Amped: Freestyle Snowboarding

This ain't your grandma's snowboarding game! Freestyle tricks are the central focus of Microsoft's Xbox shredder.

What started out as a fringe title when Sony shipped CoolBoarders, has become a sports genre unto itself. From the N64's 1080 to the PS2's SSX, snowboarding games have become a mainstay these days. So it's no surprise that the plan is to have a snowboarding game ready for Microsoft's Xbox launch this fall. Amped: Freestyle Snowboarding is being developed internally by Microsoft, and it promises to be different than other snowboarding games.

Amped focuses on freestyle tricks. There are no races to be found here, it's all about grabbing air. Nate Larson, Art Director and Co-Designer on Amped stated it plainly, "It's very different. It's all about freestyle. It's not a racing game, there is no competition based stuff. What you're doing is trying to build a career and become a snowboarding star."

In essence, gamers will start off as an unknown amateur. The object is to gain recognition by showing off your skills in front of photographers and sponsor reps that are hunting for new talent. An indicator on screen shows where the closest photog or sponsor is located, you head for them and try to pull off your best tricks as close to them as possible. Impress them enough and you could get a sponsorship, or your picture in a magazine. You'll gain access to more equipment through sponsors, and eventually, you can even land yourself on the cover of snowboarding magazines.

The game is more of a simulation than an arcade style game like SSX. You can get some big air, but you won't launch yourself hundreds of feet in the air. Larson says, "Tricks will be harder to pull off riding in a switch, because it's naturally a little harder."

The game will include real snowboarding venues as well. Larson stated that the game will include Brighton, Snow Summit, as well as some European and Japanese areas. Of course, equipment is key in snowboarding, and the game will also have official licensing deal with manufacturers like K2, Burton, Sims, and DC shoes. Real pro riders are in the game too. Some of the more famous pro riders are Travis Parker, Jason Murphy, Jeremy Jones, and Bobby Meeks.

According to Larson, the exact ship date hasn't been determined yet, but a debut on the Xbox when the system ships would be a good bet.

Comments [0]

post a comment

Post a Comment