Microsoft's Kinect Joy Ride sequel won't require Kinect

Newsbrief: Microsoft on Friday announced the sequel to Kinect Joy Ride, one of several titles to launch alongside the depth-sensing Kinect hardware in 2010. This new title, dubbed Joy Ride Turbo, however, won't require Microsoft's motion-based peripheral. Instead, Joy Ride Turbo will rely on standard gamepad controls, but will feature the same lighthearted, casual racing mechanics found in its Kinect-based counterpart. Microsoft did not confirm whether the game would feature any optional Kinect support, but noted that the game will launch exclusively on Xbox Live Arcade. The game is actually very much like a realization of the initial debut for Kinect Joy Ride at E3 2009. At the time, the game was known simply as Joy Ride, and relied on a standard gamepad rather than the Kinect hardware. Like its predecessor, Joy Ride Turbo comes from the Microsoft-owned Vancouver studio BigPark. For more information on the game, check out the announcement on the official Xbox Live Arcade blog.