1080°: Avalanche Rocks The Slopes

Hot Tunes, Cold Thrills - and You'll Feel the Earth Move

One of the first companies to put video game snowboarders in motion now plans to move mountains. Whether players are airdogs or poseurs, goofy foot or regular, 1080°: Avalanche for Nintendo GameCube lets fans shred the slopes and even experience an avalanche chasing them downhill.

1080°: Avalanche also offers players a variety of hot alternative tunes from bands like Finger Eleven and Cauterize to jam with as they race down the slopes. Players pick the music that suits them the best, just as real snowboarders do. And just like a real snow park, 1080°: Avalanche immerses players in incredibly realistic snow-covered environments.

"Natural elements like sunshine, rain, wind - or in this case, snow and a raging avalanche - are some of the toughest to re-create in a computer-generated environment," says George Harrison, Nintendo of America's senior vice president of marketing and corporate communications. "Not only does 1080°: Avalanche succeed, it takes the snowboarding genre to a whole new altitude while maintaining the appeal of the original hit game."

1080°: Avalanche offers a variety of realistic elements, as maneuvers must change depending on the type of surface being navigated. Players have to adjust their responses when cruising on icy, packed or powdery snow.

To add to the sense of danger and excitement, players have to learn to deal with surprises as they navigate slopes covered with skiers, other snowboarders, rock slides and even a herd of deer. Boarders might find themselves sliding across the rooftop of a cabin, over the edge of a cliff or through a billboard. You probably could do these things in real life, but you'd risk having your lift ticket revoked.

Nintendo designers spent months researching how best to make the game experience resemble the real thing. They made trips to the popular snowboarding sites of Mt. Baker in Bellingham, Wash., and Whistler in British Columbia to study snow types, talk with snowboarders and get tips from the pros. Out of that research emerged insights into movement, balance and environment that translated into awesome game details of rippling clothes, wind trails and snow powder that stays attached to clothes after a spill.

Players can choose from a variety of bands to accompany them down the slopes. Groups like Cauterize, Finger Eleven, Seether, and BOYSETSFIRE highlight the different modes of racing. Up to four players can compete as classic characters Ricky Winterborn, Akari Hayami or Rob Haywood. With a LAN connection, players can even compete while watching their own separate television screens. 1080°: Avalanche is Rated E for Everyone and is available at an MSRP of $49.99.