Ubisoft Sees White
Snowboarding games with pro names are back.
Published: February 13, 2006
How much of a freak-out must it be to be only 19 years old, have captured the gold in the Olympics, have done the same thing six times at the X Games and then have a video game named after you?
You should probably ask Shaun White, since the halfpipe wunderkind just landed himself a deal with Ubisoft of all publishers for his very own snowboarding game. It's obviously a good deal for both parties, since those who snowboard already know who the kid is, so Ubisoft can at least use the name recognition for bonus sales.
“I’m stoked to be working with Ubisoft to develop a video game that captures the thrill of snowboarding like no game has done before,” White squealed. “I’m a huge fan of Ubisoft games like Prince of Persia, so I’m excited to be able to combine what I love about snowboarding and gaming into an experience for everyone to enjoy.”
“Ubisoft is thrilled to be working on a video game inspired by and created with one of the top athletes in action sports today,” returned an equally stoked Christian Salomon, Ubisoft's director of worldwide licensing. “As the sport continues to grow in popularity, Ubisoft is looking forward to bringing the groundbreaking innovation and high-quality game play we are famous for in other genres to snowboarding.”
With the exception of EA's phenomenal first three SSX games, snowboarding titles have been hit or miss. Some will swear by Amped on the Xbox or 1080 on the GameCube and N64, but by and large there hasn't been much competition for the SSX throne. Evolution Snowboarding? X Games Snowboarding[i]? [i]TransWorld Snowboarding? Shaun Palmer's Pro Snowboarder? Yes, we believe there's a pattern here.
The fact that Ubisoft hasn't ever dipped into making a snowboarding (or, uh, any extreme sports) game in the past will mean it'll be doubly interesting to see what they can pull off, but if the French publisher can be counted on for one thing, it's developing successful original IP. Shaun White Snowboarding (that's not the official name, just what we're guessing they'll call it), will hit sometime in 2007 on both next-gen and current systems.
You should probably ask Shaun White, since the halfpipe wunderkind just landed himself a deal with Ubisoft of all publishers for his very own snowboarding game. It's obviously a good deal for both parties, since those who snowboard already know who the kid is, so Ubisoft can at least use the name recognition for bonus sales.
“I’m stoked to be working with Ubisoft to develop a video game that captures the thrill of snowboarding like no game has done before,” White squealed. “I’m a huge fan of Ubisoft games like Prince of Persia, so I’m excited to be able to combine what I love about snowboarding and gaming into an experience for everyone to enjoy.”
“Ubisoft is thrilled to be working on a video game inspired by and created with one of the top athletes in action sports today,” returned an equally stoked Christian Salomon, Ubisoft's director of worldwide licensing. “As the sport continues to grow in popularity, Ubisoft is looking forward to bringing the groundbreaking innovation and high-quality game play we are famous for in other genres to snowboarding.”
With the exception of EA's phenomenal first three SSX games, snowboarding titles have been hit or miss. Some will swear by Amped on the Xbox or 1080 on the GameCube and N64, but by and large there hasn't been much competition for the SSX throne. Evolution Snowboarding? X Games Snowboarding[i]? [i]TransWorld Snowboarding? Shaun Palmer's Pro Snowboarder? Yes, we believe there's a pattern here.
The fact that Ubisoft hasn't ever dipped into making a snowboarding (or, uh, any extreme sports) game in the past will mean it'll be doubly interesting to see what they can pull off, but if the French publisher can be counted on for one thing, it's developing successful original IP. Shaun White Snowboarding (that's not the official name, just what we're guessing they'll call it), will hit sometime in 2007 on both next-gen and current systems.