At its GamesCom 2011 press conference this morning, EA revealed some of the details of SSX's multiplayer functionality. The snowboarding game's online system is called RiderNet, and online play will be split into two categories: Explore mode and Global Events.

SSX will allow you to compete against other players -- your friends and strangers -- in a number of ways. You'll be able to race against other players' ghosts, even if they are not online, as well as competing in traditional leaderboard battles. The Global Events mode makes snowboarding massive, allowing up to 100,000 players to be online at once, riding in different events that you can jump into at any time, as well as allowing you to create your own events.

RiderNet will allow you to "rate" snowboarding drops, and then recomend other runs you might enjoy, based on your preferences. You'll also be able to keep track of your snowboarding pals, as well as make new friends using Ridernet.

The footage shown during the press conference was pretty "gnarly," as the snowboarders say, and we'll have it up for you on our site pretty soon, so watch out for it!

SSX is scheduled for release in January for Xbox 360 and PS3.