All Xbox 360 News

Rare dev wanted to start Kameo 2 immediately (Kameo: Elements of Power)

Aug 8, 2008

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."

No Rare IP is dead suggests developer (Kameo: Elements of Power)

Aug 8, 2008

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".

Rare: Our 360 titles could have GoldenEye effect (Kameo: Elements of Power)

Aug 7, 2008

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."

Rare: Perfect Dark and Kameo 'sold phenomenally well' (Kameo: Elements of Power)

Aug 6, 2008

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."

Rare dev: 'I don't think 360 has reached its limit' (Kameo: Elements of Power)

Aug 5, 2008

Speaking to VideoGamer.com at the Develop conference in Brighton last week, Nick Burton, a senior software engineer at Rare, has assured Xbox 360 gamers that there's plenty more to come from the console.

"You never can push them as far as they can go. The reality of the peak performance of the console is yes, you could look to a generation beyond where we are now and think, yeah, I could use that power. But the reality is in 360 and the PS3 and the latest generation PC graphics, the amount of power in the GPUs is such that you're more bound by your creativity and the aesthetic you're going for than you're really bound by polygon pushing power," said Burton. "You're probably actually more bound maybe by art authoring and the amount of data throughput that, just the amount of memory you'd need, but I don't think 360 has reached its limit."

Rare: Half the studio working on secret projects (Kameo: Elements of Power)

Aug 5, 2008

Speaking to VideoGamer.com at the Develop conference in Brighton last week, Nick Burton, a senior software engineer at Rare, revealed that currently announced Rare titles only account for half the development studio.

Asked directly if Rare would be making a second Kameo title Burton replied: "This is where I have to be enigmatically vague. Never say never. I'll say that I'm not working on one at the moment. I'm not working on one at the moment. Doesn't mean nobody else is, but that doesn't mean they are either. Sorry. For the obvious PR reasons we can't talk about what we're doing now."

He went on to suggest that there's plenty going on behind closed doors at Rare that should have gamers getting very excited.

"All I can say is, you know about VP2 (Viva Piñata Trouble in Paradise), Viva Piñata on DS, Banjo obviously. There's a couple of things on the roster that are going to be pretty cool as well. Obviously you do the math. Look at the size and how big the Banjo team currently needs to be, how big our shared technology group and asset group are. Look at the number of games and how they're staggered and how many teams we have. There's about half the studio missing from the release schedule at the moment (laughs)," said Burton.

Rumor: New Xbox Originals & Possibly Downloading Full 360 Games (Kameo: Elements of Power)

Feb 4, 2008

XboxFamily has posted what is reported to be a screenshot of Microsoft's FTP which shows recently added assets for Conker Live and Reloaded, Fable, Jade Empire, and two older Xbox 360 games.

The article speculates that since the 360 titles are already Platinum Hits, it's uncommon for old assets to be added to the FTP and believes these titles could be made available for download.

New Kameo Marketplace Pack (Kameo: Elements of Power)

Sep 25, 2006

Microsoft today announced that they will be releasing a new character pack for Kameo: Elements of Power. New characters include 11 created by you the gamers...

Fashion forward Kameo (Kameo: Elements of Power)

Apr 7, 2006

Kameo: Elements of Power receives the latest round of Xbox Live lovin' in the form of some new downloadable content. Three content "packs" were released today that expand your ability to spend over the Xbox Live Marketplace (and add some new features to the game). The Kameo Co-Op Pack is completely free to Xbox Live Gold members and enables two-player cooperative play over Xbox Live and System Link. The Kameo Masquerade Pack delivers ten new costumes for Kameo to wear, highlighting some ...

Kameo story available on podcast (Kameo: Elements of Power)

Nov 11, 2005

The story behind Xbox 360 launch game Kameo Elements of Power is being made available to listen to via podcasts. The UK-based developer of Kameo, Rare, is releasing one chapter a week over eight weeks, which can be downloaded from www.kameo.com. Alternatively, gamers can subscribe to the podcast feed and have chapters delivered to their audio device automatically. The first chapter will feature secrets from the magical Wotnot Book which control the various Elemental Warriors. This should get ...

Kameo heads to Hollywood (Kameo: Elements of Power)

Nov 9, 2005

Microsoft and Maxmedia have revealed plans to adapt Rare's Xbox 360 fantasy adventure, Kameo Elements of Power, into an animated feature. The game follows the story of Kameo, an elf that possesses the ability to morph into all manner of wonderful beasts, a power she must use to defeat the evil Troll King, Thorn. The project will be headed up by Sunmin Park and production for the adaptation will begin in 2006. Park, who previously produced, co-wrote and directed digital animation Wonderful ...

