They didn't have many events, the events they did have did not have did not have the right format. Snowboard cross for example was just a timed run, not a tournament style like the real Olympics. You have no idea how you're doing, there is no suspense as you see if your time is good enough.

In short I had a version of this game for the 1994 games and this one isn't improved by any extent 16 years later. Sega should be ashamed.

I think Sega should take a few notes from EA Sports. The 2010 FIFA World Cup game is coming out on April 27th in North America and has already attracted the attention of thousands of potential buyers online, not to mention a few hundred thousand who don't usually lurk around the internet. So what's the point I'm trying to make? The point is... When you want to build an international sporting event video game, you must do your best to ensure it really does represent the 'world'. What this 2010 Vancouver game did was pretty much isolate itself from what Olympic events should be all about, i.e. international unity.

Let's be honest, shall we? Not many countries participate in the Winter Games. So is it really hard for Sega to include all participating nations, instead of the elite stereotypes such as USA, Canada and Britain? I mean, cant they go a little further than that and try to diversify their game? The furthest theyve been from their own sphere of influence was in Beijing 2008, when they added Jamaica as a country that supposedly defined the meaning of diversity. Sorry Sega but thats not good enough.

Where's Iran? Where's Lebanon? Where's Algeria? Where's Pakistan? Where are better known winter teams such as Turkey, Kazakhstan or even Greece? How could you call this an olympic game when it doesnt even include all participating nations? I doubt Sega wouldve had difficulties acquiring flags and colours for each nation that joined the real winter games. I mean, its not like they had to buy licenses or anything, seeing as most of their teams are simply generic and the only factors that make them look seperate of each other are the flags and colours attributed to them. So Im sure its no big deal trying to add more countries in the mix, is it? No, its not. Its simply a matter of pure and utter lazyness which made Sega producers think the Olympic games are Anglo-European games instead of a 'World' event.

So besides not having too many nations to choose from, this game also lacks a more serious aspect. It lacks proper events. For gods sakes, they even missed out on biathlon. They missed out on curling. And I find it funny your front cover has a Canadian female speedskater where in fact speedskating isnt in the game! You just short track inline skating as a replacement. Good on ya, Sega! Real clever stuff!

I understand that Olympic games usually dont incorporate well-known team sports. So missing out on ice hockey is pretty much the same as Beijing 2008 game missing out on soccer and basketball. Its no big deal cause these sports already have their own successful franchises by EA Sports, Konami and 2ksports. So NHL 10 probably owns the rights to the selection of international hockey sides, so Im not sadened about its exclusion from the official olympic game, since you can simply recreate the ice hockey olympic tournament on EA's NHL 10 instead. BUT, when other sports that are usually synonymous to olympic events get excluded, i.e. cross country skiing, then it really gets embarrassing. When you miss out on curling, biathlon, cross country and long-track speedskating, then you obviously dont deserve producing this game.

Furthermore, this is kinda stupid but I thought all sports were universal to both genders? Why is there no lady's skeleton? Why is there no men's short track skating? I dont understand this logic by Sega. They have really utterly produced this game wrong!

My future advice for Sega, look at what EA Sports are now doing to the world cup soccer franchise. Theyre including 199 national teams in the world cup game, with full qualifications, regional stadiums and the whole package. The whole experience of an event! Thats how games are done. It saddens me that ONE of the most important sporting event in human history (olympics) is recreated so badly on a game that it doesnt represent the true beauty of what sports should be all about, regardless of what sport you intend to follow or play.

In conclusion, dont even bother! This game is terrible, and I only gave it 2 stars because 1 would be a massive insult and Im just not the kinda guy who insults people in massive scale.

Surely with the current generation of video game consoles, game developers could include more of the Olympic events instead of just the ones revolved around downhill motion (skiing, snowboarding, bobsled, etc...) Where's the Curling, Hockey, Speed Skating, etc? I would have gladly traded off a bit of the extremely detailed graphics if it meant more events and ultimately a more complete game. If I remember correctly, even the 1998 Nagano Winter Olympics game for the Nintendo 64 had Curling and that was 12 years ago and two console generations ago.