Platform: GC, PS2, XB

Developer: AKA Acclaim

Publisher: Acclaim

Genre: Extreme Sports

ETA: November 2002 

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BMX XXX

I can see it all now.

"Oh, a BMX game," a mother says. "Little Johnny just loves BMX games, I'll get this one called BMX XXX."

Of course, little Johnny will get quickly get an eye-full, his mom will have a conniption, and dad will grab the game and hide it in his closet.  Why?  For starters, the women from Scores (a strip club in New York) are prominently featured.  Besides topless riders we also get video clips of the women at "work" -- at least according to some reports.

Make no mistake, this is an "M"-rated game.  "M" supposedly meaning Mature.  Look no further than the series of ads -- one featuring a guy vomiting -- and you'll see that BMX XXX could be the first retail game to be packaged in a black bag.

There is also much emphasis placed on the involvement "of Hollywood's top comedic writers."  However, Acclaim doesn't name names.  But considering some of dreck  masquerading as comedy that has come out of Hollywood lately, it's no wonder.  Sure, movies like American Pie have their moments, but how long will bare-breasted girls and lots of scatological references be deemed as funny?  BMX XXX is directly aimed at this market -- people that think fornicating dogs are a hoot.

All of this could be considered "shock value" material; simply something to grab headlines with no real gameplay to speak of.  All flash, no substance.  However, the feature list is quite impressive.  All the standard extreme sport standards are here: create a rider, park editor, "8 massive levels", more than 2,000 different tricks across the flatland, park, street, vert, and dirt disciplines, split-screen mulitplayer modes, scripted events, and "authentic competition levels." (One of the multiplayer modes is Strip BMX.)  In short, there could be a game under all this nudity and vulgarity. (Just like all the Leisure Suit Larry games -- legends, every single one.)

Graphically, Acclaim's onto their Third Generation BMX engine and things are looking pretty good.  Going on the video clips and screens we can expect a good-looking game, not on the order of Dead or Alive 3, but still good.

When BMX XXX ships in November it will be interesting to see how it is received both by gamers and the general media.  We all know what happens when ultra violet games are released (Postal, Doom, Grand Theft Auto III) but what happens when nudity is front and center?  For one, a long line of media trying to get into the launch party.

- Omni

(October 2, 2002)