, or criticize a VR first person shooter for basically existing. But that's what happens when Facebook gets thrown into the mix.

    This is basically just a way to shame Facebook for being involved with CPAC.

    Facebook might actually see $2 billion or more value from its acquisition of Oculus (they will need to get many millions of people buying the cheaper headsets [techradar.com] and provide a platform with a lot of 360-degree content). But it could be a long and stupid road to that point.

    --
    [SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
    Starting Score:    1  point
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  • (Score: -1, Offtopic) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday February 25 2018, @04:34AM (1 child)

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday February 25 2018, @04:34AM (#643322)

    He slammed and he punched until a cracking sound was heard. The cracking soon turned into smashing, as a hard component within the toy had caved inwards...

  • (Score: -1, Spam) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday February 25 2018, @04:35AM (13 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday February 25 2018, @04:35AM (#643323)

    A man could be seen strapped to a thick metal bar. This man was no ordinary man; he was a Soyllectual. One arm of the enigmatic machine forced the Soyllectual's mouth open, and then a tube was inserted down his throat. A mysterious liquid passed through the tube and into the Soyllectual's stomach, filling his body with goodness. Content. Beautiful Content. Stellar Content. Consume it all! Consume all the Content, you insolent Soyllectuals! Get pregnant! Get pregnant!! Get pregnant!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    • (Score: 2) by takyon on Sunday February 25 2018, @04:41AM (12 children)

      by takyon (881) <reversethis-{gro ... s} {ta} {noykat}> on Sunday February 25 2018, @04:41AM (#643325) Journal
      --
      [SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
      • (Score: 2) by NotSanguine on Sunday February 25 2018, @05:08AM (11 children)

        by NotSanguine (285) <NotSanguineNO@SPAMSoylentNews.Org> on Sunday February 25 2018, @05:08AM (#643330) Homepage Journal

        The thing I find most amusing is that these folks:
        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kppx4bzfAaE [youtube.com]

        actually have *better* rhyming skills than this guy:
        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SW-BU6keEUw [youtube.com]

        Which doesn't surprise me even a little.

        Regardless, it goes a little bit like this:
        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FjJvBarVRss [youtube.com]

        And it goes a little bit like that:
        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IX9FXinBkbg [youtube.com]

        --
        No, no, you're not thinking; you're just being logical. --Niels Bohr
        • (Score: 0, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday February 25 2018, @05:53AM (10 children)

          by Anonymous Coward on Sunday February 25 2018, @05:53AM (#643349)

          I'm just gonna have to assume all of the videos linked above are rickrolls.

          • (Score: 2) by NotSanguine on Sunday February 25 2018, @06:00AM (9 children)

            by NotSanguine (285) <NotSanguineNO@SPAMSoylentNews.Org> on Sunday February 25 2018, @06:00AM (#643352) Homepage Journal

            I'm just gonna have to assume all of the videos linked above are rickrolls.

            If that's what you choose to believe, then by all means, do so. It's no skin off my nose.

            --
            No, no, you're not thinking; you're just being logical. --Niels Bohr
            • (Score: -1, Offtopic) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday February 25 2018, @08:10AM (8 children)

              by Anonymous Coward on Sunday February 25 2018, @08:10AM (#643383)

              Except that it means that SoylentNews is dead. This sickness is enough to disgust and drive away the most dedicated Soylentil. We need a deletion mod. If two Soylentils agree, the post disappears. Maybe three, or four, or some other number. But there are things that should not be here, at all, ever. Or we, and Ethanol_fueled, are tainted forever by them.

              • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday February 25 2018, @08:20AM (1 child)

                by Anonymous Coward on Sunday February 25 2018, @08:20AM (#643385)

                Except that it means that SoylentNews is dead. This sickness is enough to disgust and drive away the most dedicated Soylentil. We need a deletion mod. If two Soylentils agree, the post disappears. Maybe three, or four, or some other number. But there are things that should not be here, at all, ever. Or we, and Ethanol_fueled, are tainted forever by them.

                Please create a -5000 'moron' mod, for goodness sake!
                My kingdon for a 'moron' mod!

              • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday February 25 2018, @10:27AM

                by Anonymous Coward on Sunday February 25 2018, @10:27AM (#643415)

                Bye! Don't let the door hit you on the way out!

                Kissy, kissy baby!

              • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday February 25 2018, @05:30PM

                by Anonymous Coward on Sunday February 25 2018, @05:30PM (#643491)

                Is this really just some pissing match between you and EF about who is the better troll? Cause answer is EF, these violent fantasies are hardly worthy of troll, like yo mama homes at a roast, or poop jokes at the dirty comedian awards.

              • (Score: 2) by Mykl on Monday February 26 2018, @01:29AM (3 children)

                by Mykl (1112) on Monday February 26 2018, @01:29AM (#643673)

                I agree - we should be deleting these posts. They serve no purpose other than to drive readers away from the site.

                However, the site has repeatedly held itself up as a bastion for the 1st Amendment, and has repeatedly stated that it will never delete a post.

                We have a problem. The 1st Amendment wasn't written with trolls in mind. It's a fine ideal, however deserves scrutiny in this context. Of course, soylentnews isn't the government, so can do whatever it likes with the posts on this site. Perhaps it's time for a poll (no ACs) to determine whether obvious troll content should be deleted? What's the difference between blocking an IP before the post and deleting after the post?

