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Ubisoft: Next-Gen Watch Dogs Boasts A Fully Alive Chicago

As if your excitement level wasn't already through the roof.

Open-world environments have always had their fair share of curiosities and eccentricities. We've come to expect such things because technology hasn't allowed for certain upgrades. But Ubisoft says that with the help of next-gen power, the city of Chicago in Watch Dogs will feel more alive than most any other virtual world.

During a recent Xbox Wire interview with creative director Jonathan Morin, we find out that the team is really pushing the envelope in terms of realism and authenticity:

"Thanks to the next-gen, we can push the limits; we can make the player believe that when he does something, there are causes and consequences. I think that for the first time, players will not only be in a city, they will feel that people live in that city. After all, every city is defined by its inhabitants."

Morin added that for the first time in the industry's history, NPCs won't be "robots that follow a sidewalk." He says they'll look and act like "real human beings with their own lives." It was recently revealed that due to the technical limitations of the current consoles, those versions of the game will boast fewer simultaneous on-screen characters. Other than that, it'll mostly be the same experience.

Obviously, though, in order to appreciate this title to the fullest, you're gonna want to play it on the PS4 or Xbox One. We still don't know when that version will be coming, but it could be a launch title for both new systems. The PS3, 360, Wii U and PC installments arrive on November 19.

Related Game(s): Watch Dogs

Watch Dogs On PS4: Overall, A More Realistic Experience

It's one of several "cross-generation" titles on tap for later this year, and it's also one of the most anticipated games on the immediate horizon.

Now, in a recent GamesTM interview with Watch Dogs creative director Jonathan Morin (as cited by Gaming Everything ), we have some details concerning the upgrades we'll find in the PlayStation 4 version. As you might've anticipated, this involves graphics and AI. Said Morin:

"When the PS4 showed up it did bring new possibilities to improve graphics and every AI systems we have. But in the same way we did for four years already, we will continue to look beyond what is possible to achieve in order to bring this little something extra out there for players to enjoy. So expect more AI behaviors, more realistic consequences to your actions and an overall improvement in visuals realization. Our team has been working on this very complex ecosystem for more than four years now; this is what is required to build such an intricate set of AI systems."

Morin added that the PS4 certainly brings better processing power and more memory to the table. But that's not actually the biggest improvement-

"What the new machine brings is new processing power and memory to run these things, but the biggest investment is always the time and the quality of the resources required to pull it off. So not only does the next generation bring more possibilities, but it also brings new challenges that we believe are extremely exciting from both a player’s and a developer’s perspective."

Watch Dogs might be downright mind-blowing on the PS4. I wonder if this is incentive enough to spring for Sony's new machine; this, and the knowledge that other cross-generation games will benefit in the same way. As we've said before, it could be third-party blockbusters and not exclusives that fuel early sales of the new PlayStation.

Related Game(s): Watch Dogs