Kinect Sports 2 gets a ‘Midnight Mountain Ski Pack’

Kinect’s done pretty alright, hasn’t it? Over 18 million units sold worldwide, and support for Windows coming next month, it seems a future of voice-activation and radical hand waggling has definitely arrived. It’s not just the peripheral that is reigning triumphant; however, it’s also accumulated a solid stable of software.

While Microsoft remains a bit secret squirrel as to their plans for 2012, in the meanwhile, they’ve decided to update some of their Kinect-specific titles from last year. With the Midnight Mountain Ski Pack, that’s exactly what they’ve done with Kinect Sports: Season Two.

Players can add to their Ski-centric fun by tackling three new floodlit slopes. All set against the black of night, players will face difficult new challenges that will test their resolve, as well as put their focus to the test.

What types of courses can you expect? Well, I’m glad you asked…

• Backwoods Blast is not a euphemism for farting, but it is a course that takes players through forests with dizzying twists and narrow straights. Mind the bears!
• Pitch Black doesn’t allow you to assume the role of Riddick and turn the inmates of Butcher Bay into chop-suey, but you can get airborne with big jumps, steep banks, giant rollers and vertical drops.
• Finally, After Hours gives Kinect Skiers the ultimate challenge, with an advanced slalom course with more gates and a faster rhythm. Adrenaline junkies, come on down to get your thrills!

With a host of new achievements, and the ability to send new challenges both online and offline, this seems quite a fair price point for a substantial amount of content. However, if you’re still not convinced, the generous lot at Rare and Big Park Games have allowed you to download the Pitch Black course free of charge so you can see for yourself if it’s worth your precious digital currency.

The Midnight Mountain Ski Pack is the latest in a series of game add-ons for Kinect Sports: Season 2, but it’s definitely not the last. Microsoft have confirmed that additional content will be released in 2012, with more details coming next month on Challenge Pack #2, as well as news about a whole new sport!

I vote tonsil hockey.

The Midnight Mountain Ski Pack is available now on the Xbox Live Marketplace for 400 MS Points