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Joy Ride Turbo is the Kinectless sequel to Kinect Joy Ride
So uh, you guys remember Kinect Joy Ride, that launch-window Kinect kart racing title from November of 2010? Well, developer BigPark is making a sequel: Joy Ride Turbo. As you can surmise from the peculiar lack of the word "Kinect" in the title, Joy Ride Turbo will, in fact, not be a Kinect game when it launches in the coming weeks.The game will launch as an XBLA title, rather than a full retail release like its predecessor. It features Battle Race, Pro Race and Time Trial modes, as well as a new "Stunt Park," which allows players to drive over cliffs and out of cannons at (presumably) very high speeds.Exploring the park yields new rides (42 in total), upgrades, as well as coins and trophies of unknown significance. Local multiplayer is supported for up to four players, with races capping out at eight drivers online. Steal a glance at some aerial automotive avatar acrobatics in the gallery below. %Gallery-154329%
Buy any Windows Phone 7 model, get a free Xbox 360 game
Anyone who picks up a Windows Phone 7 starting today on through the rest of the month can snag a free Xbox 360 game on Microsoft. The contest page lists four eligible games as part of this deal, two of which can only be played with Kinect: Fable 3, Halo: Reach, Kinectimals and Kinect Joy Ride. It's hardly incentive enough to yank anybody down off the fence, but it's a good deal if you were going to get a WP7 handset this month anyway.
Free Kinect Sports 'Party Pack' DLC available now, Joy Ride DLC coming Jan. 4
If you'd like to freshen up your Kinect Sports experience with fresh fruit and fresh ... chicken, head to the Xbox Live Marketplace right now. Microsoft has posted a free DLC suite, the "Party Pack." The free download adds a "Challenge" feature to track friends' minigame scores. Appropriately, the DLC adds six new minigames: Super Striker (for Soccer), Pinvaders (for Bowling), Rapid Runner (for Track & Field), Target Smash (for Table Tennis), Fruit Splatter (for Volleyball), and King of the Ring (for Boxing). It also includes new games for the multiplayer Party Play mode, and three new "crazy" Party Play mascots: "Zippy Zombie" (okay, so maybe it's not all fresh), Champion Chicken, and Sportastico. Check after the break for descriptions of the minigames. MS also announced that new DLC will arrive for Kinect Joy Ride on January 4. The "Chevrolet Car Pack" adds the Camaro, Corvette, and Cruze to your game. It's free -- all you'll have to do is ... select a Chevy ad in XBLM. Update: Catch a trailer after the break -- a trailer that refers to the set as the "Samsung Party Pack."
Rock Band 3, Joy Ride and Apache: Air Assault demos arrive on XBLM
Beyond the twenty trillion other games coming out weekly at this point in the year, you might be worried about how you'll fill your weekend? Maybe? Okay, okay -- for the one or two of you with some extra gaming time right now, several new demos have landed on Xbox Live Marketplace: Apache: Air Assault, Joy Ride (requires Kinect) and Rock Band 3. Assuming your home entertainment center is equipped for maximum gameage -- by which we mean you have no less than three televisions and three Xbox 360s before you -- you can now experience what it's like to juggle being a rock star, a race car driver and a simulation helicopter pilot at the same time -- without having to commit to such an impossible lifestyle. Or you could play one demo at a time ... we guess ... but where's the fun in that?
Kinect Joy Ride review: Driving in the 'so?' lane
If you don't know the story behind Kinect Joy Ride, let me sum it up: It was originally announced as a "freemium" Xbox Live Arcade game, in which players would race together and unlock new content through their combined efforts in an ever-evolving world. What it ended up being is a pseudo kart racer with set tracks, a few race modes and Kinect-only controls that have you pantomiming holding a steering wheel and "turning" it to steer. If that sounds gimmicky, it is.%Gallery-106496%
Free Kinect Sports, Joy Ride for first 3,000 Kinect buyers at NYC launch
Microsoft isn't just trying to bring families together in front of the TV with Kinect, it's also doing its best to bring thousands of New Yorkers together. The official launch event for the sensor will take place at the Times Square Toys R Us, and Microsoft is giving away substantial bonuses to early buyers. The first 3,000 people to buy Kinects at the event will receive free copies of Kinect Sports and Kinect Joy Ride, along with a free year of Xbox Live Gold membership. And then, after all those hours of standing around, they'll get to go home and ... play games while standing. Random attendees will be handed prizes while in line, as well. Basically, what we're saying is you should go right now. Preferably sooner.
