Here's A Review Of The Latest Skiing Games On Various Platforms

The We Ski & Snowboard Game may be a bit more anonymous than other games, but it offers a much better feel and understanding of ski sport, and it's more fun for the whole family.

Everyone who has actually been on a skiing holiday knows what skiing is all about. Freedom! Freedom to choose the next piste you're going to go down. Freedom to choose whether you go on ski or snowboard. The We Ski & Snowboard game has grasped this concept to perfection.

You can take one trip after the other down the hill on the equipment of your choice, be taken straight to the piste you want, take part in competitions in downhill, slalom and half pipe, without having to unlock events and so on.

Best of all, this game is perfect for the family, since it offers up to four players at the same time, although it has to be said that the graphics are making small jumps at times, but this doesn't take away from the fun.

You don't need to go and splash out on a Wii Balance Board for this game, but it will make your gaming experience a much better one.

In recent years there has been a virtual outrage against developers of olympic themed sports games. Have the developers lend an ear to the criticism this time round - or do they fall back into the snares of the past?

On the face of things Vancouver 2010 - The Official Video Game Of The Olympic Winter Games looks good. Available for the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3, the focus is on speed and adrenalin, among other things with the introduction of a new camera angle, where you see everything through the eyes of the athlete rather than the usual third person perspective.

But why - oh why - do the developers insist on sticking with the same old element that we don't like from the same Olympic games going 12 years back? Things like having to press the same button like mad, or press a certain combination of buttons inside a short spell of time.

And even worse - what happened to sports such as curling, ice hockey and ski shooting? How about choosing the disciplines you'd like to compete in? What about the opening and closing ceremonies? Some of these elements were included in the Olympic games 20 years ago!

Yes - this game has improved graphics - and the option to play online or on a network. But the drawbacks mentioned above - and lack of a career mode like in the great games from EA Sports takes too much away. The official Olympics games are stuck in times past - left in the dust by sports games of this day and age.

Luckily SEGA managed to get more out of buying the computer games rights for the Vancouver Winter Olympics. Mario And Sonic At The Olympic Winter Games takes a different, and much better approach, to the Olympic games.

Again - the social aspect is playing an important part - since 1-4 players can take part in training and competition, and with the "Festival" mode. With 4 players active this will take between two-three hours, which is neither too long nor too short.

In fact, in "Festival" mode Mario and Sonic at the Olympic winter games is the only one of the two Olympic games to catch the spirit of the Olympic games.

The only downside is that the controls, if you're only using the standard wii remote is a bit too monotonous, usually shaking it at the right time, and tip it from one side to the other to keep balance.

It's fine at first, but it becomes boring in the long run. Perhaps this is meant to include a younger audience - which is a great move - but I believe that they'll catch up quite fast anyway.

Curling and Ice Hockey stands out as games with separate controls, they're great additions to this game, sadly missing from the official game.

All-in-all Mario And Sonic At The Olympic Winter Games is a great game - but a bit more originality wouldn't have gone a miss.