Dead or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball

Dead or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball (also known as Dead or Alive Xtreme, DOA Xtreme, DOA Xtreme Beach Volleyball or DOAX) is the first beach volleyball spin-off of the Dead or Alive series, first published by Tecmo in January 2003 for the Xbox. It is the narrative sequel to Dead or Alive 3.

Unlike previous Dead or Alive games before it, Dead or Alive Xtreme is "a sports game" as opposed to a fighting game, featuring the female brawlers of the series playing volleyball, pool and gambling games as they spend a two-week vacation on a tropical island. The game also puts a big focus on collecting, socializing, and gift giving. It was the first Dead or Alive game to be given mature ratings in most regions for its depictions of busty women in skimpy swimsuits, both on and off the beach.

A direct sequel to Dead or Alive Xtreme, Dead or Alive Xtreme 2, was released three years later with enhanced graphics and more in-game activities.

Story[]

Spoiler warning! Major plot details and endings below. (Skip section)

Taking place after the events of Dead or Alive 3, Zack had gambled his winnings from the third tournament at a casino and hit the jackpot, earning a ridiculously large sum of money. With his girlfriend Niki, he used the money to purchase a private island, which he promptly names after himself: "Zack Island".

He then invited the women from the third tournament to his island, under the pretense that the next Dead or Alive Tournament will be held there. The women arrive and after discovering the truth, namely that it was merely a hoax, decide to make the best of the situation by spending two weeks vacationing on the island.

At the end of the holiday, the ladies depart, leaving only Zack and Niki on the island. Shortly thereafter, the island's volcano - previously thought to be inactive - spontaneously erupts, threatening to destroy Zack's island. In the chaos, Niki escapes using Zack's jetpack and leaves him behind. Zack survives the volcanic eruption, but the island itself is completely destroyed.

Characters[]

The playable characters consist of the seven female fighters from the previous Dead or Alive titles, plus a new character, Lisa, who made her first appearance in this game.

The volleyball players consist of:

Kasumi, a nukenin ("missing shinobi") who got out of her village to avenge her older brother, Hayate.

Hitomi, a young woman who has dedicated herself to mastering karate. Her manners are meticulous, and she presents herself as resolute and determined.

Helena Douglas, an up-and-coming prima donna and a gift to the world of opera. This young woman always gives off a high-class air.

Leifang, a young genius raised in a rich family. Though she's cheerful and spunky to everyone, she can be a proud little princess.

Christie, an incomparably cold-hearted woman with all the characteristics required of an assassin.

Lisa, the chief researcher at a research facility. She's a very helpful person, cheerful but never outright silly. Lisa also played volleyball when she was a student.

Tina Armstrong, the American Women's Wrestling Champion. She dreams of becoming a superstar and having all the world's eyes on her.

Ayane, a kunoichi and the master of the Hajinmon sect of the Mugen Tenshin clan. She is also the younger-half sister of Kasumi, who she despises.

The non-playable characters include:

Niki, the young woman whom Zack met at the casino, where he won his fortune. Now his girlfriend, Niki accompanies Zack to his new resort, Zack Island.

Zack, the man behind Zack Island. After winning a fortune at a casino in the third tournament, Zack bought an island resort and named it "Zack Island". He now invites all of the girls to Zack Island for a vacation, with Zack tricking them into thinking that the island is hosting the fourth tournament.

Spoilers end here.

Gameplay[]

Opening Screen of the game's primary location; Zack Island

In Story Mode, players select a character to play as for the duration of the two week period. Since the volleyball matches are always two-on-two, the player automatically begins with a partner. Each day, players can select one activity in the morning, one in the afternoon, and one in the evening.

Money (known as Zack Dollars) earned in the game carries over between vacations, so that unspent dollars can be used by that character on the next playthrough and subsequent playthroughs.

Similarly, all swimsuits, accessories, and other items acquired by the player character will remain with that character for all future play sessions. Any items given (and accepted) as gifts to other characters are also accessible to the player on future playthroughs where they play as that character. Since each character has access to a different set of swimsuits at the shop, the majority of suits for each character can only be acquired as gifts in this way.

Swimsuits attained for a given character can be used by them in Exhibition mode.

Volleyball[]

Playing volleyball is done primarily through the use of two buttons, one designated for spiking and blocking, and the other for receiving or setting. As many of the actions happen automatically (e.g., jumping up to spike the ball), the game forces the player to focus on timing; a poorly timed press of a button results in a weak hit or a smash into the net. While it is possible to manually direct one's partner towards or away from the net, she will generally move to cover whichever area the player has left empty. The game is one of the few to make use of the analog sensitivity of the face buttons on the Xbox controller, with a softer touch allowing one to barely hit the ball over the net. Winning a match provides money which can be used to buy swimsuits and accessories, either for oneself, or as gifts to bestow upon the other women. Alternately, players can also earn money through gambling at a casino located on the island.

Pool Hopping[]

The objective of Pool Hopping is relatively simply: while being timed, the player just needs to move their character from one side of the pool to other by jumping on the pink and yellow floating pads. To successfully hop to the next pad, players must conduct the correct jump to stop their girl from falling into the water; tapping a face button results in a short jump, holding it results in a long jump.

The faster they get to the other side of the pool, the higher the score will be, which in turn means the player earns more Zack dollars to spend. Bonus points can be gained for chaining jumps smoothly.

Partners and Friendships[]

In addition to the core volleyball mechanic, the game features a relationship system between the various women on the island. Through gifts and skillful play, players can induce other characters to increase their esteem and positive feelings toward the character being played. A positive relationship with one's partner can translate into better performance during a volleyball match, while strong relationships with the other women leads to opportunities for new partners. Conversely, negative feelings from a partner can lead to missteps on the court, or can lead to gifts being thrown away unopened.

