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Ubisoft's Watch Dogs announced for the Wii U
News reported by 
(Editor-in-chief)
February 21, 2013, 04:19
 
It may be a Sony day today, but there was some news for Nintendo fans as well. Ubisoft fired off a press release about their much-hyped game Watch Dogs. From the press release:

In Watch_Dogs, players will experience the realities of living in our fully connected society, where individuals and corporations are at risk of exposure by our ever-increasing reliance on networks and technology.

Players will assume the role of Aiden Pearce, a new type of vigilante who, with the help of his smartphone, will use his ability to hack into Chicago's central operating system (ctOS) and control almost every element of the city. Aiden will be able to tap into the city's omnipresent security cameras, download personal information to locate a target, control systems such as traffic lights or public transportation to stop a chase, and more. The city of Chicago is now the ultimate weapon.


CHICAGO STYLE BABY!

Also this:

Watch_Dogs will be available on PS4 at launch, along with its release on the PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system, Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, the Wii U™ system from Nintendo and Windows PC.

Of course, the question in my mind is; will the "current" gen versions be scaled down in some fashion? It really depends on whether the game is being built for the PS4 first and foremost, or the reverse. I suppose we shall have to wait and see!

Source: Ubisoft press release

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02/21/13, 04:19
 
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Cancelled my Watch Dogs preorder today. Ubisoft is taking way too long, not putting out any info about the Wii U version and despite all those sales records it broke the game itself never looked that compelling from the reviews.

Other games have won my money now; Bayo1&2, Cap'n Toad and Hyrule Warriors all are must buys for me.

Posted by 
 on: 07/02/14, 16:24
@Infinitywave

Welp, that proves it right there:

"Hardcore games don't sell on Wii U"

Posted by 
 on: 07/02/14, 18:27
They patched out the "higher graphics" that were hidden away in the PC version.

Posted by 
 on: 07/02/14, 18:30
@missypissy
So they finally did that, huh. Well it's not as if they had any choice. Ubisoft is quickly deteriorating into some sort of EA. It's not pretty.

Posted by 
 on: 07/02/14, 18:33
Despite the Chicago setting, I've kind of lost interest in this game after reading reviews. It sounds like it's sort of just another action shooter but with some minor hacking and stuff. And apparently the developers have decided that like every other black dude in Chicago is a straight up criminal or something. Bah.

Posted by 
 on: 07/02/14, 20:04
@Zero

Could be worse. Could be like some people who just assume every other person (regardless of colour) from a specific nation is a criminal


...Now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to pirate Game of Thrones.

Posted by 
 on: 07/03/14, 01:29   Edited:  07/03/14, 01:30
@Shadowlink Oh I don't assume, I know. I think it is actually written into the Australian constitution.

Posted by 
 on: 07/03/14, 01:50
Zero said:
Despite the Chicago setting, I've kind of lost interest in this game after reading reviews. It sounds like it's sort of just another action shooter but with some minor hacking and stuff. And apparently the developers have decided that like every other black dude in Chicago is a straight up criminal or something. Bah.

Uh, the hacking is a major part of the game, not minor by any means. There are several main players when it comes to bad guys and they are all white.

The game is much better, esp the AI tnroughout the city, than GTA could ever hope to be. Many of the 'game is crappy' reviews were written by those who either didn't complete the game, don't kow what they are talking about or just plain pathetic reviewers.

Watch Dogs is an excellent game, just too bad Ubis Soft is the developers. I borrowed my son's PS4 and played that version of the game. With all that said, I don't blame anyone, not wanting to support Ubi Soft. I've made it clear in other threads I would not be buying anymore games they develop/publish. The game is really good and I feel it is definitely worth $60. If one doesn't mind supporting Ubi, by all means, play this game.

