Kameo: Elements of Power

Rare lied to kids about fairies. Not our words - straight from the horse's mouth. The UK studio has admitted that it wishes it had scrapped everything and started again during development of Kameo: Elements Of Power for Xbox - and that it tried to con gamers about the titular protagonist's race.

A sequel to Xbox 360 launch title Kameo has been canned by Microsoft. Seeing as the original was only marginally well-received and didn't exactly redefine the platforming genre, we're not too saddened by the news. But the reason for its cancellation is much more worrying.

A reported restructuring inside Microsoft has meant wiping the slate clean of some traditional sequels in favour of Natal projects. Doesn't sound great to

Rare's secretly in-the-works Kameo sequel is just one casualty of a Microsoft project cull at the studio, to make way for more Natal development, CVG has learned. Earlier this year the UK developer underwent a company-wide restructure to implement a new approach to its in-development projects, Microsoft revealed.

Split-Screen: On June 8th 2008, Rare senior software engineer Nick Burton stated that Kameo: Elements of Power (and Perfect Dark Zero, another Rare title exclusive to XBox 360) had made a lot of money for the company in a profession where, If you break even you're lucky, you're in the minority. Now, it's come to light that Kameo was indeed due for a sequel, but was cancelled in late 2007. This happened nearly 2 years after the release of the original.

Rare was acquired by Microsoft back in 2002 and has been at the heart of the platform holder's internal development, but only now, with the upcoming launch of Natal, does the developer feel it and Microsoft are on the same page. Speaking to VideoGamer.com about Natal prior to gamescom, Rare design director George Andreas explained just why the motion sensing technology is such a big deal.

Official Rare Banjo Blog: With only a week to go before the release of Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts, the editor has posted a brand new edition of everyone's favourite Q&A, Scribes! With help from a few dev team members, the editor answers all your pressing questions including these: I was just wondering if the feathers on Mumbo's head had flying properties like Kazooie's? I mean did he rip them from Kazooie or something? Bryner Editor Answer - Possibly. Maybe he sliced her head open like Sylar and now he can do a Flap Flip jump as well. I can't wait for Banjo-Kazooie! I literally crapped my pants when I heard the big news. I'm also looking forward to Nuts & Bolts but I want to try the demo first (make it happen please). Christopher 'Chito' Escobar Editor Answer - Everyone's having accidents in their pants today. Demo's up now, stop cacking yourself and play it. Click the link for more questions and answers.

Speaking to VideoGamer.com at last week's Develop conference in Brighton, Rare senior software engineer Nick Burton has revealed that he was keen to begin work on a Kameo sequel immediately after the first game was complete. This is just me personally, I was very big for the second we got Kameo out, for hitting the deck running and going right we're doing Kameo 2, we're going to take 12 to 18 months to do it, bang, it's done, explained Burton. But for one reason or another we didn't do that in the time frame where you could hit that sweet spot. So she's got to take a hiatus.

Speaking to VideoGamer.com at Develop last week, Rare senior software engineer Nick Burton, an employee at Rare for over 10 years, has revealed that when talking about the studios' owned intellectual property there's a good chance of seeing any of it again. You might see Killer Instinct, you might see Battletoads. Or as I said the other month Killer Instinct meets Battletoads in the GoldenEye universe! joked Burton. The titles the Microsoft owned studio is currently working on is something that's constantly debated on internet forums, and speculation isn't helped by Rare's constant teasing. Do you remember the Rare 2007 Christmas card that hinted at a new Killer Instinct? Burton was all too happy to reveal the story behind the card. You'll probably have to rephrase this, we're just fu!$ing with you! he joked. Have you not noticed a theme in our Christmas cards? We do it every year! It's just sometimes people don't notice it because it's that subtle. Ryan (Stevenson, senior concept artist), when he was doing it said, oh I'm putting Killer Instinct in that, I am. The conversation was, put Battletoads in as well! Or Snake Rattle and Roll, come on do it! We have a reputation for teasing. Sometimes we do it for good reasons and other times it upsets people. We're English, we're allowed to! Burton wouldn't be drawn on confirming the existence of a new Killer Instinct title, but say that you could pick anything in our back catalogue and then turn it into something new.

Speaking to VideoGamer.com Rare senior software engineer Nick Burton has revealed that he believes the studio's 360 titles could well be remembered by today's gamers in the same way a generation looks back on N64 classic GoldenEye. When asked if Rare is releasing games now that will have a similar effect on these people as older games did with an older generation of gamers, Burton was confident that they would. I think that already happened, stated Burton. It's funny when you get fan mail. We do. We get quite a bit. Some for old stuff, quite a lot for new stuff. Whether we have as many of them or more, you'll have to ask me in 10 years time. But then again the market's much bigger, it's much more diverse, there's many more games. When asked directly if the games Rare is putting out on the Xbox 360 could be this generation's GoldenEye experience, Burton replied: Could be, yeah. It would be a different experience from GoldenEye without a doubt.

Speaking to VideoGamer.com at last week's Develop conference in Brighton, Rare senior software engineer Nick Burton hit out at reports suggesting Xbox 360 launch titles Kameo and Perfect Dark Zero bombed at retail. One of the things that I always find funny is when people always quote Kameo and Perfect Dark Zero as being flops at the launch of the 360, said Burton. In the industry if you break even you're lucky, you're in the minority. If you make a decent amount of money you're really in the minority. You're in the top percentile. Those two games made a lot of money. For the install base they sold phenomenally well. Kameo is still selling now.