News
March 7, 2003
Xbox Gets Amped at the Vans Triple Crown Snowboarding Championships
"Amped 2"
to Hit the Rails on Xbox this Holiday
This weekend, Xbox once again rides the rails at the Vans North American Championships, the third stop of the Vans Triple Crown of Snowboarding, to announce “Amped 2”, the ultimate experience in freestyle snowboarding for the Xbox™ video game system. Snowboarders from around the globe have been waiting in anticipation for the follow-up to the acclaimed first version, “Amped.” The game, which will be Xbox Live™ enabled, is currently in development and will be out Holiday 2003.
To highlight the game, new “Amped 2” radio spots, giveaways and on-mountain signage will debut this weekend as part of the Vans Triple Crown of Snowboarding sponsorship. Microsoft Game Studios will celebrate the announcement of “Amped 2” with a special, invitation-only launch party at Chad’s Place on Friday March 7th in Big Bear City at the base of Bear Mountain, the host city of the Vans Triple Crown of Snowboarding. The party will feature snowboarding fun, game demos, and live music from alternative rockers Eleventeen.
Gamers and snowboarding fans will not be disappointed with the new features in “Amped 2” proving that the “Amped” franchise will once again make major advancements in the extreme sports gaming genre. New features include:
• The Tricks: “Amped 2” unleashes new aerial tricks, a full set of styled-out rail slides, and introduces “butter”, the center of a new combo system. A tutorial will teach first timers the basics of freestyling riding.
• The Web: Xbox Live will help determine who the ultimate snowboarder is by allowing gamers to challenge riders around the globe. Gamers can track stats, trade replays with friends, and download new content including mountains, gear, challenges and music.
• The Graphics: Gorgeous, fully-rendered 3D environments bring the mountains alive. Clouds move over the hills. Snow-cats groom the runs. People ride the chairs. Riders see their breath in the cold air, and snow builds up on clothing after crashes.
• The Career: “Amped 2” features a deeper career mode with more opportunities to impress the locals and the press with 3 levels of media challenges: photos, photo sequences, and video demo reels. As fame builds, sponsors award new gear and boards.
• The Mountains: “Amped 2” features top mountains from around the globe, including Laax in Switzerland and Mt. Buller in Australia. World-renowned terrain park designer, Chris “Gunny” Gunnerson, lends his expertise exclusively to the game’s park design.
• The Pros: Gamers can create a snowboarder or play as any of the top 14 pros including: Jeremy Jones, Mikey LeBlanc, Travis Parker and Janna Meyen.
• The Music: “Amped 2” provides a library of over 300 original cuts from up-and-coming indie artists. Gamers can also create their own play list and “rip” it to the Xbox hard drive.
The first game in the series, “Amped,” is part of the Xbox Platinum Hits collection and is now available for only $19.99 to provide endless hours of freestyle snowboarding entertainment.
Microsoft Game Studios is a leading worldwide publisher and developer of games for the PC, Xbox video game system and online platforms. Comprising a network of top developers, Microsoft Game Studios is committed to creating innovative and diverse game portfolios for PC (http://www.microsoft.com/games/), including such franchises as "Age of Empires®," "Flight Simulator" and "Zoo Tycoon™"; Xbox (http://www.xbox.com/), including such franchises as "Halo™," "Project Gotham Racing™" and "NFL Fever"; and Zone.com (http://www.zone.com/), the official games channel for the MSN® network and home to such hits as "Bejeweled" and "OutSmart™."
Xbox (http://www.xbox.com/) is Microsoft's future-generation video game system that delivers the most powerful games experiences ever. Xbox empowers game artists by giving them the technology to fulfill their creative visions as never before, creating games that blur the lines between fantasy and reality. Xbox is now available in North America, Japan, Europe, Mexico and Australia.
Xbox Live, which launched in the United States Nov. 15, 2002, allows gamers to play multiplayer Xbox games with other gamers everywhere via a broadband connection. With a built-in hard drive and Ethernet port, the Xbox console is the only video game system built from the ground up for online gaming, negating the need to buy additional, costly peripherals or upgrades. Xbox Live enables gamers to easily find their friends; talk to other players during game play through the Xbox Communicator headset; download current statistics, new levels and characters to their Xbox hard drive; and play online—all exclusive features to Xbox Live.
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