Watch Dogs on Wii U is closer to current gen than next gen

Releasing a new games console a year earlier than the competition may give you an initial sales advantage, but when the competing hardware does arrive on the market the release-first advantage suddenly disappears. In the case of the Wii U, next month Nintendo will be facing down two much more powerful consoles in the form of the PS4 and Xbox One.

Proof of how this could impact sales comes via Ubisoft and their forthcoming game Watch Dogs. The game is releasing on current gen and next gen machines, but the Wii U is a bit of an anomaly, so where does it sit in terms of quality? Is it more comparable next gen or current gen versions?

CVG conducted an interview with Jonathan Morin, creative director at Ubisoft Montreal and asked him that question. His answer isn’t exactly definitive, but he stated that overall the game is closer to current gen, but “it’s a beautiful game” on Nintendo’s platform.

This is important for Wii U owners because it suggests that as we move forward Nintendo’s hardware isn’t going to be able to keep pace with the games that can be produced for the PS4 and Xbox One. This is a launch game on those systems after all, and developers have had a year to squeeze performance out of the Wii U, yet it’s producing games closer to current gen still. That gap is only going to get bigger in the coming years.

Publishers and developers have been ignoring the Wii U mainly because it isn’t selling very well. However, the reason is surely going to change soon to dismissing it because it simply can’t cope with the games being produced for the other consoles. And that is yet another reason why Nintendo needs to keep pumping out first-party games on a regular basis. Even so, I think 2014 may be an even tougher year for the Wii U than 2013 has already been.