King of the Mountain
Olympic snowboarder Shaun White gives TFK the scoop on his new videogame
By Vickie An
With Shaun White Snowboarding: World Stage, you can learn to board like the Olympic gold medalist himself and be him, too. The new videogame, created exclusively for the Nintendo Way, takes players on a snowboarding road trip around the world. You'll be able to play as Shaun White or as one of his crew. Each level and competition leads up to the big World Stage event, where you'll compete for the championship title.
American Shaun White competes in the men's snowboard half pipe during day five of the Winter Games NZ on August 26, 2009, in Wanaka, New Zealand.
TFK chatted with White about the game, how he's preparing for the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics and his new clothing line.
TFK: How is the new game different from the first one?
SHAUN WHITE: This time, the game focuses mostly on tricks. We've added more obstacles in the course. So instead of just jumps, rails and halfpipes, we have actual runs. Also, the new game pulls you in more because you get to make up your own tricks.
TFK: This game is only for the Wii. Is there a reason for that?
WHITE: We wanted to take advantage of the Wii motion plus adapter. The Wii platform definitely brings you into the game because you're physically doing stuff. I really enjoyed that. When I played the game, the first thing I did was lean forward. That's what I naturally do to go faster. Then the character tucked and started speeding. I was really impressed by how it worked.
TFK: Is it weird seeing other people play you?
WHITE: Oh, it's super weird. What's weirder is hearing my voice. I'll go in to do sound stuff and it's just me in a booth shouting things like, "Okay, you just hit a tree!" And I'm like, "Ah! Oh!" I've got to make these awful noises. Then they put them in the game.
TFK: How do they go about putting you into the game? Take me through the process a bit.
WHITE: It's definitely difficult. You can't really do motion-capture for snowboarding. It's on too large of a scale. So we did motion-capture of me skateboarding. I had on this black spandex suit that was covered in shiny silver balls; I looked like an awkward Christmas tree.
TFK: If this game does well, would you do a third?
WHITE: Oh yeah, I'd love to do another game. It's definitely fun having the snowboard game out, especially since the Olympics are next year.
TFK: Have you started training for the Olympics yet?
WHITE: Most of my training is actually riding. I was up in Mount Hood doing some stuff; there's a glacier in Oregon. And then I [went to] New Zealand. They have opposite snowboard seasons, or winters, from us. So we go down there and practice.
TFK: Do you feel any pressure to win another gold medal?
WHITE: No, it's funny. There's no more pressure than I'd normally put on myself. I could win the event and then lose to my friends playing cards and I'll be just as mad.
TFK: You also do competitive skateboarding. Which is the more challenging sport for you?
WHITE: I'd say skateboarding. There's something about having your board not attached to your feet that just adds this ridiculous element of difficulty.
TFK: You're also a designer in between all of this other stuff you do. Can you talk about your line for Target?
WHITE: Designing is definitely something I didn't think I would be into, but I like it. My brother and I started making snowboard clothing years ago and it did really well. So when the Target line came about, it was really exciting. It's nice to design quality stuff that's affordable. I trash my clothes by skating in them all the time, and so do my friends. They don't have the luxury of buying $100 jeans and skating in them.
TFK: Where do you get inspiration for your designs?
WHITE: From all over the place. I went shopping in New York and found this plaid button-up shirt that I really liked. So we took that and designed something similar with a little twist. And my brother's really creative. We'll just sit and brainstorm. We had this photo of my dog wearing sunglasses, so that is on a shirt now. He's a French bulldog; he's awesome.
I know Shaun White can play his skateboard very well, and get a few medals in the Winter Olympics. But I really didn’t know he can also make video games for like XBOX 360, PSP, PS2, PS3, and Wii. This article tells about Shaun’s new video game, which you have to do some stunts with your skateboard in the snowy winter. Different from the first one, this time you need to have your own tricks to succeed. But only Wii plays this game, because they wanted to take advantage of the Wii motion plus adapter. Instead of his new video game, he also competes for the 2010 Olympic Games in Vancouver. He is definitely sure to have another medal in snowboarding.
