Recommended Posts

They often had PS3 exclusive content as well.  I don't think this is anything new.

 

I don't remember this being so obvious last gen, but you're probably right and i just forgot. The 60 extra minutes for Watch Dogs do stand out, as i chose the X1 version over PS4 and PC :s

I'm with you as a PC gamer, but at the same time I feel like a lot of games have gotten way too long just to combat rentals or whatever.

 

So maybe it isn't such a bad thing.

 

True, and good point that length deters rentals hahaha though if you're Larry and are still in love with Gamefly that's not a factor for you :laugh:

 

And yes, games are very long these days, which is a good thing. Better a long one than a shortie....Ubi are especially this, if it's not 25 hours just to complete the basic missions (half of which are nearly identical of course) then it's not a Ubi game :D

His ethnicity and contradictory accent caught me by surprise. Sorry for me being captain obvious but I laughed when I saw him speak.

 

They were playing up the phone shop guy being Indian/Pakistani stereotype for laughs, that's for sure. I found him funny for the way he carried himself and seemed totally honest and natural, i'm used to that kind of accent so that in itself wasn't a real factor. Hopefully he's in the game :laugh:

PC version screenshots

 

More

 

Looks great but honestly not much better than AC3 did on PC in the highest settings, which is not surprising as the engines are very related. This is not a criticism, I think we should stop treating Watch Dogs as a graphics poster child and focus on the gameplay. We only made the next gen association because it was supposedly the first look we got of what was the future two years ago...and also because that Ubi presentation was de facto the first confirmation that new consoles were coming. This isn't fair to Watch Dogs, it's being held to higher requirements than other games, when actually we have no reason to expect it to look any better than Black Flag or Blacklist or any other contemporary Ubi PC release.

  • Like 1

Looks great but honestly not much better than AC3 did on PC in the highest settings, which is not surprising as the engines are very related. This is not a criticism, I think we should stop treating Watch Dogs as a graphics poster child and focus on the gameplay. We only made the next gen association because it was supposedly the first look we got of what was the future two years ago...and also because that Ubi presentation was de facto the first confirmation that new consoles were coming. This isn't fair to Watch Dogs, it's being held to higher requirements than other games, when actually we have no reason to expect it to look any better than Black Flag or Blacklist or any other contemporary Ubi PC release.

It's because Ubisoft marketed it as as a graphical powerhouse at first reveal, they really went on about how great the graphics were going to be, until the downgrade when they showed it off again a year later.

  • Like 1

It's because Ubisoft marketed it as as a graphical powerhouse at first reveal, they really went on about how great the graphics were going to be, until the downgrade when they showed it off again a year later.

 

More likely they got swept up in their own hype, which can happen to the best intentioned people. I don't think there was any downgrade, the game was never that groundbreaking to begin with, it's at best a souped up version of AC3/AC4. I believe that clip they showed at E3 2012 looked so good to us because of psychological reasons, not because it was that amazingly gorgeous. Still very nice looking, but that's not the point of this game I think.

  • Like 1

More likely they got swept up in their own hype, which can happen to the best intentioned people. I don't think there was any downgrade, the game was never that groundbreaking to begin with, it's at best a souped up version of AC3/AC4. I believe that clip they showed at E3 2012 looked so good to us because of psychological reasons, not because it was that amazingly gorgeous. Still very nice looking, but that's not the point of this game I think.

 

There are comparison videos where they visited the exact same area, and things like the lighting engine just look so much worse.

 

Things like the lighting on the bridge at the very start of this video. Its why I don't pay too much mind to the graphics in E3 reveals anymore. Seen too many games take a serious downgrade in the visuals department because they got too ambitious. Dark Souls 2 being another example when they had to rip out the new lighting engine entirely because it brought the last gen consoles to their knees. Oddly it never made a reappearance in the PC version.

 

Looks great but honestly not much better than AC3 did on PC in the highest settings, which is not surprising as the engines are very related. This is not a criticism, I think we should stop treating Watch Dogs as a graphics poster child and focus on the gameplay. We only made the next gen association because it was supposedly the first look we got of what was the future two years ago...and also because that Ubi presentation was de facto the first confirmation that new consoles were coming. This isn't fair to Watch Dogs, it's being held to higher requirements than other games, when actually we have no reason to expect it to look any better than Black Flag or Blacklist or any other contemporary Ubi PC release.

