GC 2011: SSX multiplayer detailed

By Tom Pakinkis for computerandvideogames.com

EA's just detailed multiplayer features for SSX, which will give you multiple ways to compete with friends in real-time or not.

In Explore Mode, you can drop onto one of the world's iconic mountain ranges. Each time you have a personal best the game uploads a ghost of your run that all your friends can see, regardless of whether or not you're at your console.

As you take down your friends' ghosts and move up the leaderboard you get money and messages informing you when your friends beat or attempt to beat your times. EA showed a push notification on iPhone to demo the feature.

Meanwhile, Global Events will support up to 100,000 players live at once. The fully customisable events can be set up just for you and your friends. This one's for competing head-to-head in real-time.

EA also announced Ridernet, the equivalent of the Autolog engine in NFS: Hot Pursuit last year. It'll allow you to "Like" your favourite drops and will recommend new drops for you to try as in Hot Pursuit. It will also keep you connected with your friends and their performances.