Shaun White and his ginger locks may be world famous millionaires, but life isn’t all smooth sailing for the snow/skateboarder. He was once in a video game. And it was the worst experience of his life. More »
Profits were up, income was down and the Imagine games sold tons in the last 12 months, according to year-end financial results released by Ubisoft today. More »
It’s actually kind of interesting to see the direction the developers are taking with Shaun White’s Snowboarding. In this video they talk about how they are breaking down the barrier between multiplayer and single player by having the entire mountain be your lobby. If you are in the single player mode anyone can seamlessly join you for a fun day of conquering double blacks and broken legs.
We can look forward to the game just in time for the ski season later this year for Xbox 360, PS3, Wii, and PC.
It looks like Shaun White may have a bit of competition. While Destineer’s upcoming snowboarder Stoked wasn’t built using the Assassin’s Creed engine (and it doesn’t sport a Wii version with Balance Board support), it does have some things going for it. First off, it was created with the help of snowboarding movie creator Absinthe Films.
“It’s all about defining your riding style and crafting the line that suits you,” said Peter Anthony Chiodo (“Tony”), Destineer’s Director of Product Development. “Stoked leaves well-worn resorts behind and gives players absolute freedom to ride wherever they want and trick off of anything they can find in some of the most famous backcountry locations the world has to offer. Gameplay is focused on style and finesse, not button mashing; Destineer and Bongfish have created a game that looks and plays like a snowboarding movie.”
Adds Patrick “Brusti” Armbruster, co-founder of Absinthe Films: “Developing a snowboard video game has always been a dream of mine. There are endless synergies between a snowboard film production and a game developer that were just waiting to be activated. Bongfish and Destineer have realised this potential, and have shown a real passion for snowboarding, and together we’ve worked to bring snowboarding luminaries from across the planet together for this project.”
Stoked includes five famous mountains featuring over 45 square miles of open terrain in each location, hidden drop points for helicopter starts, dynamic weather, multiplayer support and tons of real world pro riders. Among the list: Travis Rice, Nicolas Mueller, Wolle Nyvelt, Annie Boulanger, Romain de Marchi, Tadashi Fuse, Gigi Ruef, and Bjorn Leines.
Stoked is scheduled for release in November. More details on the jump.
Ubisoft is running a design contest over on their Shaun White Snowboarding site that give people a chance to design a real-life Burton snowboard and win a Wii.
Gamers get a chance to download a blank snowboard, fancy it up with their own designs and then enter it into the contest. Every other week until October, two of the designs will be selected to be included in the video game. Fans will than vote to decide which two boards they like best, both of which will be turned into real Burton snowboards.
According to the fine print, the winners selected on Aug. 15 will be added into the game “before it hits shelves” and receive a Wii and a Wii Fit balance board.
As I mentioned earlier, Ubisoft is getting into the Snowboarding game… game. Shaun White will, among other things, feature a Wii version that lets you use your Balance Board to board around open mountains.
The Wii version will also have its own story line which has you travelling the world with a crew to try and earn some fame as a snowboarder.
Hit the jump for the full release and some screens.
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