 

 

the engine for  watch-Dogs is  all new engine they built just for WD  it has no relation to AC3 at all or even AC4  

There are comparison videos where they visited the exact same area, and things like the lighting engine just look so much worse.

 

Things like the lighting on the bridge at the very start of this video. Its why I don't pay too much mind to the graphics in E3 reveals anymore. Seen too many games take a serious downgrade in the visuals department because they got too ambitious. Dark Souls 2 being another example when they had to rip out the new lighting engine entirely because it brought the last gen consoles to their knees. Oddly it never made a reappearance in the PC version.

 

 

Still don't think so man, they were not showing CG, it's not like KZ2 from 2005. As in the clips Audio posted, the PC ultra settings look exactly like the 2012 demo, maybe less dynamic lighting. It looks good, looks very good, but not groundbreaking. It's not Crysis in 2007, we should not judge this game for graphics, hence i'm getting it on X1, which is the least impressive of the PC/PS4/X1 trio.

 

 

the engine for  watch-Dogs is  all new engine they built just for WD  it has no relation to AC3 at all or even AC4  

 

Not a software engineer and this is all my conjecture, but whatever the name may be, i'm pretty sure it's a very related and nearly identical engine. All Ubi games have been using the same core engine since Far Cry 2/Avatar, the Dunia engine. It's still one of the prettiest around, I think. The Avatar game is from 2009 and still gives current games a run for their money, and AC3 on PC looked very nice in ultra.

I like McKays vid

 

If they were even showing scenes from the same time of day half the time I would've considered them directly comparable.

 

I could show you a picture of a beach and the same beach at night from different cameras and ask you which camera you prefer, but that'd be pointless eh?

