Here’s the next hullabaloo: nudity in video games. But is it a shock-value ploy to sell a lousy title or just an added attraction in an already good game?

That’s the question in the controversial “BMX XXX” with animated near-nudity and live nudity (except in the PlayStation 2 version), which has caused it to be banned in top retail stores.

The premise: Explore eight levels of a BMX cyclist’s 3D fantasy world. The concrete-laced city landscapes are backdrops for mini-missions your rider eagerly takes on, with or without her shirt.

Tasks range from scoring trick points to helping a firefighter “get his hose up” by opening water valves. The humor is akin to watching the Howard Stern Show with lots of F-bombs mixed in.

Mastering levels such as Las Vegas and the Bronx unlock short videos of dancing topless strippers not animated but real woman from the actual Scores nightclub.

To be fair, “BMX XXX” is more than a vehicle for selling nudity: It is a mechanically sound and reasonably fun game that brims with trick moves, including air jumps, wall rides, grinds, modifiers and new flatland tricks. Not being up on the extreme sports scene, I never knew so many tricks were possible.

Still, the controls in similar games such as “SSX” (snowboarding) and “Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater” (skateboarding) are more intuitive and leave me feeling like a better driver. The “BMX” game play gets old after a while.

The create-a-rider feature is the most fun. The outfits, or lack thereof, are seemingly limitless. Make your guy or gal ride around town in an astronaut suit, or just pasties and thongs.

“BMX” also has a multiplayer mode and the music of famous artists.

As for the nudity, someone had to be first. You know what? Maybe it’s not so bad.

No one has sex. And what’s worse for a teen to watch? A topless woman or pedestrians being decapitated with shotgun blasts?