Posted by 
 on: 07/04/14, 13:13
I know it's not minor, but I think when the game was announced early on it was almost made to look like some brand new kind of game, and then it turned out to be another shooter... with hacking. As for the race thing, I'd have to play it to see how bad it is, but I've seen that complaint from quite a few reviewers. Maybe the "main" bad guys are all white but the complaint was more that when you are listening into average people on the streets, it presents a world where most of the black guys come off as thugs.

Really though I'd already been turned off a bit before I even heard anyone mentioning that. It's more the fact that it's so shooter heavy and I'm just not that big into shooting games. I've already got Bioshock Infinite sitting here unopened if I want to play a shooter. The idea of running through the streets of Chicago is somewhat appealing, but a lot of Chicagoans that I know say it's barely recognizable as Chicago anyway.

Posted by 
 on: 07/04/14, 20:20
@Zero

That's weird. I heard the opposite that the game's city structure is fairly close to Chicago's. Myself, I've never been there, so I would have no idea. A friend who has relatives there was over while I was playing the game and he definitely recognized certain areas in the city. I know there are certain landmarks, most buildings, but other stuff as well that are geographically correct in their placement within the game, which my friend pointed out and others have discussed on different youtube videos.

I was surprised I enjoyed the game as much as I did, but I really liked the hacking and all the side missions where you can hack into and listen to different individuals conversations, ect. The random acts of violence, different conversations, ect that occur while just out walking the streets, really helps to make the game's world feel like a live, breathing thing.

I think those who just say this is a GTA clone are wrong. Sure, its an open world game like GTA, but when it comes down to it, most games can be traced back to another genre. In this age of gaming, its tough to come up with somethign completely different. Different people have made this comment, which I feel sums it up perfectly, "if this game was developed by Rockstar, people everywhere would be praising the game, but since its an UbiSoft game, people just knock it as the same ole thing".

I have nothing against the GTA games, but I feel that statement sums it up the best. While I actually have enjoyed some of the GTA games, I feel Watch Dogs, one ups any of them. The hacking ability along helps to differentiate Watch Dogs from GTA. Only complaint I have about Watch Dogs is minor, but it is one that shares it's similarity with GTA games, which is basically, after completing a mission, whether story based or a side mission, you end up having to get away in your car, which you can buy or steal if you so desire, you cannot steal cop cars though and then many missions you have to defeat the bad guys or guy by putting his car out of commission and then kill him. That part just got a little to repetitive for my tastes.

Though, I thought that driving through the city was really fun and many times, some of the jumps, maneuvers, ect that was involved in the chase and escape potions were really breath taking! Some of those segments reminded me of real movie chase scenes. It was like, WOW, that was like something I would witness happening in a movie. I can't believe I pulled that off.

With all that said, even with my dislike for Ubisoft nowadays, I would highly recommend Watch Dogs to anyone who likes this kind of game. The hacking does make the game feel different, plus being able to hack into all the cameras in a segment and being able to use the information to plan out how and when you will take down your enemies is really brilliant. All the different side stories will range from hilarious, making you laugh out loud to very sad, maybe even bringing a tear to your eye, or at least tugging on those old heart strings.

I had planned on buying this for the Wii U and I would still like to, even though I've already played the game, there is still a ton of side content that I never played, but unless Ubisoft does something to change my mind, like changing their stupid policies like holding games hostages until there are more Wii U owners. That policy is so ludicrous! I mean, even though the PS4 has outsold the Wii U, its not like there is 20 million more PS4s owned, right now the PS4 has only about 1.5 million more owners and the Wii U has about 2 million more owners than the XboxOne. So, Ubisoft's whole reasoning is so flawed, its pathetic. More people, even those who do not own Nintendo's consoles and handhelds should boycott Ubi, cause they could do this on any platform in the future. Grrrrrr!!!!!