North American Kinect launch window games rounded up
When you get your shiny new Kinect, what games will you get with it? Larry "Major Nelson" Hryb has provided a handy guide to the full Kinect launch lineup -- including launch day games and those arriving soon after. If you wagered there would be four sports minigame collections (Kinect Sports, Deca Sports Freedom, Game Party In Motion and MotionSports), you win! The seventeen-game lineup also includes three dancing games (Dance Central, Zumba Fitness, and DanceMasters), four exercise games (Your Shape: Fitness Evolved, The Biggest Loser Ultimate Workout, EA Sports Active 2.0, and the aforementioned Zumba Fitness), and two 'boarding games (Adrenalin Misfits and Sonic Free Riders). See the full list after the break. Major Nelson notes that the Xbox 360 launched in North America with 18 games, just one more than Kinect is launching with -- bearing out Shane Kim's comment that Microsoft would treat the Kinect launch like a new system. Or, it would, if this list didn't count the Kinect games coming out weeks after the Kinect release date as "launch games" vs. the 360's 18-game launch day. In any case, the Kinect has a lot of choices, even if they're all within a few categories.
Kinect object scanning adds some color to Joy Ride
As you would expect, Microsoft's Kudo Tsunoda has expressed an optimistic viewpoint on Kinect's rarely utilized ability to scan real-world objects and incorporate them into games. At a recent Tokyo Game Show demonstration of Kinect Joy Ride, he revealed a small example of how Microsoft-owned developer BigPark utilizes the motion-sensing camera's capture capabilities. It's not quite a scanned skateboard, but it's enough to spur some color commentary. Kinect Joy Ride features some minor pre-race vehicle customization options, starting with your car's color. If you're dissatisfied with the selection of bold colors in the game, Kinect can take a peek at any item positioned in front of the camera (within a small, on-screen reticle) and transfer its color onto your car. You could apply a dark shade of red (apple), an uplifting purple (GameCube) or a disgusting, sickly white (game journalist arm). It's worth noting that this technology is hardly new -- you might have used it to capture textures in LittleBigPlanet with a PlayStation Eye -- and the implementation is far removed from Kinect's promotional promises. It's not even a particularly interesting addition in the case of Joy Ride, but right now it's in Microsoft's best interests to shift its conversation with consumers, away from, "What can't it do?" and onto "What can it do?"
Sources: Kinect beta kits going out, Dashboard update live for participants (with pics!) [Update: and video!]
That email purportedly sent out by Microsoft a couple weeks back inviting its recipients into a Kinect beta program? Yeah -- it was legit. Joystiq has received corroborating evidence confirming the program, including pictures of the promised Kinect-enabled Dashboard update running on a participant's retail console. In them, you can clearly see the flatter presentation, new mini-guide and revamped Avatar editor -- complete with a re-proportioned Avatar. Our tipsters clearly didn't read the included guidelines, pictured in the gallery bellow. Apart from the laundry list of methods via which participants aren't supposed to talk about the program, there's confirmation that Kinect hardware is indeed part of the beta, "is being packed" and will presumably be on its way to testers soon. These same sources report that the beta support site mentions Kinect Adventures, Kinect Sports and Kinect Joy Ride as titles they can expect to receive for testing purposes. We'll have more on the program as its participants continue to refuse acknowledgment of Microsoft's terms and conditions. [Update 8/27, 9am: And we've got a video of the new Dash posted just after the break, featuring much more than the boot-up screen. Thanks, Bradley!] %Gallery-100536%
Kinect Experience tour is coming to your town
Okay, so the "Kinect Experience" tour is coming to your town -- or at least within a reasonable driving distance. That said, from July on through the end of October, the Kinect Experience mobile demo tour will stop off in major metropolitan areas across the country, giving gamers an early taste of Kinectimals, Kinect Sports, Kinect Joy Ride, Kinect Adventures and Dance Central -- ahead of the device's November 4 launch. There are a total of 32 stops on the tour. For the full list of cities and dates, hit the break.
