As we all know, Rare was once a second-party Nintendo studio but was purchased by Microsoft over a decade ago. When the acquisition took place, the UK company was working on several GameCube projects, including Donkey Kong Racing and Kameo, the latter of which would eventually appear as a launch title for the Xbox 360 in 2005.
However, prior to this Kameo underwent many revisions and was almost released for the original Xbox at one point. YouTube channel ptoponline has been digging through various prototypes and has come across some very early test sequences from when the game was still in development for Nintendo's platform.
The footage is interesting because it shows a monster helper which wasn't included in the final game, as well as some slightly different character designs.
If Nintendo had held onto Rare then Kameo would almost have certainly have been released on the GameCube - would you have liked to have played it on that particular console?
Comments 50
It might of been great
4 words: WORK WITH PLAYTONIC NOW!
Playing through Conker's BFD & Banjo-Kazooie on Rare Replay has made me miss real 3D platformers more than ever. Perfect Dark is still an incredible fps, leaving many of today's offerings in the dust. Rare were an unstoppable force during the N64 era, besting even Nintendo's own efforts in my opinion. It just hasn't been the same since.
@locky-mavo NINTENDO, BUY PLAYTONIC!
Q) Would you have liked to have played it on that particular console?
A) I'd probably say no, only because Kameo: Elements of Power was one of the two games that my family had available at the Xbox 360's launch, and it would have given us less to play for that system. In fact, due to it being the game my little brother opted to have when obtaining his Xbox 360, we might not have purchased an Xbox 360 until much later if Kameo wasn't a game available to entice my brother.
Perhaps if it were made for the Gamecube as originally intended, the game might have aged better, which I find to be the one key flaw with the game. It has what some might term, a 'launch-title' feel. As if it were made to get used to the new system.
All in all though, I enjoyed playing Kameo: Elements of Power as it were on the Xbox 360. Honestly, it's the Rare IP I'd like to see Microsoft start utilising once again... after Jet Force Gemini, which is still my favourite Rare game.
This would have been so impressive on the GameCube, the fluid animation, the superb graphics for the machine, the works. I still really enjoyed it on the 360, but I feel it was a bit of an older concept by that time, this could've blown the Ninty market away.
Agree, buy playtonic!
I'm sort of sick of the Rare stuff. Nintendo snap up talent to recreate these games with new IP. I loved Rare, but are gone! Nintendo, please show me a title that pays respect to the Nintendo rare fans, hanging on to a Nintendo in hope you replicate the studio!
Frustrating!!!! Argh!!!!
I'm sure it would have been great had it been completed on GameCube. I still think Kameo is one of the best looking games on the 360, and that was a launch title.
It was not Nintendo's decision to hold onto Rare. The Stamper brothers had sold their 51% of the company to Microsoft already, so Nintendo had no control left on where the games Rare was going to make from there one would end up. With Microsoft pushing their XBox and holding the larger portion of Rare in their palm, they were never gonna let Rare release their games on both platforms, what could Nintendo do?
@whodatninja That works too.
I liked Kameo a lot, but my son.. my god.. hours and hours and hours of just fooling around with the various transformations in the different areas. So it gets props in my book for all the fun my son had with it.
I remember being so stoked for this game and I'd have loved to have seen it released on the GameCube. I also remembered how gutted I was when MS bought Rare and I realised it never would be GC bound. I did get a 360 a few months after launch though and Kameo was the very first game I bought for it. It was brilliant.
@Kafei2006 Tim Stamper has already said that Nintendo had the opportunity to buy the remaining 51% but never did.
@KirbyKirbyKirby Could have. Not Could of.
@Damo Exactly. Rare's buyout is not Rare 'selling out' or Microsoft being the devil; it was entirely Nintendo's fault. We still got great games on the Xbox platform but seriously, we lost Banjo Threeie, Conker's Other Bad Day, Donkey Kong Racing and a bunch of other titles; was it worth it?
@KirbyKirbyKirby Kameo was well received with critics.
@Ichiban Yeah, really miss the old Rare, I don't feel they've made any great games since they worked for Microsoft which is a shame. By the way, which version of Conkers Bad Fur Day is on the Rare Replay disk, is it the N64 version or the updated XBox version?
The first video is like mild sexual assault LOL
Anyway, it looks like it might have turned out rather good - impressed.
@Souldin Totally agree about Jet Force Gemini. One of Rare's best works and a game that truly needs a sequel. I just want to blast hordes of ants and watch their rainbow colored blood cover the room on a modern system with all the bells and whistles, is that too much to ask?
I actually really enjoyed this game as it was one of the first games I received for my 360 way back when. Playing some of Rare's more recent games like Viva Pinata and even Perfect Dark Zero has made me realize that they haven't completely lost their touch like so many would lead you to believe. You just need to enjoy their games for what they are and take off the rose-tinted glasses for a change. Then you might discover that Rare hasn't gone anywhere at all. I hope Sea of Thieves is up to their level of quality as well though since it is an mmo it would have to be in order for me to want it.
Pull your finger out Nintendo! You make me mad.
Almost bought a 360 for Kameo and I had no idea who Rare was but the game looked really good. Star Fox Adventures is one of my favorite games, best graphics of the SD Era, so I guess that had something to do with this game looking good and being right up my alley.
@Kafei2006 might want to fact check your history on that one more time.
@KirbyKirbyKirby It IS great. One of the most underappreciated titles of last gen.
I loved that game so much. It would've been awesome if it were on the GCN. I wish so much that Nintendo had bought Rare.
