Wow, Maybe A Bicycle Game CAN Be Exciting

[[link]] For a sport where things propelled by man move really fast, there aren’t many games about the humble bicycle. Um, why not? I don’t mean a game where you ride your bike to the shops for a pint of milk. Or about 8 year-olds getting to and from school. I mean something where bikes are exciting enough to base an exciting video game around them.(new Image()).src = 'https://capi.connatix.com/tr/si?token=995c4c7d-194f-4077-b0a0-7ad466eb737c&cid=872d12ce-453b-4870-845f-955919887e1b'; cnx.cmd.push(function() { cnx({ playerId: "995c4c7d-194f-4077-b0a0-7ad466eb737c" }).render("79703296e5134c75a2db6e1b64762017"); }); The possibility exists! Yet while previous games like the Dave Mirra series and, ahem, BMX XXX have at least seen fit to use a bike as a centrepiece, they were more Tony Hawk clones than games built specifically around the concept of the mechanics (and perils) of riding a bike. The Grand Theft Auto series has also given bikes a shot in recent years, with the inclusion of the BMX. They’re actually pretty great, and handle as precariously as a bike should, but they’re little more than a novel sideshow in a game [[link]] built around the car. Indeed, the only truly classic game that uses a bike primarily for transport is Paperboy. And that’s about as fast-paced as watching grass grow. What got me thinking about this is the clip above, showing a mountain bike race from a first-person perspective. What looks tough on TV looks insane from the rider’s point of view, and as with anything captured in the first-person, gives us a clear idea of what a game based on the sport (at least this version of it) could look like. It’s so fast! And bumpy! Like the “front of car” view in a racing game after 17 cups of coffee! But also exciting, because if you screw up, you’re not just rolling an imaginary car. You’re propelling a virtual human off a fragile little bicycle at [[link]] a million miles an hour, with all the cuts, grazes and broken bones that goes along with it. Fancy an “in car” view? Try this You could even get bonus points/achievements for hitting the dog, unlike this guy, who only just missed out. [clip via TDW]