Rare's Kameo is delayed once again

British developer Rare has announced a further delay to its Xbox-exclusive title Kameo: Elements of Power, with the Microsoft-owned studio pushing back the title to an unspecified date, raising speculation that the game may be Xbox 2 bound.

A statement on the developer's website informs readers that "after a lot of thought and discussion, Rare and Microsoft Game Studios have decided to push back the launch of Kameo: Elements of Power in order to incorporate several changes and new features (some minor, some not so minor)."

Kameo was originally destined for the GameCube before Microsoft's purchase of Rare, and has already been delayed several times - and has reportedly been significantly redesigned on at least one occasion since it was shown in playable form at E3 2003.

This fresh delay will undoubtedly push Kameo back into mid to late 2005 - and has caused some to speculate that Microsoft may have decided to re-target the title on its next-generation Xbox 2 platform, which is expected to launch in late 2005.

Last month, Lionhead Studios cancelled development on Intrepid's Xbox title B.C. despite the fact that the game was nearing completion, with insiders at the company informing gi.biz that the decision was at least partially motivated by Microsoft, which, it's claimed, isn't interested in publishing original Xbox titles beyond early 2005.

If true, this would certainly suggest that the company could have retargetted Kameo onto Xbox 2, where the quirky game - which places the player in the role of a fairy with the power to possess or morph into a range of other creatures - is arguably likely to perform better as a near-launch title than it would on the well established Xbox.

However, the delay will be embarrassing for Microsoft nonetheless, and doubly so if Kameo has really been moved to the Xbox 2 platform. After spending an unprecedented $375 million on Rare in September 2002, the publisher has only coaxed one Xbox title out of the studio to date - the commercially unsucessful Grabbed By The Ghoulies last Christmas.