Posted by 
 on: 07/05/14, 03:29
I was wasting time in Gamestop and was reminded that this game actually does exist for Wii U. Has anyone actually played it? Did there end up being Gamepad features? I'm curious

Posted by 
 on: 12/26/14, 07:48
@Jargon I dunno but it got trashed in reviews next to the other versions. Not sure why exactly, but it's like a full 10-20 points below the other versions on Gamerankings.

Posted by 
 on: 12/26/14, 08:47
@Zero

It came out on Nintendo so, naturally, it's inferior. Or that's what the unethical games journalism industry will tell you. #gamergateisstillathingright

Posted by 
 on: 12/26/14, 17:42
People were also probably a lot more critical given that it's been out for months.

Posted by 
 on: 12/26/14, 22:06
@Stephen

If that's true it really sheds light on the role of hype in the video game criticism field. Not that it is completely obvious anyway but a good example for people who treat review aggregation sites as gospel.

Posted by 
 on: 12/27/14, 00:37
@Jargon

Yeah absolutely. It's definitely a problem with a lot of websites.

Posted by 
 on: 12/27/14, 00:53
@Jargon@Stephen

Wait, are you guys saying Grand Theft Auto IV may not have had an Oscar Worthy Story™ and Shadow of the Colossus may not have been an artistic achievement on the same order of a Bach concerto?

My whole IGN experience was a lie.

Posted by 
 on: 12/27/14, 01:33
I watched a "let's play" type video on IGN, with Brian Altano and maybe Rich? (I don't really know many of the editors anymore), and anyway it looked good, they said it held up and was a good version of the game, so if you don't a PS4 or Xbox One or monster PC and wanted to play this game, then why not give it a try?

@Zero
Well to be fair it only had like 4 reviews on Gamerankings, and one of them was a 4.0 from some UK newspaper. But if you look at the review it's more a diatribe against Nintendo than an actual review of the game:

Metro UK said:
The fact is that nobody wants to play these sort of games on a Nintendo console. Ever since the N64 settled for its status as secondary console Nintendo’s hardware has typically been bought by people who already own another games machine or who have no interest in violent action games anyway. Nintendo’s only chance of altering that status quo was to ensure the Wii U had a steady stream of high quality multiformat games from the very start, but that clearly never happened.

It was probably always the case though that nobody buying a Wii U ever imagined playing games like Watch Dogs, or Mass Effect or Call Of Duty, on the system. Perhaps if there was a feature not available on other systems, but it would have to be something better than a near imperceptible improvement in graphics or a map on the controller. So while this isn’t a very good port of Watch Dogs we don’t really blame Ubisoft, and in fact we’re surprised they even bothered in the end (our cynical side suspects they were forced to for contractual reasons).

It’s almost certainly going to be the last big name multiformat release though, for even if the Wii U is starting to show signs of life at retail the number of last gen games next year is going to rapidly decline. And although the Wii U is technically next gen we can’t imagine any publisher bothering to port down from the more powerful Xbox One and PlayStation 4.

But like we say, we can’t imagine anyone caring either. Over the years Nintendo has backed themselves into a corner, where the success of their consoles depends entirely on their own games and a small number of third party exclusives. A game like Watch Dogs just doesn’t fit into anyone’s world view for the Wii U: not publishers, not gamers, and certainly not Nintendo themselves.


Posted by 
 on: 12/27/14, 01:45   Edited:  12/27/14, 01:53
Yeah. Review scores always need to be taken with healthy skepticism.

Posted by 
 on: 12/27/14, 02:34
@deathly_hallows

To their point: I wonder if Nintendo really backed themselves into a corner. For Nintendo, lower sales of their console is no big deal if they turn a profit on it and make and sell damn near every big game. Lack of 3rd party competition on the software market is good for them, so long as Nintendo fans keep buying their consoles. So that hardly seems like Nintendo backing themselves into a corner. It's more like they backed anyone who hopes for 3rd party games on a Nintendo console into a corner.

Posted by 
 on: 12/27/14, 03:03   Edited:  12/27/14, 03:03
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