Shaun White, who is already a prominent figure in the world of skateboarding and snowboarding, is about to make his name known to gamers in Ubisoft's Shaun White Snowboarding, a new game for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Wii, and PC.

The game looks ambitious enough to give the Tony Hawk franchise a run for its money. Shaun White Snowboarding features a snow-capped world of massive proportions, running on the same engine that powered Assassin's Creed.

Gameplay is physics-driven: your performance is dictated by everything from friction to inertia, the type of board you choose, and how heavily packed the snow is. The game also has online multiplayer, allowing 16-32 players at a time, depending on the platform.

The Wii is the exception on the multiplayer rule. This version only supports up to four players. That's ok though, since the Wii version will have support for the Wii Balance Board, something all the other platforms don't get to have.

Shaun White Snowboarding will be released sometime this year. Here's a first look at the game, with an interview with Louis Lamarche, the game's producer: