SANTA CLARA, Calif., (October 8, 2008) – Fresh powder, pristine slopes and winter fun will again drift into homes in March 2009, as NAMCO BANDAI Games America Inc. today announced We Ski™ and Snowboard, a sequel to its much lauded snow sports game for Nintendo Wii™.

Topping the list of enhancements in this latest installment of Wii Balance Board standouts is the addition of high-performance snowboarding, as well as improved skiing functionality, two massive new mountains and 10,000 more vertical meters. Complete with fun boxes, rails and a half-pipe, both skiers and snowboarders alike can boost huge air and over-the-top aerial tricks in this epic wintry experience.

"We made major feature additions and control enhancements to an already impressive design set with We Ski and Snowboard," said Andrew Lelchuk, EVP of marketing and sales for NAMCO BANDAI Games America Inc. "Our goal was to provide gamers with the same great experience of being on the slopes that they enjoyed in We Ski and evolve it by adding snowboards, two world class hills, real-time trick capability and a fully-interactive environment. And We Ski and Snowboard has accomplished just that."

We Ski & Snowboard is a wintry thrill ride through many different environments on the awesome Mt. Angrio and cool Jamboree Snow Resort. Players enjoy the classic motion-based controls popularized by We Ski using the Wii Remote™ and Nunchuk controllers, or by adding the increased realism of the Wii Balance Board™ for even more ski and snowboard action. Custom characters and player Mii’s™ add even more dimension to snow-capped adventures across even more mountain terrain than ever with vast free-riding areas. Leisurely gondola rides to sloping peaks invite a breathtaking panoramic experience, while heli-drops from extreme dizzying heights offer-up opportunities to shred down vertical cliffs and severe precipices. Players should be sure to watch out for avalanches!

Hot Doggers can quench their thirst for excitement with half-pipe courses, and ski technique challenges, while loungers can look forward to other activities including ski school, board school, moguls and slaloms, as well as animal search and rescue. Players can enjoy the sprawling vistas with day, night and dusk skiing, offering countless nuances to an ever-expanding list of experiences. The whole family can still enjoy fast-paced racing action or free-skiing with four-player fun, while single players can enjoy the ride with up to three AI-controlled skiing buddies.

For more information on We Ski and Snowboard, please visit: www.namcobandaigames.com.

Those lucky devils at Gamespot have been fortunate enough to get a proper first look at We Ski & Snowboard (Family Ski 2 for UK/Europe) and I have to say, it's really sounding great. Let's face it, Wiiboard support in We Ski/Family Ski was pretty weak but I think that all will be forgiven when this sequel is released next year.

From the sounds of things, you will now be able to use your balance board for steering, tricks and even jumps. Another big improvement is that they will be opening up the environment so that you can go off-piste - no more bouncing off invisible walls.

For more screenshots and to read Gamespot's full preview check out We Ski & Snowboard First Look.

Namco was pretty quick off the mark with the release of Family Ski which made it one of the first third-party balance board compatible games available after the global release of Wii Fit. While it was a fun game and a welcome break from the games that came with Wii Fit, there was an obvious omission - no snowboarding support. The good news is that Namco is set release a sequel to this already popular title and this time snowboarding is included.

Details are a little sketchy at the moment and while the game is rumoured for release in Japan on November 13th, there's still no mention of a US/European release date. The good news however is that the game is on Namco's lineup for the Tokyo Game Show this month so hopefully we'll find out a bit more there. Until then, here are a few screenshots to wet your appetite.

One of my favourite courses in We Ski is Dolphin Park because of the ramps for air tricks. The instruction booklet doesn't list the available tricks, you have to go to the Ski School to discover those and then remember the various controls for each trick. Or, if you have a crappy memory like me, you can use this handy We Ski Air Tricks Cheatsheet.

We Ski users of a particularly superstitious nature may have noticed that there are 13 courses at the Happy Ski Resort. Well as it turns out, there are actually 14 courses. Skip the rest of this post if you don't want to spoil finding it for yourself.

So here's how to find the hidden run. First go to the top of Elephant Stage. Instead of going straight on down the run, turn to the left and ski towards the two green ski lift buildings 5 and 6. Opposite lift 6 is a wooden chalet with a strange yellow sign next to it. Now ski between the sign and the old tree towards the boundary fence and you've found it - Bigfoot Canyon.

Be warned though, this is not an easy run but there's any extra treat along the way that makes it worthwhile. I won't spoil it for you except to say that there is more than one way down BIGFOOT Canyon - getting the hint?

Hooray, my copy of Family Ski arrived in the post this morning. Kudos to Play.com who shipped my pre-order yesterday (Friday 13th!). They did make me panic a bit though. Yesterday I checked the status of my order which had previously been 'packing' and suddenly went backwards to 'processing'. Here we go I thought - they've obviously oversold the pre-orders and now I'm going to have to wait until who knows when. But I also noticed that the price had suddenly dropped from £32.99 to £27.99 (including delivery I might add) and then later in the day it was shown as 'despatched' so once again, well done guys (and no, I'm not getting paid to say this).

Incidentally, I did a bit of shopping around and it looks like £27.99 is currently the cheapest in the UK, cheaper than Amazon, Game and HMV so if you haven't already, order your copy of Family Ski at Play.com.

So Nintendo finally officially announced the UK/Europe release date of the next Wii balance board compatible game, Family Ski, for June 13th. Is anyone else confused by this whole We Ski, Family Ski naming thing?

The game was originally released in Japan as Family Ski and then renamed to We Ski for US release (May 13th), with it's own We Ski official site. It's the same game, so why the different titles - go figure.