Kameo delayed yet again (Kameo: Elements of Power)

Nov 4, 2004

The release of Kameo: Elements of Power - Rare's epic Xbox adventure, which was originally due out in the spring - has been delayed yet again. And this time it's been postponed indefinitely. While the last official release window was January 2005, Rare have just revealed that the game will be spending yet more time in development hell. A statement from the Brit developers reads, "After a lot of thought and discussion, Rare and Microsoft Game Studios have decided to push back the launch of ...

Kameo: Elements of Power (Kameo: Elements of Power)

May 11, 2004

On: Xbox - OUT: January 2005 THE PITCH: Few doubt Rare's ability to produce a decent game. Getting the game on the shelves would appear to be a different matter for the UK coders, though. We've been waiting for Kameo and the fact that it missed its spring 2004 release date comes as no surprise, unfortunately. The game is an epic adventure of exploration and fighting, dressed up in big and bold graphics typical of Rare. Kameo's ability to morph into creatures in her bid to fight the evil ...

Bruce Willis to star in Kane & Lynch movie (Kane & Lynch: Dead Men)

Jun 4, 2008

Die Hard actor Bruce Willis is negotiating to star in Liongate's Kane and Lynch: Dead Men movie.

Willis will play Adam "Kane" Marcus, a bald headed mercenary who partners up with pony tailed schizophrenic killer James Lynch.

According to Variety, the flick will be the directorial debut of Simon Crane, who served as second unit director and stunt coordinator on Mr & Mrs. Smith, Troy and X-Men: The Last Stand. It's ...

Bruce Willis Eyes Kane and Lynch Movie (Kane & Lynch: Dead Men)

Jun 4, 2008

Reports indicate Willis is in final negotiations and filming will start later this year.

Kane & Lynch Free DLC to Offer 250 Achievement Points (Kane & Lynch: Dead Men)

Apr 16, 2008

Eidos is releasing four new downloadable maps for the Fragile Alliance multiplayer mode in Kane & Lynch: Dead Men. The maps will be downloadable for free on April 17, from Xbox LIVE and from the Playstation Network for the PS3. The new maps will be released in one downloadable pack entitled 'The Dope Bag', with each of the four maps featuring its own unique scenario. There will also be an additional 250 Xbox 360 achievement points to earn based on the downloadable content.

Kane & Lynch DLC trailer (Kane & Lynch: Dead Men)

Apr 14, 2008

From April 17 - that's this Thursday - you'll be able to download the 'Dope Bag' multiplayer map pack for Kane & Lynch from PSN and XBL Marketplace, and we've got footage of it in action.

The 'Dope Bag' pack includes four maps each with a new back-stabby heist scenario.

Clean Cut has you take on the local dope dealers and the Russian mafia at an LA construction site, 'Hooker's Trail' has you clash with the Yakuza in Tokyo, ...

"Shocking" Kane & Lynch ads banned (Kane & Lynch: Dead Men)

Apr 9, 2008

The Advertising Standards Authority has banned "shocking" magazine and television ads for Eidos and IO Interactive's Kane & Lynch: Dead Men in the UK - because people totally still care about the game, apparently.

The magazine ad, which shows a crying, gagged woman with her head held back by Kane and co, has been ordered not to be printed again after complaints were made, calling the image "graphic" and "shocking," MCV ...

'Shocking' Eidos ad banned (Kane & Lynch: Dead Men)

Apr 9, 2008

The Advertising Standards Authority has outlawed an Eidos advertising campaign for Kane & Lynch.

The body has ordered Eidos not to print or broadcast the ads again, after upholding 26 complaints and calling the promotion 'graphic' and 'shocking'.

One press ad shows a gagged woman, crying and having her head held back by one of the pair. It was printed over a double-page spread in Edge, with a second version appearing in Total Film magazine.

Free Kane & Lynch maps pack next week (Kane & Lynch: Dead Men)

Apr 8, 2008

Eidos sends word that four new multiplayer maps are on the way for Kane & Lynch's multiplayer mode, Fragile Alliance. They're all absolutely free.

In case you've never played it before, the multiplayer mode has you playing as criminals in a heist. You're encouraged to work as a team until the very end, when back-stabbing your teammates at the right moment can help you get away with all the loot. It also gives your victim a chance ...