Page 2 hits the motocross track
Laura Lane Masters Motocross
It's something so simple, it's easy to overlook: dirt deformation on a motocross racetrack. Similar to divots on a golf course or carvings on an ice rink, dirt deformation embodies itself as the tire grooves on a track formed during races. Essentially, the track changes each lap as the dirt is pushed around, sculpted and chiseled. When the creators of "MX vs. ATV Reflex" were looking for ways to make their new motocross and all-terrain vehicle racing game more "real," they focused on the basics: the dirt.
"Each lap you race around the track, you're moving the dirt away," said Ian Woods, the game's art director from Rainbow Studios. "You're actually moving it somewhere else. You're creating a rut, and it builds up on the sides, so the next time you come around, that's going to be a little speed bump to go over."
As new lines appear each lap, the game remembers them.
"You start using those deformations for your advantage so you start railing around them," Woods said. "But they can also be bad for you if you go across them and fall off the bike."
This is true in both the game and real life, which I quickly discovered during the recent preview of the game at the Meadowlands in New Jersey. There, I was able to compare the video game experience to the real thing after getting lessons from pro racer Jolene Van Vugt of MTV's "Nitro Circus." Let's just say the phrase "it's just like riding a bike" doesn't refer to motocross bikes. These machines are robust, heavy and challenging to maneuver. They take some getting used to, just like in the game. Fellow riders beware.
Few, if any, women know more about motocross than Van Vugt, who was the first female to backflip on a full-sized dirt bike. She's also featured as a challenger rider in the video game.
"I am the only girl in the game as a challenger, which is pretty cool," said Van Vugt, who's 29 years old. "As a motocross athlete, it's a pretty big compliment to be asked by a video game to be part of their game."
a makeshift dirt track at the Meadowlands.
Van Vugt, who is healing from surgery to repair a broken wrist suffered in July while landing a 65-foot supercross triple during preparation for the X Games, was one of the pros who helped test out the game and offer feedback.
"The way that the riders move on the bike is really real to form," Van Vugt said. "You have the jerseys blowing in the wind. Everything just looks so realistic and moves so realistic to an actual motocross rider, so I really have an appreciation for it."
The return of the best-selling, off-road racing franchise revamps just about everything: new tracks, vehicles and pro riders. It also adds a feature called rider reflex, which separates the bike and the rider into two controls, the left and right stick, simulating an actual bike that is steered just as much by the weight of a rider's body as by turning the bike's handles.
"It takes just a minute to get used to having separate controls, and then after that it's really intuitive and just comes natural," said Rainbow Studios game designer and amateur motocross rider Elliott Olson. "When you're playing, you forget about all the extra controls and just kind of drive the bike like you think it should be."
A powerful, 200-pound bike, that is.
"MX vs. ATV Reflex" is scheduled for release in December and will be available for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PSP and Nintendo DS.
Laura Lane is a contributor to Page 2 and ESPN The Magazine. She is also a host of the "ESPN Inside Deal" video magazine.
