The Watch Dogs Wii U release date is November 21, 2014 in Europe, it came out on November 18th, yes this Tuesday, in America where you can buy it now. Japan will get the Wii U version on December 4th. Even though it’s six months late, Ubisoft still kept their promise to Wii U fans!
Check out what Watch Dogs Wii U actually looks like with real-life gameplay footage!
Believe it or not, this is Watch Dogs actually running on the Wii U.
As you can see, the Wii U version looks impressive for what the Wii U can do, even though it remains to be seen how the frame-rate holds up in more open-world, busy or hectic environments (early reports says it takes a dip and there is draw-in, but not a huge problem).
Here’s the Watch Dogs Wii U image gallery.
Click on any of these image thumbnails to see the full-size screenshots:
Based on graphics alone, Watch Dogs is more closely aligned to what you’d expect from next-gen consoles PS4 & Xbox One than last-gen PS3/Xbox 360… Making the Wii U version a good middle-ground between last-gen (360/PS3) and current-gen (XB1/PS4) tech.
Obviously if you want the improved versions, they are already available on those other platforms, but for Wii U owners or Wii U preferers, the release of Watch Dogs on Wii U is definitely welcome news.
Watch Dogs for Wii U has been a long-time-coming, and many thought that Ubisoft would never actually release it.
As they delayed the Wii U version for six months from the launch of the other platform versions (which were released on May 27th, 2014 for PC, PS4, Xbox One, Xbox 360 & PS3), so that they could get the game to run better and further tweak it for the Wii U.
That extra development time seems to have really paid off.
Sadly the game doesn’t seem to use the Wii U GamePad in any innovative ways, but those who prefer to have the map displayed on the GamePad so that you don’t have to pause the game so often and can do all inventory management from a secondary source (not to mention with your finger or a stylus)… therefore not interrupting the action on-screen; will be very happy with Watch Dogs on Wii U, as having the second screen experience really does make a difference.
Still Ubisoft should have gone the extra mile and really done something unique with the Wii U GamePad as a concession to Wii U owners for the delayed release… Or at least gone in and added some fun/funny Nintendo-exclusive references or whatnot ala Bayonetta 2.
But it doesn’t seem like that is the case… Oh well.
DLC for the Wii U version, paid additional content, is also already available on the Nintendo eShop, so that’s some good news for those who thought Ubisoft wouldn’t be supporting the late-comer Wii U version like they did with other platform versions.
However no Watch Dogs Bad Blood yet… Hopefully it’ll come soon.
Good on Ubisoft for finally releasing this.
I myself, and plenty of other people I’m sure, have yet to play Watch Dogs, and will definitely consider picking up the Wii U version to have that second-screen/touchscreen/Off-TV Play experience that we love about Wii U versions.
It’s a shame that Watch Dogs will be overcome by Super Smash Bros. Wii U at retail, but hopefully it will sell good enough on the Wii U platform to convince Ubisoft and other publishers to support the system more.
Even though it’s a late release, there are still plenty of people who didn’t play the game on other platforms, or just prefer the Wii U platform and thus will be willing to shell out $60 bucks to play it on Wii U.
It’s too bad the game isn’t a bit cheaper, they should’ve at least shaved $10 off the $60 price point given it’s late release…
We’ll see how it performs at retail.
Do you have any plans to pick up the Wii U version of Watch Dogs?