Clearly BMX XXX has drawn more media attention (both good and bad) than any other extreme sports game this year. But it is by no means a great game, and our reviews reflect that. We gave it a low 6.8 on both the GameCube and Xbox, and an even lower 6.0 on the PS2. Certainly if it was just another extreme sports game, we wouldn't be here doing a Head-to-Head. But it is more than that; it's also an interesting test case of sexual content in videogames.
So we're going to look at all three versions in terms of control, graphics, extras and options, and finally we'll look at how each of the companies censored (or didn't) the game's sexual content. That more than anything else is what you should carry away from this article, because it's interesting to see how the three big game companies decided to handle this novelty. Will this be a harbinger of things to come, or was Sony's heavy-handedness, Microsoft's caution, and Nintendo's openness a one-time thing?
We shall see.
Control
We're not going to sit here and say that one controller is better suited to this game than all the rest. It's an extreme sports game, which means it's much more free form and open-ended than a regular sports game, and different players will prefer different tricks over other ones. So in that respect, it's impossible to say which configuration is better, since different riders with different skill points and favorite tricks will use certain buttons more than others. So in that sense, it's a draw.
GCN | PS2 | Xbox |
The only significant difference that we could find between the different versions was that the PlayStation 2 had one additional option: it was the only one of the three versions to offer three different control schemes to the player via an in-game menu. The other two versions force the player to use just one scheme. We suspect this has to do with the fact that the PS2 controller has more buttons, so it was feasible to do a couple different schemes. It would have been better, perhaps, if all versions let you customize your controller set up, which is a fairly standard feature in a lot of games, but those are the breaks.
Still, it's easy to give the PS2 the edge here for that one simple fact. This is the only category the PS2 could possibly win, so enjoy it while it lasts, Sony fans. We're giving you this one point because we feel sorry for you -- in every other category, you're going to lose.
Winner: PlayStation 2
Graphics
As both our GameCube and Xbox reviews note, the graphics in this game are nothing spectacular. In fact, the game just doesn't look very good on the powerful consoles. The polygonal models are too rough and blocky to create much of a memorable impression, which is kind of a problem when a big part of the game is to feature sexy female characters.
GCN | PS2 | Xbox |
Nonetheless, the GameCube and Xbox versions do look better, if only marginally so. They have the better graphics hardware, outshining the PlayStation 2. Picking between those two though is a toss-up, depending perhaps more on your set up or personal tastes than anything else. So let's call it a tie -- because nobody reading this wants to sit through a boring discussion about draw distance and frame-rate when there're hot chicks to get to.
Winners: Xbox/GameCube
Extras
Right out of the box, something seems strangely amiss. Inside each case is a little leaflet featuring the game's logo and a picture of a stripper on a pole. But why is the GameCube's leaflet four times the size of the other two?
Turn it over and you'll see. GameCube owners get a free map of level one, printed right on the back of their stripper thing. PS2 and Xbox owners get nothing.
That's a pretty nice extra for Nintendo fans. And it matters a lot too, more than you might think. The biggest problem you'll encounter playing this game is trying to find the objectives and characters you're supposed to. Unlike Tony Hawk 4 and some of the others, there isn't any good visual guidance to your objectives. This is one of the most frustrating things in the game. Too bad you can't have all eight maps, but hey, at least one to get you started is pretty cool.
Apart from this one major addition, everything else between the various versions is pretty much the same. Multiplayer is the same in all three versions too -- split-screen only, there is no online component. It looks like the Xbox users get a few extra outfits, but to be honest I wasn't going to sit there and count the number of pants each version gets. As bonuses go, having a "different kind" of go-go boots is kind of lame.
GCN | PS2 | Xbox |
The Xbox version does have the ability to save on the hard drive (check the above shots to check out memory card requirements), but is that better than a poster? No way!
Winner: GameCube
Sex Appeal
Everyone knows by now that Sony censored the PS2 version, forbidding even the mild, R-rated topless nudity that appears in the other versions of the game, in both the FMV videos and the character models in the game. So if PS2 owners buy this game hoping to see a little skin (though why you wouldn't watch late night cable programming instead is beyond me), they are going to be soundly disappointed.
What you may not know is that Microsoft censored the game too. But just a little bit. The complete "Scores" stripper videos are still in there, just as they are in the GameCube. And in both versions, you have to work really hard to defeat the levels to be rewarded with the topless videos.
Both versions also let you play as a topless female biker. The difference is that on the Xbox version, you really have to go out and earn the "topless" option for your biker, by going through ten laborious steps deep into the game. In contrast, GameCube owners merely have to go to Create a Rider, change her shirt, select 'Almost Nude' then move the thumbstick left/right until the pixilated nipples appear. Pretty easy.
That's not the only difference, either. The three versions have different opening movies -- when the game first starts up on the GameCube, there's a girl bouncing around in a wet T-shirt. Not so on the Xbox or PS2, you merely get a splash screen with the developer's name and a quote from Oscar Wilde.
But perhaps the silliest difference of all is that in the Create-a-Rider mode, while altering your biker's Size, you can actually change the breast size of your female rider. But only on the GameCube. Who'd have thunk it, huh?
So the bottom line is if you need a videogame as an, umm, marital aid, the Cube is it.
Winner: GameCube
Final Verdict
In my opinion, this isn't a very good game. I think they rushed a sequel out and jammed a bunch of sexual content into it just to get attention and better sales. Didn't seem to have worked though.
I don't have a problem with the sexual content, even if it is a bunch of cheesy, demeaning T&A. Games are so overwhelmingly violent, it's good to have a something else be the focus for a change.
What I think is the only thing interesting here is how the three different console license-holders handled the R-rated content. Sony went with the prudent route and said "NO!" loud and clear. Perhaps as the market leader, they felt more sensitive to criticism and worried that if some politician stood up in Washington, waving a copy of BMX XXX around, they didn't want to see him playing it on a PS2. But is this a trend or a fluke? Time will tell.
Since they're chasing the market leader, it makes sense that Microsoft would be a little edgier. It also helps that they've targeted an older demographic of gamer, college students and so on, with their games. So they're not afraid of a little sex appeal, think of those old DOA 3 commercials. But still seemed to have had some reservations, like taking out the wet t-shirt girl in the front and making it harder to have a topless rider. They hedged their bets a little, played it a little safe. Can you imagine the PR nightmare that would ensue if Senator Lieberman held a press conference, shouting that Microsoft was selling porn games to kids?
Nintendo seems to have accepted this game from the publisher "as is" with no changes or censorship at all. This would seem to be totally at odds with their "kid-friendly" image of bright, candy-colored consoles that are home to Mario and Luigi, Pokemon and Disney. I have no idea why they did this. Maybe they want to shake their image up a little. After all despite its reputation, the GameCube has been home to games just as dark and violent as those on other systems (except for the PC which, with Soldier of Fortune and the like, is in a league of its own).
In any case, Nintendo should be congratulated for letting the developer's original "vision" -- and I say that with tongue firmly in cheek -- shine through, uncensored and unfettered. After all, there's a rating systems in place, it's up to the retailers to enforce it for a change. It shouldn't be Nintendo -- or Sony or Microsoft -- telling gamers, hey, you can't play a certain type of game.
So the end result is clear. GameCube owners get the best version -- they get the least censorship, and they get a few more cool extras (like the map) than anyone else here. Hooray for them.
Overall Winner: GameCube
--Tobor