game, edit music playlists, buy attributes to improve their snowboarder, purchase new übers, and buy or equip gear and boards to change the aesthetics of the snowboarder. Money can also be used to buy extras, such as videos, cheat characters, and game art. Money can be earned in game by performing tricks, completing big challenges and events, or collecting crystals. Earning enough money on a peak will unlock the next peak. In station areas, game narrator DJ Atomika talks to the player via EA Radio Big, a fictional radio station. He gives the player information about events and weather, as well as other miscellaneous information. While the player is on a course, the soundtrack of the game is played through EA Radio Big. Depending on how well the player is performing, the music becomes quieter and louder. The player can change what music is allowed to play at lodges. The PlayStation 2 version of SSX 3 had an online multiplayer mode that allowed two players to race against each other over the internet. The service required an EA account to use. Players could join lobbies, where they could challenge players to races, view player statistics such as the global rank of a player, and chat with players using supported USB headsets and keyboards. Players could send messages and add up to forty friends, called buddies, using EA Messenger, an in-game instant messaging service. The online service has since been discontinued. Development SSX 3 was developed by EA Vancouver and published by Electronic Arts under the EA Sports Big label. Its development began after the release of SSX Tricky, the previous title in the series, in 2001. During the development of SSX and SSX Tricky, there were plans for both games to allow the player to explore a mountain, but this was never implemented, and was instead made the focus for SSX 3. EA Canada stated that SSX 3 was designed so "just about anyone can pick up and play". Larry LaPierre, the producer of the game, stated that the developers wanted "to give people the first ever full mountain experience" and allow players to choose what they wanted to do on the mountain. The game was initially confirmed through a trailer in the 2003 game NBA Street Vol. 2 with the working title SSX 3, which later became the official title. The game was available to play by journalists before