Shaun White Snowboarding is in the final stages of production and Ubisoft is pushing hard to make the game the most interesting snowboard sim that's on offer on the market.

Ubisoft is well aware that Shaun White Snowboarding will face stiff opposition, from games like SSX, Amped and 1080, but the developers seem confident in the success of their title. The main advantage it has is its state of the art 3D engine, the same that powered Assassin's Creed, one of the most lauded games of last year. But the real hook for some might not be the look of the slopes and of the snowboard, but the way this simulation game plays up the social side of sports.

It seems that once you hook up an Internet connection and start playing, the game world will be populated with real life gamers, other people that are enjoying Shaun White Snowboarding, whether in single player or multiplayer. The persistent aspect of the world is underlined by the addition of skills and customization options that will make every player easily distinguishable from the others.

Mitchell, one of the developers, really talked up the importance of the social aspect of the game, saying that "We really wanted to get across the idea of the community as it's really important in snowboarding. Everybody snowboards with their crew; you'll have a group of friends that you always go out with. It's essentially a large lobby, being able to bring all of your friends where you are, participate in a competition, film one another going down the hill and upload the videos to the website. It's important to have it seamless".

Shaun White Snowboarding is scheduled for release sometime around the holiday season and you will be able to play it on the Xbox 360, the PlayStation 3, the Nintendo Wii or the good old PC.