Filed under: Nintendo Wii, Microsoft Xbox 360, Business

shaun white
Breathe a sigh of relief. It's not nearly as bad as it first sounded. In fact, the "Target edition" of Shaun White Snowboarding might actually warrant a trip to Target for game shopping. And, didn't you hear? Target expects plenty of Wiis in stock this season. Why not do all your holiday spending there?The marketing ploy is quite clear, and a good one. Building off its apparel partnership with Shaun White, Target has positioned itself to offer, exclusively through its retail and online outlets (oh, hai Wal-Mart!), a premium edition of Ubisoft's snowboarding game, and in turn, a hook to lure consumers into crossing off all the game requests on the holiday gift lists they're responsible for. (A recent survey found that 90% of tweens and teens are expected to ask for a video game this year.)That's right, we said premium edition. While the Target-branded version will cost an additional $5, it'll include roughly 20 percent more game content (which, we were told, will never be offered as DLC). More specifically, the standard edition, available through all other retailers, will feature four mountains (each divided into peak, park and backcountry sections); the Target edition will include a fifth mountain, the "Target Mountain," which isn't as large as the original mountains, but does boast some interesting extras, like a full loop to attempt in the Xbox 360 version (identical to the PlayStation 3 and PC versions) and a trip inside the Target Chalet, based on the elitist party pad in Aspen. We know what you're thinking: But, what about the ads?

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