"Kameo" became an Xbox 360 launch title (alongside Rare's "Perfect Dark Zero") and received a graphics upgrade in the process. The game had been about 80% complete for the original Xbox, but the transition freed the game's vision from technical constraints. With their timeframe extended, the development team added extra attacks for the ten characters, day–night transition interactions, in-game scores and leaderboards, a cooperative multiplayer splitscreen mode, and a post-release update that extends the cooperative mode over online and local network. The team revisited level ideas that did not fit on the previous console, and transitioned from synthesized music and a text-based story to an orchestral soundtrack and voice acting. The cooperative mode was also added retroactively, which challenged the already finalized level design. The most pronounced improvements were in the game's graphics and upgrades. Levels on the Xbox 360 could hold thousands of characters on-screen at once. The team playtested the feel of each elemental warrior and spent extra time refining the gradual difficulty increase in the opening level. In reflection, the project's biggest influences were ultimately Nintendo, Pokémon, and "Resident Evil". Around the time of "Kameo" release, lead designer George Andreas felt that the original "Kameo" concept of finding and using monsters had evolved and carried through to the final product. He said that there were enough ideas for a sequel within the new intellectual property if players were interested. Years later, Andreas reappraised and said that the game should never have been released and remains a sore subject for him to discuss. Since the project was nearly finished, they had opted for launch title release instead of starting over. Andreas felt that the effort to conceal the fairy Kameo as an elf was unsuccessful and that the character did not match the Xbox's first-person shooter demographic. Rare and Microsoft Studios released "Kameo" alongside the Xbox 360 console as a launch title: on November 22, 2005, in North America, and December 2 in Europe. The game was available for purchase in retail stores ahead of the console's launch date. At release, it was sold at a lower price than other Xbox 360 games. In advance of its February 2, 2006, Japanese release, Microsoft Japan held a "Kameo" promotional press event with celebrities and Kaori Manabe in late January 2006. "1UP.com" reported the event as "subdued" but appropriate for Japanese games journalists to test "Kameo", as the Xbox 360 had been selling poorly in the region.