First Impressions: Another snowboarder. I just love this stuff!
As you may or may not be aware, the Xbox launched in Japan a little over a week ago. One of the games released with the system was a little title called ESPN Winter X-games Snowboarding, from Konami. Well, now that title is coming stateside in a manner of days, adding yet another Xbox snowboarding title to the plethora of games already available in the genre.
Konami’s offering, though, presents a few differences. Aside from just boarding down the hills, the package comes complete with the full ESPN license. That means, you can expect pre and post run coverage, highlights, commentary, the whole 9 yards.
Modeled after the ESPN Winter X-Games competitions, the game will be just that. You pick your pro rider (1 of 12) and hit the slopes in competition, X-Games style in an attempt to medal. This isn’t as over the top as say EA Sports’ BIG games, like SSX for instance. However, instead you will be doing real tricks down real slopes. Similar to Amped: Freestyle Snowboarding, with the exception that you are a pro already in a competition, and not just an average Joe out to gain a little press.
Because this is a game made to simulate a competition event, you get points for tricks that you attempt, and then bail on. Unlike SSX, or just about any snowboarding title that took away all your points you got if you landed funny, ESPN Winter X-Games Snowboarding judges you on your trick, your landing, and your overall execution just like in the real thing. This is nice, because now you’ll want to try and push yourself harder to do more complicated tricks, and not worry about getting a 9X combo only to lose it all on one mistake on the landing. Though, landing correctly is always a good thing, no?
