Namco Bandai has signed an agreement with developer Bongfish for the European and Australian distribution of Stoked: Big Air for the Xbox 360 and PC. The highest rated current generation snowboarding game on Metacritic, Stoked: Big Air is scheduled for release in Australia and New Zealand for 14th April.
Faster, bigger, more accessible, and even more gorgeous than the previous edition, Stoked: Big Air was released to critical and fan acclaim in the US in 2010, with new features including racing, marked trails, lots of park objects to trick off, two new mountains, better visuals, and a faster, smoother riding model. In addition, the European edition of Stoked: Big Air features two Flipside snowboarding video features from Absinthe Films as an exclusive bonus.
“It’s a rush to have the best Xbox 360 and PC snowboarding game around join our European distribution line up for winter 2011,” said Olivier Comte, VP Marketing, Sales & Publishing at NAMCO BANDAI Partners. “There have been many snowboarding games over the years, but none have offered the quality, gameplay depth and authenticity of Stoked: Big Air, and it’s very satisfying for us to be able to bring this superb European-developed game to European gamers.”
Stoked: Big Air gives players physical control of their rider through the analogue sticks, which eliminates the need for players to mash buttons or memorize combos and gives players the ability to craft their own riding and trick styles. As players complete challenges and win events with style, they gain sponsorships, gear, and clothing from over 30 real-world brands, including Burton, Libtech, Volcom, Dakine, Nikita, and Quicksilver, and they gain profiles of their exploits in leading snowboarding magazines, such as Snowboard Magazine.
Players have complete freedom to explore the authentically modelled slopes, and can take a helicopter ride anywhere to freeride down 7 real mountains. Stoked: Big Air also introduces racing for both single-player and multiplayer modes. Three types of races are included: Head to Head Through Gates, Pack Racing Through Gates, and Freestyle First to the Bottom (multiplayer only).
Players can ride with the big boys and girls in the Pro Challenges, where they are challenged to match the moves or race against any one of seven different pros, including Travis Rice, Nicolas Müller, Gigi Rüf and Annie Boulanger.
Stoked: Big Air features seamless drop-in, drop-out multiplayer. Anytime, anywhere, on any mountain, players can instantly choose to free-ride with a posse of up to seven friends, or challenge them in a variety of competitive riding activities.
In addition to racing, players can compete in a variety of Big Air and Grind-fest events, compete on behalf of their sponsor to take control of a mountain in the Battle of the Brands, ride for media exposure, build a scrapbook of pictorial exploits, free-ride the mountain for high scores, and complete a variety of technical trick challenges.
Stoked: Big Air is developed by the Austrian snowboarding enthusiasts at Bongfish GmbH.
