BMX XXX

BMX XXX
Developer(s)	Z-Axis Full Fat (GBA)
Publisher(s)	Acclaim Entertainment
Director(s)	Glen Egan
Producer(s)	Shawn Rosen
Designer(s)	Tin Guerrero Ray Yeomans
Programmer(s)	David Grace
Artist(s)	Mark Girouard
Series	Dave Mirra Freestyle BMX
Platform(s)	Xbox, PlayStation 2, Game Boy Advance, GameCube
Release	Xbox, PlayStation 2 NA: November 15, 2002 EU: December 6, 2002 Game Boy Advance NA: November 25, 2002 EU: December 6, 2002 GameCube NA: November 29, 2002 EU: December 6, 2002
Genre(s)	Sports (freestyle BMX)
Mode(s)	Single-player, multiplayer

BMX XXX is a 2002 sports video game developed by Z-Axis and published by Acclaim Entertainment under their AKA Acclaim label for the Xbox, PlayStation 2 and GameCube. While primarily a BMX-based action sports title, it earned most of its notoriety for containing nudity, foul language and adult humor. The game allows the player to create female characters that are fully topless and view live-action video clips of real life strippers, also with bare breasts. Consequently, BMX XXX was initially denied classification in Australia. In North America, while the game is available uncensored on the GameCube and Xbox, all naked breasts are covered in the PlayStation 2 version. While the adult content garnered a great deal of publicity for the game, it was almost entirely negative, and it was eventually released to mediocre reviews and poor sales.

A Game Boy Advance version was also released under the name Dave Mirra Freestyle BMX 3, but without the nudity, language and adult humor.

Gameplay

An example of gameplay in BMX XXX; exemplifying the game's emphasis on humor, the player is engaged in a mission involving the delivery of diapered monkeys to a hippie protestor.

BMX XXX is a freestyle BMX sports game with an emphasis on off-color and sexual humor. The player character can be customized by name, sex, and physical attributes, or selected from a number of pre-made characters. The player's rider can perform a variety of tricks in midair with the combined input of a direction on the D-pad or left thumbstick and a button. The player can also grind on rails, ledges, or other likely surfaces, and can exit a grind by jumping into the air or falling out of balance. The player is awarded points by performing complete tricks and landing while the bike is properly oriented. The player character will be ejected from their bike if they are not oriented for a successful landing or if they crash into something with a part of the body or bike other than their feet, wheels, or grind pegs during a trick. The player character will also be ejected if they are riding off-balance and hit an obstacle too fast or at a harsh angle. In the event of a crash, the player's score is reset.

The single-player campaign is based on a series of challenges that the player must complete to advance through various levels. Challenges are often initiated by interacting with a character within the level, who will give the player an objective to fulfill. Completing ten challenges within a level will grant access to the next level. Scattered within each level are four collectible bike parts; accumulating complete sets of six parts within the campaign unlocks upgraded bikes that enhance the player's performance. Each level also features a series of 45 collectibles such as coins, as well as 20 gaps in the terrain to discover.

The game includes three multiplayer modes in which two human players compete against each other. In "Strip Challenge", players aim to achieve the highest-scoring trick combination. When a player breaks the record, the opponent's character loses a piece of clothing, and the game ends when one player renders their opponent naked. In "Skillz", players compete to achieve the highest score over a two-minute run, and in "Paintball", one player must collect all the boomboxes within a level while their opponent attempts to snipe them.

Development

In 2001, Dave Mirra Freestyle BMX developer Z-Axis began production on the third installment of the series, aiming to expand the technology and include such features as a story, voice-acting, and mission-based gameplay. Lead artist Mark Girouard described the game's original narrative as centering on a BMX team on tour throughout the United States. In January 2002, series publisher Acclaim Entertainment announced Dave Mirra Freestyle BMX 3, which would have showcased freestyle BMX rider Dave Mirra alongside sixteen other professionals.

Around this time, the action sports genre had become crowded, prompting executives of Z-Axis and Acclaim to ponder new angles for increasing publicity. During a meeting between the parties, someone suggested adding strippers to the game in jest. While this initially elicited laughter, the group began seriously considering the idea, with Acclaim hoping that appealing to an older audience would increase sales. Acclaim marketing coordinator Zach Smith noted that the company's decision to insert nudity in the game was influenced by their dire financial situation at the time, and Acclaim executive producer Shawn Rosen additionally cited the commercial success of the Grand Theft Auto series as the catalyst for backing an adult-oriented title. In March 2002, Mirra and Acclaim began discussions about attaching his name to the title, which Mirra felt would be a more tongue-in-cheek and mature game comparable to the parodic film Airplane!. Rosen claimed that while Mirra found the pitched concept humorous, sponsors warned Mirra that the game would be harmful to his image. Acclaim looked to sex comedies and Jackass as inspiration for the game's sexual humor and raunchy dialogue. Acclaim also formed a partnership with the New York-based stripclub Scores, with footage of its employees stripping being included in the game as unlockable content. Lead designer Tin Guerrero postulated that this decision was influenced by the popularity of Howard Stern at the time, with Scores apparently being his favorite stripclub.