No point looking back and saying "what if" because nobody knows at all what might have happened. A Rare bought out by Nintendo might have been just as bad as one bought out by Microsoft, or any other company.
I really don't try to think about how the game would of turned out on a different system since I already currently own it on Xbox 360. To be honest though, I haven't actually played the game yet due to other games. I'll have to change that one of these days.
Two of the biggest blunders Nintendo did to put them in the position they are in now
1) Screwing over Sony with the Play Station
2) Not buying Rare when they had the offer.
If they didn't do that the landscape when it come to video games would be completely different.
@Ichiban Yeah ive lost count how many Hippie arse reviewers that say Perfect Dark N64 and Metroid Prime games are out of date now funny that as i still dont think they've been bettered.
Didn't realize this was targeted at GameCube. It would have been this far in development probably at least 3 years before the game came out on 360. What a different environment to launch into. Could have been a stand out.
Have some sweet Rare memories, but they were becoming a different company before they went up for sale. Good for them to try and become interesting again and to mark it with the great value of the Rare Replay release.
I remember playing the xbox360 version. It wasn't very good.
Well, this isn't that interesting, owing that quite a lot of footage from the GameCube version had been made available back in the days.
@Ichiban I totally agree with you and hope that Yooka-Laylee will help revive this type of game. It'll probably have to be a big hit for this to happen.. fingers crossed.
I'm glad Nintendo didn't buy Rare; it was a dying company, period.
@dronesplitter True, when the gamecube era came about a large amount of the talent in Rare left, pretty much all of the goldeneye/perfect dark team left to form free radical games (creators of timesplitters).
contrary to popular belief, microsoft actually gave Rare free reign most of the time, but nothing they made sold, so then microsoft stepped in and made them make kinect sports, we still have the great viva pinata games from the rare-microsoft era. as well as that, hopefully a new era of rare will start with Sea Of Theives (xbone+PC) which looks amazing.
@locky-mavo @whodatninja @pizzashapes No. Nintendo will never buy Playtonic Games. Last time I remember, Sutherland said that Playtonic prefers to be indie for life.
Besides, you people shouldn't be worrying about Nintendo buying PG.* You should pay attention about all of the stuff PG is doing, like for example, there are like more 12 people now working at PG. Kev Bayliss even made new artwork involving Yooka-Laylee.
*Besides, I don't want PG to be bought by any company at all, and then let this company have the same bad luck as Rare when it was bought by M$.
Kameo was pretty fun, it didn't have that spark of magic that it did when they were with Nintendo though. Would it of made a difference if they had made it with Nintendo? I don't know but either way I'm more upset that Microsoft didn't use rare the way Nintendo did.
I really didn't get into Kameo back on the 360, but I'm actually enjoying it on Rare Replay.
7.8 out of 10
not enough dinosaur foxes.
Part of me is sad that Kameo wasn't released on the GCN, but part of me is happy that Grabbed By The Ghoulies wasn't released on GCN.
@John_Enigma I wouldn't say "never", but IF Playtonic were up for grabs I'd want Nintendo to grab them, but in saying that, at this point they wouldn't, Playtonic isn't worth anything. Only one game "in production" doesn't sound like a smart buy at all! All I want is for Nintendo to work closely with them, stuff like exclusive content, Amiibos and future titles. And for Nintendo to be the ones to promote their games would be nice.
Besides Nintendo have already said they don't and won't throw around cash for exclusive indie games.
Ah Kameo, I remember that originally there would be 30 playable creatures. One of them was a gecko, who could climb any surface. But then they brought it back to 15, and in the end the game did only have a couple of playable creatures (If I am correct). And the gecko was replaced by a Yeti-like creature who could only climb certain walls. Sad really!
@locky-mavo
that will never happen. After seeing the 5 million dollars stat from kickstarter microsoft tried to offer ten million to make it exclusive ( that layee game) playtonic pretty much told them to go off themselves. (More to that but im busy hopefully someone can fill in the rest)
so rest assured its never going to be bought out hardly doubt if such a situation actually occurs all the talent that makes playtonic who they are would just leave so no guarantee success alas like rare uptill this point in time anyways beside not even a big stake company yet
Cameo was pretty darn neat on the Xbox. I thought it was gorgeous at the time of release. One pretty game for sure. It would have been nice to get on GameCube but we didn't. All I can say is Bummer!
@locky-mavo
Playtonic worth wouldn't be in their IP portfolio, but rather the talent. Don't forget that, while the company itself is new, most of the staff are from the SNES-N64 era Rareware. They've had a hand in the very titles Nintendo fans hold dearly.
That said, wouldn't want to see any company buy them out. History is liable to repeat itself, and there's no guarantee even with Nintendo that it won't restrict their creative freedom to have a parent company to answer to. Big N is known for leaving games in IP limbo and putting studios on sequel duty after all.
After playing the finished game on the 360, I think Nintendo dodged the bullet.
@Trikeboy
I second that. Also it's pretty sad that the final product on the 360 barely looks better than this unfinished stuff. Says a lot about the Gamecube's technical power though.
I would have loved to have played this on the Gamecube as I chose it over an Xbox and PS2.
@Kafei2006 With a 49% share Nintendo still would have a say. The reason for the sale was obvious - most of Rare's talent left the studio leaving a shell of what was there. Nintendo made the right decision, especially judging Rare's less than stellar output since then.
Was so excited for Kameo... Watched the footage over and over on a pre-launch Gamecube promotional VHS that I had. And then it never came...
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