Joyride now a Kinect title, adds motion controls
Update: Oops! It looks like USA Today jumped the gun on the announcement and has since pulled the piece from its site. Stay tuned for Microsoft's official unveiling later. Just when Joy Ride seemed kaput, it's been confirmed as a title for Microsoft's Kinect (the official name of Project Natal). The social racer was recently removed from Xbox.com, though Microsoft assured us that "BigPark's vision" was still slated for 2010. Apparently BigPark's vision involves adding Kinect motion controls, with USA Today revealing that the game will have players "hold an imaginary steering wheel" and use their bodies "to execute jumps and tricks." No further details were given, though it seems likely we'll hear more as E3 builds up steam later this week.
Joy Ride MIA, but Microsoft insists 'BigPark's vision' will come to life in 2010
It appears that Joy Ride has been wiped as cleanly as possible from Xbox.com. Its game page is missing, and even the link to it from MS's E3 page has been removed. Joystiq contacted Microsoft for clarification and a spokesperson responded, "We're excited to bring BigPark's vision to life in 2010. However, we have nothing further to announce at this time." We followed up, specifically asking if "BigPark's vision" was still Joy Ride, if the game was currently in development and if it'd be shown at E3. The company has yet to respond to the request for clarification. The latest on Joy Ride's status after it missed its 2009 launch was that it was going to be released sometime in 2010. Microsoft purchased Joy Ride developer BigPark last year and announced the kart racer with Avatar support at E3 2009. We'll update if Microsoft decides to let us see what's going on under the hood. [Thanks, Pibs] %Gallery-65168%
Joy Ride slides into 2010, BigPark still tinkering under the hood
At E3 2009, Microsoft confessed to the secret Xbox 360 exclusive that (then newly acquired) BigPark would create: Joy Ride, a free-to-play, Avatar-based racing game. As you might have concluded after it missed its holiday 2009 launch window, Joy Ride has been delayed until later in 2010, though Microsoft wouldn't share anything more specific. The full statement to Joystiq reads: "We're thrilled to have unveiled Joy Ride at E3 2009, which will deliver a revolutionary gaming experience to the Xbox 360 community and put your Avatar behind the wheel. We're committed to delivering the most robust experience to the community and are taking additional time to ensure we provide the best experience possible. We're looking forward to launching Joy Ride in 2010. Stay tuned!" With a slew of upcoming media events leading up to this year's E3, we're sure to hear more about the title in the coming months and see how the extra development time has been put to use. %Gallery-65168%
TGS 2009: Joy Ride community can unlock 'Perilous Peaks' stunt track
During a brief closed-door Xbox Live Arcade showcase at Tokyo Game Show 2009, Microsoft revealed that a new stunt track in the upcoming Xbox Avatar title, Joy Ride, will be unlocked by the community. When the Joy Ride community reach a collective experience level, the mountain landscape of Perilous Peaks will become available -- similar to the unlock challenge of EA's Battlefield 1943. Microsoft also showcased three new modes for Joy Ride: Delivery Dash pits players against each other, attempting to collect and deliver a pizza at random spots within the world; Coin Frenzy has players (alone or in teams) racing against the clock to collect as many coins within the world; and Trick Showdown requires players work alone or as a team to pull off as many stunts before time expires. As an added bonus, collected coins can be used to customize each player's ride -- a nice alternative to customization options available for purchase with Microsoft Points. Joy Ride will be available on the Xbox Live Arcade (free to Gold Subscribers all Xbox Live members) this holiday. %Gallery-73871%
Hands-on: Joy Ride
Joy Ride is a game with an agenda. As a free downloadable title with lots of accessibility, Avatar support and plenty of customization options, we're sure Microsoft sees it as a great gateway game to Xbox Live. At any rate, Microsoft saw something in the game, as the company decided to acquire developer BigPark based on its merits. Having spent some time with Joy Ride -- which is still pre-alpha, mind you -- we think Microsoft might be on to something. %Gallery-65168%
Take a joyride with the first trailer for Joy Ride
When Microsoft announced the free-to-play, avatar-based Joy Ride at its press conference yesterday, the company also revealed a fancy new trailer for the microtransaction vehicle. The gameplay looks to be rather simplistic, with a heavy focus on vehicle customization and arcade-style racing, so if that's your kind of thang, have at it! The game's set to go live on ... Xbox Live this winter.
