Chevrolet, Samsung Deals Bring Kinect Players Free DLC

Players of two Kinect launch titles will be getting some free DLC today, courtesy of some interesting promotional deals with two separate sponsor companies. Samsung is sponsoring a DLC pack for Rare's Kinect Sports that adds six new mini-games: Super Striker, Pinvaders, Target Smash, King of the Ring, Rapid Runner and Fruit Splatter. The content pack also adds a new "Challenge" feature that lets users track friends' scores and compete with them, as well as three new usable mascots and 10 new achievements worth 250G. Car maker Chevrolet is doing its own free DLC promotion, offering consumers a new content pack for Kinect Joy Ride. Users can get three new cars for use in the game: a Chevrolet Camaro, a Corvette and a Cruze, each with customizable colors. The free cars will also be part of an ad partnership between Microsoft and Chevrolet: beginning January 4, users who select the Chevrolet advertisement in the Xbox Live Marketplace will be able to download the free cars, which can also be unlocked at Xbox's official website. Free, ad-supported content has long been a part of Microsoft's Xbox Live strategy. The company's free-to-play, episodic trivia game 1 vs. 100 was fully supported by in-game advertisements. Other free, downloadable Xbox Live Arcade games have been made possible by ad partnerships, including three games sponsored by Doritos and another sponsored by Toyota. Still, in-game advertising may not be what it once was for the company; in October, Microsoft shut down Massive, its in-house, in-game advertising unit.