1. A Chance To Upgrade Hardware
The transition from the Xbox 360 and PS3 to the Xbox One and the PS4 is shaping up to be pretty awkward. On one hand, the technical improvements over the last generation are not immediately obvious, and on the other, there's not a lot of games that are compelling enough to convince consumers to buy the new consoles. Then there's the ever-present option of PC gaming and the Steambox waiting in the wings for hard core gamers who don't want to commit to a console. This is the most uncertain console transition to date and the environment Ubisoft was going to drop Watch Dog's into. To be fair, Watch Dogs almost certainly would've gotten some people to buy the new consolesthe people who preordered PS4 Watch Dogs bundles can attest to that. But it's fairly hard to convince people to buy expensive hardware for just one game at launch and maybe a game or two in the immediate post-launch window. The delay might help them avoid getting caught up in some of the early growing pains of the new console fan bases, services, and hardware (who can forget the Red Ring of Death?). But it can also give gamers more time to upgrade to the new consoles if any problems are just minor issues that can be dealt with instead of incentives to stay away. For PC gamers, the biggest benefit of the delay is that it pushes Watch Dogs into next year, giving time for AMD to roll out their new graphics cards and for Nvidia to introduce a new line of hardware to counter AMD. Prices on existing cards will also go down as both companies vie for people's money, making it cheaper for people to upgrade. But the lack of actual PC specs means that people can use the delay to save money for more upgrades in case the game's specs are higher than their current system's. Overall, the delay looks like a mixed bag, but if you're one to wait and see, Watch Dogs getting pushed back might not be the worst thing in the world.
What do you think about the Watch Dogs delay? Is it a big disappointment or just a resounding "meh?" Leave your comments below.