                • (Score: 3, Insightful) by NotSanguine on Monday February 26 2018, @05:59AM (2 children)

                  by NotSanguine (285) <NotSanguineNO@SPAMSoylentNews.Org> on Monday February 26 2018, @05:59AM (#643783) Homepage Journal

                  We have a problem. The 1st Amendment wasn't written with trolls in mind. It's a fine ideal, however deserves scrutiny in this context. Of course, soylentnews isn't the government, so can do whatever it likes with the posts on this site. Perhaps it's time for a poll (no ACs) to determine whether obvious troll content should be deleted? What's the difference between blocking an IP before the post and deleting after the post?

                  I disagree. Trolls, cranks, dickheads and morons are *especially* the demographic for the First Amendment.

                  This is because their speech (as this discussion is making obvious) contains descriptions and expression that just about everyone finds offensive, annoying, childish, etc., etc., etc.

                  If we don't protect *unpopular* speech, we weaken the foundation for protecting other speech. Contrariwise, when we support all forms of expression, we keep that foundation strong, protecting *all of us* against the use of censorship, criminalization of expression and other authoritarian mechanisms of control.

                  That said, you are absolutely correct, SoylentNews is not a government entity and, as such, is not bound by the strictures of the First Amendment. Fortunately (IMHO), the management has decided that it prefers freedom and liberty over order and avoiding offense.

                  Myself, I read each and every one of those hateful, disgusting posts. Does the content offend me? Offend is too strong a term. Rather it saddens me that someone feels the need to express such hateful and nasty stuff, either because they wish to attract attention to themselves (in which case, this whole conversation is giving him exactly what he wants -- perhaps you might want to consider that possibility), or they actually hold these views. If this person does hold such views, they are obviously disturbed and, quite possibly, a danger to others.

                  If the former is true, don't give this asshole what he wants -- attention. "Don't feed the trolls" is cliched, but like most cliches, it's also true.

                  If the latter is true, I suppose it's better that such a scumbag be posting that drivel here than actually out in the streets looking to do violence to others. If it were possible (but things like Tor make identification quite difficult), it might be worthwhile to identify such individuals and report them to relevant authorities.

                  If we decide that deleting of posts is okay, that gives precedent for a privileged group to delete posts -- which threatens to make this site a reflection of the specific views and predilections of that privileged group, rather than the freewheeling discussion site that we *choose* to visit.

                  I'd argue that our moderation system can (and does) handle this sort of thing pretty well. I've rarely read a discussion thread where this piece of shit's drivel hasn't already been modded to oblivion (it doesn't take much, as it's always an AC post) and if I find that it hasn't been, I'm happy to spare a mod point to do so.

                  There are quite a few folks (not all of whom post as AC either) who spew hateful rhetoric (sexism, white "superiority", religious/ethnic/melanin discrimination, demonization of those who disagree, etc.). Shall we delete their posts too? If so, where does it stop?

                  I understand and even sympathize with your frustration and disgust with Mr. "I hate women." However, I believe that censoring that asshole creates the risk that any or all of us could be censored. And that's not a risk I think we should take.

                  I'd certainly welcome your thoughts and reactions (although what I "welcome" is unimportant -- you have just as much right to express yourself as anyone else).

                  --
                  No, no, you're not thinking; you're just being logical. --Niels Bohr
                  • (Score: 3, Insightful) by Mykl on Monday February 26 2018, @11:38PM (1 child)

                    by Mykl (1112) on Monday February 26 2018, @11:38PM (#644308)

                    You're absolutely right - we invite ourselves to travel down a slippery slope when we decide to censor anything.

                    However, SN has already started that journey with the blocking of a certain author who liked to discuss the genitalia of a particular racial demographic and their preference for youthful sexual pursuit. SN also blocks posts that include the name of a particular book in the Bible. This series of posts will be a little trickier to filter, but I see no reason why Mr. "I hate women" should stay here when we have removed those others (who, frankly IMO, were far less offensive).

                    The alternative is that we can stand firm in our conviction to defend to the death the right of others to say anything, and admire the barren wasteland that SN will become as people give up on this hate and abandon the place.

                    • (Score: 2) by NotSanguine on Tuesday February 27 2018, @12:31AM

                      by NotSanguine (285) <NotSanguineNO@SPAMSoylentNews.Org> on Tuesday February 27 2018, @12:31AM (#644331) Homepage Journal

                      You make several good points. Thanks for sharing them.

                      While I think the moderation system is the best way to handle that sort of thing, you may well be correct that some folks may abandon the site.

                      It might even be that the same jackass(es) who were posting the stuff that's now filtered is(are) the one(s) posting the drivel du jour.

                      I'm unconvinced that deleting or filtering posts will make a difference in the long run, but it's not up to me.
                      Taking such actions could well be the goal of the scumbag(s) who are posting this garbage.

                      I also worry that deleting posts might end up stifling satire.

                      I guess we'll have to see what those with the power to make such decisions actually decide to do.

                      --
                      No, no, you're not thinking; you're just being logical. --Niels Bohr
  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday February 25 2018, @06:10AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday February 25 2018, @06:10AM (#643354)

    You wouldn't normally have a gaming company at CPAC,

    You wouldn't normally have Facebook associated with Canadian Parliament [www.cpac.ca], either, yet here we seem to be. (I don't see anything about Facebook or VR games there, but I'm blocking scripts and ads, so it's not too surprising.)