  • Like 1
This topic is now closed to further replies.
  • Posts

    • BrowserOS 0.46.0 by Razvan Serea BrowserOS is a free, open-source Chromium-based browser that runs AI agents natively, offering a smarter, more productive browsing experience. It supports Chrome extensions and integrates AI agents to automate tasks, fill forms, and streamline workflows. Your data stays on your computer: you can use your own API keys or run local models via Ollama, making it a privacy-first alternative to tools like Perplexity, Comet, or Dia. With built-in productivity tools and app integrations, BrowserOS boosts efficiency while keeping control firmly in your hands. Being Chromium-based, BrowserOS lets you effortlessly import your bookmarks, passwords, and Chrome extensions in just a few clicks. BrowserOS works with OpenAI GPT models, Anthropic Claude, Google Gemini, and local AI models via Ollama or LMStudio. You can use your own API keys and effortlessly switch between providers. BrowserOS Agent Your AI productivity assistant that organizes and manages your browsing effortlessly Quickly list, group, or close tabs Save and resume browsing sessions Search your history and organize bookmarks Switch instantly to the tab you need BrowserOS Navigator – Automate web tasks with ease Navigate websites and search automatically Interact with pages without manual effort Handle repetitive tasks in seconds What makes BrowserOS special Feels like home - same familiar interface as Google Chrome, works with all your extensions AI agents that run on YOUR browser, not in the cloud Privacy first - bring your own keys or use local models with Ollama. Your browsing history stays on your computer Open source and community driven - see exactly what's happening under the hood MCP store to one-click install popular MCPs and use them directly in the browser bar (coming soon) Built-in AI ad blocker that works across more scenarios! BrowserOS 0.46.0 changelog: Run Claude Code & Codex right in your browser — We've extended the agent harness to bring full coding agents into BrowserOS. Claude Code and Codex now come bundled and plug straight into the assistant, so you can drive your browser with the agent — and the subscription — you already use. A brand new experience — A redesigned new tab, a calmer composer, and a rebuilt command center for switching between agents. The whole assistant is cleaner, faster to reach, and easier to live in. New MCP tools — We rebuilt the browser tool surface from the ground up — a tighter, more reliable set of tools for agents to drive the browser. Plus one-click install of BrowserOS as an MCP server into the agents you already run, with automatic URL sync. Chromium 148 — Updated to the latest Chromium base with all recent upstream fixes and security patches. Streamlined — We've pulled back a few features that weren't getting much use — Skills, Soul, and Memory — so we can focus and ship better versions of them soon. Download: BrowserOS 0.46.0 | 181.0 MB (Open Source) Download: BrowserOS for macOS | 485.0 MB Links: BrowserOS Homepage | Github | Screenshot Get alerted to all of our Software updates on Twitter at @NeowinSoftware
    • Microsoft finally admits its default Windows 11 25H2, 24H2 action broke key legacy component by Sayan Sen Microsoft last week released Windows 11 KB5094126 and KB5093998 as the latest Patch Tuesday updates. Following that the company also published the accompanying dynamic updates under KB5094149, KB5095971, and KB5094156. So far the company has acknowledged two known issues that have popped up after the release which include bugged-out Office apps as well as the Recycle Bin; though there could be more at play too. Speaking of bugs and issues, Microsoft seems to have finally acknowledged a problem that probably has been around for close to a year. That's because back in July of 2025 the company made a default change to the latest Windows 11 versions, wherein it switched to JScript9Legacy on Windows 11 24H2 and later releases. Hence following the release of version 25H2 in October 2025, JScript9Legacy also remained default-enabled. As a result there has been a compatibility issue ever since then. For those wondering, by switching to JScript9Legacy Microsoft intended to improve the security of modern Windows PCs by reducing vulnerabilities tied to legacy scripting like cross-site scripting (XSS), among others. XSS exploits can allow cyber-attackers to attach malicious code onto legitimate websites and use them to execute the code when a potential victim loads such a website. Hence the new JScript9Legacy engine enforced stricter execution policies and improved object handling, which should help mitigate such attacks. Microsoft today has published a new support article detailing the problem. Neowin spotted it while browsing. The company says that JScript global definitions and execution context may fail to persist across scripts, potentially breaking older dependent apps and web-based components that relied on this legacy behavior. In the article Microsoft has confirmed that the issue stems from its move away from the older jscript9.dll engine in favor of jscript9legacy.dll. As mentioned above, while the newer engine was designed to address vulnerabilities and strengthen security it also changes how JScript handles execution context. As a result functions and definitions loaded by one script could no longer remain available to subsequent scripts once execution ended. The company notes that some applications worked correctly on earlier Windows versions because the older JScript engine automatically retained global definitions and execution state between scripts. Under the newer model though that behavior is disabled by default causing certain legacy workloads and polyfill-dependent scripts to fail. Microsoft says it addressed the problem via the KB5077241 update though the fix had not been enabled automatically in the following updates. As such admins must explicitly turn on persistent JScript execution context using a Registry setting that the tech giant shared today. The configuration can be applied to individual processes or system-wide through the FEATURE_ENABLE_PERSISTENCE registry key. The steps have been outlined below: Run the following command to create the feature control registry key: reg add "HKLM\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main\FeatureControl\FEATURE_ENABLE_PERSISTENCE" Under this key, create a new DWORD (32-bit) value. Configure the value as follows: To enable persistence for specific processes only: Set the value to 1 for each target process name. To enable persistence for all processes: Add * as the key name and set its value to 1. You can find the official support article here on Microsoft's website.
    • The possibility that milk gathers back into a glass implies that gravity can be 'reversed'.
  • Recent Achievements

    • Week One Done
      Jordan Smith earned a badge
      Week One Done
    • Reacting Well
      BizSAR earned a badge
      Reacting Well
    • First Post
      AndreaB earned a badge
      First Post
    • Week One Done
      Huge Trailer earned a badge
      Week One Done
    • Week One Done
      Classifyskilleducation earned a badge
      Week One Done
  • Popular Contributors

    1. 1
      +primortal
      590
    2. 2
      +Edouard
      186
    3. 3
      PsYcHoKiLLa
      76
    4. 4
      Michael Scrip
      73
    5. 5
      Steven P.
      66
  • Tell a friend

    Love Neowin? Tell a friend!