Rare’s Kameo still on track
And by the sound of it, Rare is still on the Cube
Given Rare's reluctance to discuss gamey matters with the press on anybody's terms except its own, it's actually not too surprising to learn that Kameo is still in production. The game has been out of the press and public's eye since E3 2001, and when this year's show came around and there was neither hide nor hair of it to be seen, many put two and two together and made five, assuming that it had been canned. Particularly because of the ongoing rumours of Rare's defection, sorry, decision to adopt a multi-platform strategy. But in recent weeks things have changed. Reports indicate that Rare has been inviting Nintendo magazine journalists to its headquarters to discuss a new Cube project. And very recently, in an update to the tongue-in-cheek reader-response section of its website called Ask Uncle Tusk, Rare has laid fears of Kameo's demise to rest. "Kameo hasn't been canned," Uncle Tusk beams. "It's just that it debuted in an earlier state than most of our games as part of the Big E3 Push of 2001, so the team's been locked away since then polishing and tweaking to get it looking as good as possible for the next appearance. You'll see something soon enough." You can read what else Uncle Tusk (he of Killer Instinct 2 fame, in case you were trying to place it) has to say on Rare's website. Oh, and I'm also taking pity on those of you who don't know about Kameo. It's a role-playing game, primarily, starring a young and typically stylised lass named Kameo, and the game plots her search for the six Elemental Children. Kameo is able to capture and raise many different creatures, using them to do her bidding, and as the game wears on and she grows in strength, she starts to control powerful monsters as well as the smaller, simpler beasts that roam around. The game's battle system sounds quite nifty, allowing Kameo to step back and direct her minions or possess one of them and see the battle through their eyes. And as you might expect, this being a Rare title, the graphics are cute and cuddly but eerily warped and alienesque. Take a look for yourselves. Related Feature - Kameo screenshots