ESPN International Winter Sports 2002

by Manufacturer: Konami

Product Features

• ESPN International Winter Sports 2002 (View amazon detail page) ASIN: B00005UNW5 Manufacturer: Konami Hardware Platform: xbox ESRB Age Rating: Everyone

Product Details

• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B00005UNW5
• Item Weight: 8 ounces
• Media: Video Game
• Release Date: March 5, 2002
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #38,584 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes

Product Description

Platform: Xbox

Amazon.com Review

The 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City inspired a lot of tie-ins and licensed material, but oddly enough one of the best 2002 Olympic-style sports games is based on the ESPN license and completely lacks Olympic rings, torches, and fanfare. But even without official Olympic magic, ESPN International Winter Sports 2002 wins a gold thanks to smooth and simple play.

The game features just about every Winter Olympic sport worth watching: downhill alpine skiing, slalom skiing, bobsledding, half-pipe snowboarding, ski jumping, freestyle mogul skiing, speed skating, figure skating, and curling. Hockey is notably absent from this list; the game developer rightly assumed that hockey fans will be served by a dedicated hockey game such as NHL 2002.

The included events use clever but simple control schemes, and the basics of each event are explained with a tutorial designed to quickly teach you how to perform the necessary actions and go about the business of breaking records. For example, ski jumping involves quickly pressing two buttons and then a third to jump, the former two to extend your distance, and that third one again to land. Bobsledding mainly demands a smooth touch of the digital stick, and figure skating is a choreographed event wherein the player performs onscreen prompts. It's amusing that a game for the fancy Xbox system uses a control system based on the old-school Track & Field arcade machine, but in the past 20 years nobody has come up with a better way to simulate Olympic sport.

While the controls may be dated, the graphics are unmistakably on the cutting edge. The game looks brilliant, crisp and pure as the day after a light snow. The snow fans up when skiers turn, and the polygonal athletes have excellent facial graphics. The presentation is fantastic and so is multiplayer with a buddy.

So, when Olympic fever strikes, even if the Olympics are long gone, you'll want to have a copy of Konami's ESPN International Winter Sports 2002. --Bob Andrews

Pros:

• Excellent controls and a wide range of sports to play
• Looks fantastic

Cons:

• The controls aren't really simulations; they can even be physically tiring
• It's missing Olympic accouterments and athletes

Product Description

This is the game ESPN International Winter Sports 2002 for the Xbox. This game may not come with the original case and instructions. We stand by our products and offer a 60 day guarantee. If a game does not work within 60 days from the time you receive it we will gladly exchange it for you.

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars boring and disappointing, January 29, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: ESPN International Winter Sports 2002 (Video Game)

We played this game recently and found it to be a letdown with people screaming,... First of all, it's a very simple game and offers very little. You have about 8 events in which to compete and a practice mode. What disappointed me about many of the events is the limited control you have over your athlete. For half-pipe snowboarding, you could only select between a very limited number of moves and then needed to rapidly hit a key combination in order to execute it successfully (and you lost points if you did not select the designated move that was flashing on the screen). I would rather have full control of the moves like in Amp for instance. Figureskating was even worse; you had no control whatsoever of the movements, instead having to quickly hit key combos that determine the performance and score of your skater, not which moves are executed. The CPU opponents were very difficult to beat. Most of the time, I would get 8th place even after hours of practicing (I'm no novice by the way, I do this for a living). There is no difficulty level either! The controls are very confusing and too steep of a learning curve. Each event had differing controls and for most of the events, the control scheme seemed more complex than needed. I personally would find it much easier to have the controls streamlined for each event, though some players might like the control variety. Keep in mind that in order to succeed in a few of the events, you had to rapidly hit A & B. Fans of the ancient arcade game, track & field might love this, but for me (maybe i'm too old), this only leads to sore fingers & quickly worn out controls. I would have liked more character background and a career mode with attributes that you can improve. Instead, you select generic characters with no background. The in-game music is pretty limited and a letdown as well. One positive thing about the game is that the graphics are really impressive and smooth with quick loading times. Overall, you might like this game if you want a simple, no frills sports title. For me, I found it quickly boring, frustrating and had little replay value.

4.0 out of 5 stars But it has curling!, February 18, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: ESPN International Winter Sports 2002 (Video Game)

While the reviewer from Redmont is correct on every count (poor training levels, steep learning curve, inconsistent graphic quality between games and lack of total control), I feel the game should get two points just for its inclusion of sports not normally handled by console games -- and while this category would include figure skating (go see how many console and computer games you can find with this one -- far less than snowboarding!) most importantly it includes curling... an extremely addictive sport once you get into it either as a participant or spectator (sort of like golf,which is also from Scotland: people who aren't addicts think it is slow and boring but once you pick up the nuances you can't get enough of it).

3 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars But it has curling!, February 18, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: ESPN International Winter Sports 2002 (Video Game)

While the reviewer from Redmont is correct on every count (poor training levels, steep learning curve, inconsistent graphic quality between games and lack of total control), I feel the game should get two points just for its inclusion of sports not normally handled by console games -- and while this category would include figure skating (go see how many console and computer games you can find with this one -- far less than snowboarding!) most importantly it includes curling... an extremely addictive sport once you get into it either as a participant or spectator (sort of like golf,which is also from Scotland: people who aren't addicts think it is slow and boring but once you pick up the nuances you can't get enough of it).

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