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Nathan Larsen on the creation of the Xbox’s
premier snowboarding gem DARRAN JONES
PUBLISHER MICROSOFT GAME STUDIOS / DEVELOPER INDIE BUILT / FORMAT XBOXSome games are
made due to the
sheer passion
the team has for
a certain subject
matter. Other times
a game comes
about because it’s deemed impossible
or unworthy to make, or because
the developers want to create an
authentic experience, or they want to
harness the power of the latest games
console. For Nathan Larsen, creating
Amped: Freestyle Snowboarding was a
culmination of all of those things.
“The original concept for Amped
came from a bunch of jumbled up
ideas, events, experiences, timing,
beliefs and necessities,” he tells us.
“There was also one highly motivating
factor. They (the conservative studio
management) said we couldn’t do
it. They not only said we couldn’t
do it, they actually forbade us
from working on a proposal.
Telling us ‘no’ was all
the motivation that we
needed to get Amped off
the ground.”
Larsen has a passion
for extreme sports,
particularly snowboarding,
revealing, “I have always
liked the culture, style,
influence and music of these sports.”
The team at Indie Built (which was
originally started in the ‘80s as Access
Software) was no stranger to realistic
sports games, having created the
excellent Links series. “The success
of Links was mainly attributed to
its authenticity,” continues Larsen.
“Real golfers built Links, and that
was evident to real golfers and golf
fanatics. We all wanted Amped to
be authentic. We were less than
30 minutes from some of the best
powder and best snowboarding terrain
in the world,” Larsen remembers. “To
me, a snowboarding game seemed
like a no-brainer. Our dev studio was
the perfect fit.”
Of course, it’s important to
remember that snowboarding
games weren’t new at this point.
They had existed on consoles as
far back as Heavy Shreddin’ on the
NES and continued to be popular
thanks to titles like Cool Boarders,
1080º Snowboarding, Snowboard
Kids and the PlayStation 2’s SSX.
Despite their popularity, Larsen was
confident that Indie Built could create
something truly special – namely by
focusing on authenticity. “I wanted
real-world mountain locations,
authentic snowboard brands and
equipment, realistic tricks, real
photographers, real sponsors and
real pro snowboarders,” he enthuses,
his passion for snowboarding
clearly shining through here. “That
is the kind of game that me and my
snowboarding friends dreamt about
playing. None of us ever thought
that snowboarding was about racing
down ridiculous slopes dressed
as outrageous cartoon characters
while doing ridiculously impossible
made-up tricks. We all
thought SSX was an insult
to the sport and culture
of snowboarding. SSX
looked to me like it
was made by a bunch
of out-of-touch,
overweight, middle-aged
executives that were
trying to relate to the ‘crazy
kids’. They didn’t understand
snowboarding or why people loved
it. They were imposters who did not
have authenticity. In my opinion, SSX
was so far off from real snowboarding
that we didn’t ever consider SSX as
competition. I know SSX was a very
successful game, but comparing
Amped to SSX (which many game
critics often did) is like comparing
Mario Kart to Forza. They are just
fundamentally very different games.”Taking a risk
Amped had no problem standing
out in the Xbox’s line-up. Although it
wasn’t the only extreme sports game
at the system’s launch – Transworld
Surf, Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 and
Dave Mirra Freestyle BMX 2 were
also available – it stood out thanks
to its impressive graphics, strong
mechanics and eclectic soundtrack.ABOVE Larsen’s
team was made up
of a bunch of
snowboarding
enthusiasts.MUSIC TO
SHRED TO
The soundtrack to
Amped was vast. It
included 226 tracks
from the likes of The Get
Up Kids, The Anniversary
and Yellowcard.More Xbox news at gamesradar.com/oxm THE OFFICIAL XBOX MAGAZINE 101