The game's change in direction required Z-Axis's development team to redesign a significant amount of content they had completed thus far, retooling what would have been Dave Mirra Freestyle BMX 3 into Dave Mirra BMX XXX. The team members were unenthused if not angered by the decision, with Girouard recalling it as "the biggest creative shock I've ever experienced in games through all these years". Some members tried to distance themselves from the production by leaving their full names out of the credits, opting to either abbreviate their surnames or use the names of historical figures such as Fletcher Christian. The team was unable to object due to the company management's support of the direction and their multi-game contractual obligation to Acclaim concerning the Dave Mirra series. Despite being frustrated by their circumstance, the development team would not work perfunctorily, and remained driven to create a satisfying game. The game runs on the same engine previously used by Z-Axis's Aggressive Inline.

On August 19, 2002, Acclaim announced that Dave Mirra's name had been removed from the title, and that he and the other professional riders, as well as licensed equipment, would not be featured in the game. Jeff Gerstmann of GameSpot speculated that the move was made by Acclaim to preserve creative control over the game's content and prevent damage to the images of the previously involved riders and equipment manufacturers. Regardless, Acclaim's licensing deal with Mirra stood intact, with a Dave Mirra Freestyle BMX 3 title planned for release within the same year.

In September 2002, a rumor circulated that Sony Computer Entertainment would not approve the PlayStation 2 version of the game unless certain sexual content was removed. On November 4, Acclaim representatives Alan Lewis and Tara Blanco confirmed the rumor, stating that the PlayStation 2 version would be edited to eliminate the topless nudity. An anonymous Sony representative claimed that the topless female imagery posed a detrimental threat to Sony's console brand, and believed that it was not fundamentally crucial to the gameplay experience.

Marketing and release

Dave Mirra BMX XXX was showcased at E3 in May 2002. IGN PS2, in its "Best of E3 2002 Awards", named it runner-up in the "Biggest Surprise" category, describing it as "a surprise in every sense of the word" and proclaiming that "any title that's working hard to perfect "Boob-Jiggle Technology" deserves a questionable double take".

Acclaim launched an aggressive $3—4 million advertising campaign for the game, featuring irreverent jokes and the tagline "This is BMX?". On October 17, 2002, Acclaim unveiled the game's soundtrack, which consists of a mixture of classic and modern rock and hip hop. On November 7, Acclaim launched a "Ms. BMX XXX" competition, in which female contestants submitted a digital photo of themselves or a friend, which was subject to a public vote. The winner was flown to New York City and escorted to Scores by Gary Dell'Abate and K.C. Armstrong of The Howard Stern Show.

On October 14, 2002, Reuters reported that Walmart, Toys "R" Us, and KB Toys had refused to stock the title. BMX XXX was released in North America for the Xbox and PlayStation 2 on November 15, 2002, and for the GameCube on November 29. It would be Z-Axis's last game for Acclaim before their acquisition by Activision, which was announced at the same time as the game's unveiling at E3. Those who pre-ordered the game from EB Games or GameStop received a free t-shirt. In Europe, the game was released on December 6, 2002. The game was initially banned in Australia, but was released in the country in late November 2003 after the removal of its sexual content.

Reception

Reception

Aggregate score

Aggregator	Score
	GBA	GC	PS2	Xbox
Metacritic	78/100	60/100	54/100	58/100

Review scores

Publication	Score
	GBA	GC	PS2	Xbox
AllGame	N/A	N/A	N/A
Electronic Gaming Monthly	N/A	N/A	N/A	9/30
Eurogamer	N/A	N/A	N/A	4/10
Game Informer	8.25/10	7.75/10	7.75/10	7.75/10
GamePro	N/A	N/A	3/5	3/5
GamesMaster	81%	N/A	N/A	N/A
GameSpot	8.6/10	5.4/10	5.4/10	5.4/10
GameSpy			N/A	81/100
GameZone	8/10	N/A	6.2/10	N/A
IGN	8/10	6.8/10	6/10	6.8/10
Nintendo Power	3.8/5	17.5/25	N/A	N/A
Nintendo World Report	5.5/10	5/10	N/A	N/A
Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine	N/A	N/A		N/A
TeamXbox	N/A	N/A	N/A	3.3/5
X-Play		N/A	N/A	N/A
Entertainment Weekly	N/A	C−	C−	C−
Playboy	N/A	77%	77%	77%
TechTV	N/A	N/A	N/A

The game received "mixed or average" reviews on all platforms according to video game review aggregator Metacritic.

Dave Mirra's Freestyle BMX 3 was a runner-up for GameSpot's annual "Best Sound on Game Boy Advance" award, which went to Aggressive Inline, from the same developer.

The game is an entry on the list of games prohibited from being streamed on Twitch.

References

Bibliography

• Dickson, Bill (2002). BMX XXX (Xbox) instruction booklet. Acclaim Entertainment.

External links

• BMX XXX at MobyGames
• Dave Mirra Freestyle BMX 3 at MobyGames