BigPark's 'Joy Ride' free to play, download ... then you pay
Microsoft announced during its press conference that BigPark's big secret project is Joy Ride, a kart racer that'll be free to download and play. Of course, that's where the free ends and the microtransactions begin. It'll go live this winter, start saving those nickles and dimes.
BigPark CEO: Xbox 360 exclusive will broaden audience, be playable at E3
What prompts a giant like Microsoft -- amidst layoffs and studio closures -- to purchase a Vancouver-based developer that's barely two years old? Aside from boasting a collection of 20-year industry veterans that have had their hands in franchises like Need For Speed, SSX and NBA Street, BigPark Inc. benefited from having its ideas being "very compatible" with those of Microsoft. That's according to BigPark CEO and co-founder Hanno Lemke, who spoke to us regarding Microsoft's recently announced plans to acquire the studio and its "extremely talented group of people." BigPark's titles (including free-to-play tower defense game, Wizard Defense) focus on online social play, digital distribution and a direct-to-consumer model. Lemke suggested that his company's upcoming Xbox 360-exclusive game, which has been in development for more than a year, would be in line with what it had released before. Resulting from a fortuitous "meeting of the minds" between BigPark and Microsoft, the game is unlikely to be a typical product aimed at the Xbox's hardcore audience (no space marines here!), instead fitting in with Microsoft's "big push to broaden the audience." A casual, free-to-play title would certainly fit the description, if one were to speculate. Though Lemke refrained from offering much detail, he confirmed that the "very new and different" title would be playable at next month's E3 -- and that it would break some rules. "[It's] pretty innovative in how it's delivered to consumers," he remarked. And if there's any doubt that the game plays a pivotal role in an audience expansion strategy, consider just what prompts a giant like Microsoft to purchase a Vancouver-based developer that's barely two years old. "It obviously goes beyond one game, right?"
Microsoft to acquire BigPark, working on Xbox 360 exclusive
What you know about BigPark probably isn't enough to fill a small garden -- but you'll likely be hearing a lot about the Vancouver-based company in the coming weeks. Microsoft has announced plans to acquire the group, which bills itself as an "interactive online entertainment company." Its founders, who came together in 2007, claim to share a goal of creating "great games in an inspiring and collaborative environment for highly talented and creative people." Though BigPark itself has yet to do so on its own, its members are said to have produced popular franchises such as Need for Speed and SSX. Update: BigPark's first project was a free-to-play tower defense game, called Wizard Defense. Microsoft and BigPark -- now reporting to Microsoft Game Studios -- will "continue" collaborating on an Xbox 360-exclusive title, one that is likely to be unveiled at next month's E3. "We're looking forward to being part of the Microsoft Game Studios team, where we believe we can successfully contribute to shaping key Microsoft initiatives through fresh and engaging consumer experiences," said Wil Mozell , studio president and co-founder of BigPark. Mozell's name doesn't ring a bell, but another co-founder does: Don Mattrick, Microsoft's current VP of Interactive Entertainment Business. According to BigPark's rather ambiguous website, its goal is to "expand gaming audiences around the world and bring them together through accessible and highly entertaining interactive experiences." Expanding audiences through accessible experiences? That definitely sounds like a part of Microsoft's ongoing attempts to put the Xbox 360 in the same space as Nintendo's Wii. [Thanks, DanteSparda504]
