In quite a few regions, the arrival of bitter cold, snow, and ice signals the end of the sporting season for many athletes. For others, it means things are just getting revved up. Don't feel bad if you count yourself among the throng of sports enthusiasts who prefer to enjoy the show from the sidelines or behind the grip of a controller. There's nothing wrong with digging into the thrilling competition of cold weather sports from the warmth and safety of your living room, and Winter Sports: The Ultimate Challenge offers a fun and varied excursion into the realm of winter armchair athletics.
GameTap writes: "Here is a statement that may or may not shock you: Skiing with the Wii Remote isn't very much fun. Neither is figure skating, bobsledding, or--and here's the real shocker--curling. At least, not the way Winter Sports: The Ultimate Challenge handles them. This well-meaning but ultimately annoying collection of winter sports events tries a few interesting concepts for control schemes for its chosen games, but fails almost universally to make them fun.
There are nine events total in Winter Sports. All of them are variations on the aforementioned sports, with some jumping and racing varieties between the skiing and skating events. Each sport has its own unique control scheme, though the majority of the skiing, skating, and sledding events use some variation of the "balance/swing the Wii Remote/Nunchuk to steer/accelerate" concept. Unfortunately, the sensitivity of the controls is all over the place. Some events, such as the speed skating event, are almost insultingly easy. Others, like downhill skiing, suffer from overly finicky controls that require a great deal more time to master than the event's relative level of engagement allows for. Cross-country skiing almost plays well, except that it's also incredibly boring. Sledding is at least a bit of fun, mostly for the solid sense of speed you get rushing down the track."
by Bozon
Don't confuse Winter Sports 2008 with the familiarly-named pack-in game that came with your console. Yes, the game is on Wii, and has the word "Sports" included, but this – like so many Conspiracy Entertainment games before it – is more about cashing in on Wii's success, rather than truly contributing to it. To be fair though, Winter Sports is a heck of a lot better than the majority of shovelware games on the console, as the game has some decent graphics at times, uses some solid Wii motion, and can actually be pretty fun in small doses. In the end though, you're still going to want to give this one a rent, or pass it up all together.
Winter Sports 2008 allows you to compete in many of the staple winter sports from the Olympic games. Of course, the word 'Olympic' is never mentioned in the game, but GamersInfo.net found in some of the modes of play you'll hear the commentators talking about Olympic records or famous competitors in that event - if they're not talking about the recipes of one of their grandmothers.