For unexplained reasons, the Dead or Alive characters' previous rivalries were reduced to a general dislike in this title. As a result, even characters who would normally try to kill each other (such as Ayane and Kasumi, as well as Christie and Helena) can become fast friends through a brief exchange of gifts.

Each of the playable characters has her own likes and dislikes (documented in the game manual), which influence how likely she is to accept or be impressed by certain gifts. Favorable gifts include those based on her favorite food, favorite color, and hobbies.

Development and release[]

Dead or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball promo at E3 2003.

During Dead or Alive 2's development, the fan base requested Team Ninja to add a beach volleyball mini game as other fighting games such as Street Fighter and Tekken, had similar mini games. After Dead or Alive 3's release, the staff later decided to create the beach volleyball game as a standalone game.^[1] Tomonobu Itagaki cited that spending time on a beach resort was one of his main inspirations for the game and also cited Final Fantasy X-2 as another inspiration. He wanted to make a game that was special for the fans, and as a result, the game was designed exclusively for fans of the series, knowing that it wouldn't be understood by others who viewed making things for fans as negative. Itagaki rebuked that idea and fervently expressed that there wasn't anything wrong with that type of practice.^[2]

Making a traditional sports game was also a big point of contention since the fixed camera was how they made fighting games and the overall goal was to create a game that was easy to play and had cool movements. Only the female cast of the series are playable characters and development for the game was scheduled after Dead or Alive 3 due the amount of work required to develop it and the small amount of female characters in the series since having less than 8 playable characters was considered boring to have in a game. A new character named Lisa was added to bring the roster to a total of 8 playable characters.^[2]

Dead or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball was first showcased during E3 2002, and after its release during E3 2003 alongside Dead or Alive 3, Dead or Alive Online and Ninja Gaiden. During the game's E3 2003 promotion, its booth featured official beach models cosplaying as the characters of the series, playing beach volleyball, offering visitor photo ops with the beach models, along with holding Dead or Alive 3 competitive tag-team tournaments.^[1]

Dead or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball was later re-issued as part of the Xbox's Platinum Collection and Classics line of games in late 2003.

Production credits[]

See: /Production credits

Reception[]

Dead or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball review scores ranged from very high to quite mediocre, resulting in the averaged ratings of 73/100 at Metacritic. In Japan, Famitsu scored it 31 out of 40.

A certain amount of controversy erupted following the announcement and subsequent release of the game. It was criticized for laying a thin veneer of respectability over computer rendered depictions of scantily-clad women, pandering to the lowest common denominator. Nonetheless, many reviewers were impressed at the depth of the volleyball game, as well as with the quality of the animation. In its review, Edge magazine focused on the game's unusual social, rather than adversarial, focus.^[3] Maxim gave the game a score of eight out of ten and stated that "The sharp graphics and advanced jiggle physics will no doubt prick the interest of lonely gamers, but surprisingly, the game's volleyball action is pretty solid. And that's the most important thing... right?"^[4] Entertainment Weekly gave it a B and said, "It's kinda difficult not to get caught up in this goofy title, as you use your v-ball winnings to buy shoes and skimpy clothes for your fellow beach bunnies."^[5] Playboy gave it a score of 74% and said, "As long as you know what you're in for, DOA: Xtreme Beach Volleyball can be a mildly entertaining collection of digital diversions with, at the very least, the best-looking virtual women to grace a video game."^[6]

Dead or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball would sell around 600,000 copies worldwide.^[7] In Japan, it sold over 122,000 copies during its release week including 73,000 copies on its launch day. By the end of the year, it had sold over 127,000 copies in the region according to Media Create sales data, while selling over 400,000 copies in North America and Europe combined.^[8] In 2006, GamesRadar ranked gravure scenes in the game to be one of the 100 greatest gaming moment in history.^[9]

Awards and Nominations[]

At the first Spike Video Game Awards in 2003, Dead or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball won in the Best Animation category and was nominated in the Best Sports Game category.^[10] It also won the "GameSpot's Best and Worst of 2003" in "Dubious Honors" category for Most Embarrassing Game.^[11]

EGM April Fool's Day Joke[]

In the April 2003 edition (issue #165) of the videogame publication Electronic Gaming Monthly, the magazine revealed a "nude code" for Xtreme, as an April Fool's day joke. The magazine promised readers they could play the game with the girls topless, in an unlockable nude mode, and also implied that this was the reason for the game's M-rating. Upon discovering the nude code was a hoax, many readers sent angry letters to EGM, despite the fact that such jokes and hoaxes are an annual tradition for EGM.

Although the "nude code" is not actually available in the official release, it has been added to pirated versions where a nude "skin" replaces the bikinis. However, the bows and strings of the suits are 3D objects and therefore require an additional hack to remove, without which they appear to be stuck or fused directly to the skin of the characters. Without such software modifications, the closest one can get to actual nudity is by using a camera trick along with a visor accessory, but even this shows only "stars" in place of any sensitive areas.

Lawsuit[]

In January 2005, Tecmo sued Ninjahacker.net, a hobbyist game modding site dedicated to user-created modifications to the game and other Tecmo games. The site included custom skins that made the game's characters fully nude. Tecmo alleged that the site breached the Digital Millennium Copyright Act and other laws, and sought between $1,000 and $100,000 for every skin swapped on the site. Tecmo said the lawsuit was necessary to "uphold the integrity of our work", while a lawyer for the non-profit Electronic Frontier Foundation said the suit was "absurd" and that the site's offerings were "completely legal".^[12] Ultimately, the site was shut down and the defendants reached an undisclosed settlement with Tecmo.^[13]

Related Media[]