Assassin’s Creed 4 PS4 and Xbox One director hints at Watch Dogs.

 

“Assassin’s Creed 4: Black Flag” and “Watch Dogs.” According to a report by the NeoGAF forum on June 16, the game director teased that both titles will include several hard-to-find Easter Eggs that may tease some kind of connection between the worlds. You can check out some screenshots of the PS4 and Xbox One products.

“Assassin’s Creed 4: Black Flag” and “Watch Dogs” are cross-generation releases. As a result, both titles are slated to be released on the Nintendo Wii U, PC, PS3 and Xbox 360 in addition to the forthcoming PS4 and Xbox One next-generation systems. Ubisoft is the company responsible for the developing and publishing aspects of “Assassin’s Creed 4: Black Flag” and “Watch Dogs,” both of which are expected to launch later this year in the North American region.


The Xbox One was initially announced on May 21st to pretty lukewarm responses. Yes, the dawn of a new video game console generation was on the horizon, but Microsoft saw fit to primarily focus on their “All-in-one entertainment center”. This rubbed many gaming journalists and purists the wrong way. Fast forward to E3(Electronic Entertainment Expo) and Microsoft showed the gaming world that they did, in fact know what side their bread was buttered. Paired with some of high points from the initial announcement, and some pretty cool things they revealed at E3, here are 4 pretty good reasons you may want to pick up the Xbox One come the holiday season.

When Microsoft released the Xbox 360 in November of 2005, they also revealed a new meta-system that would track and score your accomplishments for every game played and put them on display. It was a new idea that had primarily been relegated to single player stat keeping in previous gaming generations, mostly giving certain games a replay value they may otherwise lacked. Now with the Achievements system, players had a public badge of honor. It was a literal game changer as rival Sony introduced their own Trophy and score system a few years later, and every game from Angry Birds to Candy Crush now has some form of achievement system.

 

Well after 8 years, some gamers have racked up a pretty impressive Gamerscore, with each retail title having at least 1,000 points at their release date, and sometimes adding more for online play. Knowing that your meta-score will carry over into the next generation is cause for a sigh of relief and some celebration given that both Microsoft and Sony have said that neither of their systems will be backward compatible(at launch anyway). At least when you move on to the next system, your gaming past will move with you in some way.

Staying with the Achievements theme, Microsoft also brought up one of the perks of their “always online” initiative is that developers will be able to seamlessly add achievements and Gamerscores to their games regularly to reflect how the community is playing. This may seem like a small step, but it is actually the evolution of what Achievements have already done for the replay value of games. Adding challenges in response to players play styles and integrating the community in a larger way does wonders for developers ability to keep discs in systems, and gives extra incentive for gamers to hold on to games just a little bit longer.

Yes, Microsoft may have ruffled some feathers when they announced that the Kinect will be essential for use of the Xbox One, and that owners will not be able to fully power off the device, even on games where it is not needed. What may have been missed in some of the negative press is that Microsoft has had about 2 years to respond to player concerns about the original Kinect device, and given their track record, are more than likely about to revolutionize the way gamers think about motion controls and integration.

In the past, Microsoft has tried the “Better with Kinect” marketing push, giving developers who utilize the peripheral some extra spotlight. That is why we saw marquee titles like Madden 13 and Mass Effect 3 touting their use of the motion camera. While this is more speculative, it is safe to assume that Microsoft and third party developers have learned a bit from the past and have found ways to better utilize Kinect. Some of the Minority Report-esque ways that it is being used with the multi use applications showed off at the May 21st reveal may just be the tip of the iceberg. Factoring in the exclusive games at launch that will more than likely have some heavy Kinect use and gamers may finally get the motion controls they've only dreamed of.

Xbox Live was ushered into existence on the original Xbox; a pay service that provided online multiplayer on consoles through an Ethernet connection at a time when consoles either didn’t have online capability or only used 56k dial-up. It was a bold move, and just another example of Microsoft dragging consumers into the future of technology. By 2005, Xbox Live Gold accounts were held by almost half of Xbox users, giving unrivaled stability and security to those who chose to partake in the $50 a year service. While the Xbox One has officially been revealed as an “always online” system, Xbox Live is the system by which it will be connected, and with it Microsoft is wheeling out some new, and some borrowed tricks.

Firstly, taking a page from Sony’s playbook, Microsoft will begin offering free game downloads to Gold subscribers, much like the PlayStation+ model by Sony. Microsoft also has some exclusivity with EA sports titles in terms of updates and add-on’s for games like FIFA 14’, Madden 25, and NBA Live. These exclusive rights will include real world roster updates, new gameplay modes, and integration with fantasy leagues. There is also the exclusive deal Microsoft still has with the juggernaut franchise Call of Duty, which gives the Xbox One timed exclusive content such as multiplayer maps and modes that the PlayStation 4 may not see for months. All of that and there is still the Xbox Live Arcade which has done nothing but grow into a huge hit in and of itself, offering many grade A titles at a very reasonable price for the budget gamer.