Watch Dogs: 30 FPS on Both Xbox One and PS4, Confirms Ubisoft

[Steven Bogos]

Watch Dogs: 30 FPS on Both Xbox One and PS4, Confirms Ubisoft

Watch Dogs will run at 900p/30FPS on PS4, and 792p/30FPS on Xbox One.

Oh dear. First Watch Dogs was 1080p/60FPS on the PS4... then it wasn't, Ubisoft blog post [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/134402-Watch-Dogs-on-PS4-to-Be-at-1080p-and-60fps-According-to-Sony-Update] on the matter.

"Resolution is a number, just like framerate is a number. All those numbers are valid aspects of making games," said Creative Director Jonathan Morin. While most next-gen (and many last-gen) games strive to offer native 1080p, Morin belives it is much more important "to deliver an amazing next-gen experience than it is to push a few more pixels onto a screen."

He went on to say that the scope and scale of Watch Dogs compared to a standard "corridor shooter" is completely different. "People tend to look at corridor shooters, for example, where there's a corridor and all the effects are on and it's unbelievable, and they forget that if you apply those same global effects to an open city with people around and potential car crashes and guys in multiplayer showing up without warning, the same effect is applied to a lot of dynamic elements that are happening in every frame."

As for what Ubisoft was doing during the game's most recent delay if not optmizing the resolution, "that extra time was spent ensuring the team could fully realize their vision for Watch Dogs, polishing all aspects of the gameplay and making sure hacking is fully integrated into every system," claims Morin.

"[The hacking stuff] is important. Resolution has nothing to do with that. That's why stuff like resolution can scale a bit down so that we never compromise the soul of Watch Dogs."

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought we were to expect 1080p/60FPS as the standard with this generation? I would especially have expected to see it on such a big-name title as Watch Dogs. I also don't buy Morin's excuse, as almost all PC gamers will tell you that having a game run at native resolution with a steady framerate makes for a much better experience than watching a "pretty slideshow".

Source: Ubisoft [http://blog.ubi.com/watch-dogs-next-gen-game-resolution-dynamism/]

Permalink

 

[weirdee]

Victims of their own success, really. They were so able to sell larger numbers that when they fell apart, there was no way they could fall back on rational thinking.

I await the time when they manage to make up for the trust that they've borrowed.

(But I won't be holding my breath.)

 

[Zeren]

That's underwhelming. It makes me glad I didn't buy a console this generation.

 

[Crazy Zaul]

So even after going back into development it still runs like shit... good job Noobisoft.

 

[sneakypenguin]

Ugh this gen is depressing I would have figured at least every game would be 1080 60fps maybe 30 if its insane looking. How junk is the hw in these things. Could we be looking at a massive PC swing in three years when even a 150 dollar GPU is blowing the pants off w/e is in these. Also scares me as graphics could stagnate even harder than last gen.

 

[ckam]

Each passing day makes this "hallmark" of the new generation look like ... well ... not.

 

[ghalleon0915]

I found Morin's quote "to deliver an amazing next-gen experience than it is to push a few more pixels onto a screen." interesting, in that isn't pushing a few more pixels onto a screen indicative of a next-gen experience? One of the reasons we upgrade to a next-gen system is so that we can get improved game play and pretty pixels which aren't exclusive of each other.

I wonder how many more of these kind of statements we will get with upcoming releases such as Destiny and Dragon's Age 3, to name a couple of AAA productions.

 

[saltyanon]

Only one phrase about the "next gen" consoles come to mind. One phrase that marketers, the morons and drones that gobble up their manufactured hype, were parroting over and over.

Supercharged PC!

 

[Ferisar]

I found Morin's quote "to deliver an amazing next-gen experience than it is to push a few more pixels onto a screen." interesting, in that isn't pushing a few more pixels onto a screen indicative of a next-gen experience? One of the reasons we upgrade to a next-gen system is so that we can get improved game play and pretty pixels which aren't exclusive of each other.

I wonder how many more of these kind of statements we will get with upcoming releases such as Destiny and Dragon's Age 3, to name a couple of AAA productions.

Not as many I would imagine. Open-world games are -a lot- more draining on a system than pretty pixels ever were, unless they use a lot of downsized stock textures and cardboard houses. It's hard to not have a demanding game when the stuff in the distance is actual stuff and not just a skybox or backdrop that's rendered in. Not that these contradictory statements are that excusable, but it's the reality of sandbox titles.

On the bright side, stuff like 1886 may still look as good as they've shown just because of the scope being smaller.

Only one phrase about the "next gen" consoles come to mind. One phrase that marketers, the morons and drones that gobble up their manufactured hype, were parroting over and over.

Supercharged PC!

I don't remember anyone, besides the Xbox "kind of" using something similar very recently, saying that. Smells like... haterade.

 

[Roofstone]

Eh, doesn't bother me. I am still awaiting my pre-ordered deadsec with growing impatience. It can look like stickfigures and I wouldn't care as long as the gameplay is good.

 

[Fireprufe15]

Does this seriously surprise anyone ever? The consoles were ridiculously underpowered from the moment they were announced and any sane person could see that a game like this would never pull 1080p60 on these boxes. No 3rd party title ever will without some trickery.

On that note, Microsoft can try to explain it away, but resolution IS important, especially on the gigantic TV's people play on these days. FPS IS important and there IS a massive difference between 30 and 60 and even 120.

I guess what I'm saying is that this generation of consoles, at least graphically, is pretty much DoA.

 

[gigastar]

This gen is so last gen. And we're already a year in. Where is the 7th gen optimism? Where is the wonder that anything is possible? At the beginning of the gen?

Still in the phase of broken dreams and compromise for projects that were going pre-release.

 

[Mothhive]

Only one phrase about the "next gen" consoles come to mind. One phrase that marketers, the morons and drones that gobble up their manufactured hype, were parroting over and over.

Supercharged PC!

I don't remember anyone, besides the Xbox "kind of" using something similar very recently, saying that. Smells like... haterade.

It was the PS4's lead architect, Mark Cerny, that used the term "Supercharged PC architecture" at the PS4 reveal event.

 

[NuclearKangaroo]

this game has had quite the development cycle, PR lies over PR lies from both Ubisoft and Sony, i seriously doubt it will deliver, doesnt look that good for me, kind of like the multiplaya tough


also i love they try to write off the framerate and resolution as "just a number", yeah, pff who has ever heard of a number being important right fellas? i hope they keep that attitude if the game receives mediocre review scores

Spoiler

Watchdogs development in a nutshell:

 

[Aitamen]

Yeah, FPS *is* just a number... and so is the tally in your bank account. Hell, they might even be loosely correlated...

This is my last straw... normally, I would own all three systems, but this time around I'm waiting, simply because so little has been done to make me care. Looks like I get to spend a week building myself a new PC with the return I was saving for these, and maybe snag a WiiU for xmas if SSB looks half as tasty as it seems...

Also, notably, I've no idea who the hell the async-multiplayer is aimed at.

 

[Mad World]

So much for this generation of consoles. They can't even manage 60 frames. Or, perhaps, Ubisoft has no idea what they're doing.

 

[whycantijustdeletemyaccount]

.