In 2005 developer Rare graced the newly launched Xbox 360 with Kameo: Elements of Power, a cartoon-styled action-adventure game starring a fairy with the power to transform herself into various magical creatures. Slow sales killed its rumoured sequel, but the art lives on.
The launch of the Xbox 360 and Kameo heralded the beginning of the plastic 3D period of console graphics, when it seemed every other 3D title coming out sported unrealistic glossy textures. In the case of Kameo, the look wasn’t so bad. Not nearly as bad as trying to market a fairy game to an audience looking for the next big violent first-person shooter.
Had the game sold better, perhaps former Rare artist Sergey Rakhmanov’s lovely designs for a more realistic Kameo would have come to fruition. Sadly it wasn’t meant to be, and these images were lost, waiting for someone at NeoGAF to stumble across them on Rakhmanov’s portfolio page.
Jonathan Betten
Thursday, April 7, 2011 at 8:44 AMDO WANT!
Spandex Armstrong
Thursday, April 7, 2011 at 9:38 AMThat sucks, I would have been interested for sure.
Jimu Hsien
Thursday, April 7, 2011 at 10:14 AMLooks a lot more interesting!
Michael Barnes
Thursday, April 7, 2011 at 12:15 PMSo, the series is dead because it was a slow seller? Doesn’t getting to the Classics range count for anything?
The Gremlin
Thursday, April 7, 2011 at 1:52 PMThe classics range means “Its not selling at full price anymore”
You didn’t think it was quality or high sales related, did you?
brent3000
Thursday, April 7, 2011 at 5:17 PMI thought it refereed to
Sold alot
or
Been out for x amount of time reaching min Y sales
Mad Danny
Thursday, April 7, 2011 at 12:21 PMLoved what I saw of the first one… shame I didn’t have an Xbox to warrant buying it :(
The soundtrack is still one of my favourites and maintains pride of place in my playlist!
Snacuum
Thursday, April 7, 2011 at 1:17 PMI’m glad this didn’t happen. Just looking at it, it’s not a Rareware game and definitely not a Kameo game.
It’s just another example of a another studio being forced to bow to the lowest common denominator.
Raif
Thursday, April 7, 2011 at 1:18 PM…In the second game Kameo was going to be..white?
djmcbell
Thursday, April 7, 2011 at 4:36 PMI enjoyed Kameo. Decent enough cheap little game. Worth picking up.
But… a more realistic-looking one? Part of Kameo’s appeal, to me at least, was the cartoon-esque visuals.