Red tape preventing GoldenEye revival

by Chris Greenhough { Aug 6th 2008 at 6:26PM }

Microsoft wants it. Nintendo wants it. Rare has no control over it. Such is the situation with GoldenEye 007, fondly remembered and much-loved N64 shooter of yesteryear.

Speaking to Videogamer.com, Rare senior software engineer Nick Burton said that the bid to bring the eleven-year-old game to either the Virtual Console or Xbox Live Arcade was "locked in this no man's land," and that it was up to the separate license holders to play nice before the greatest Bond game of all time could be made available for download on any service. "The ball's not in anybody at Rare's court really," sighed Burton. "It's squarely in the license holders' courts. It's a shame. There's nothing on LIVE Arcade, there's nothing on Wii."

It's not solely about Microsoft or Nintendo reaching an agreement, either -- the revival of GoldenEye also hinges on those who own the license to the game rights now, the parties that have the licence to Bond as an IP, and "umpteen licensees." Man, looks like eBay is still your best bet if you yearn for some RCP-90 action.

Tags: fps, goldeneye, legal, microsoft, n64, nintendo-64, rare

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Kenneth Caldwell @ Aug 6th 2008 6:38PM

God, the RCP-90 was beautiful.

Frankly, though, as much as I'd love to have Goldeneye on VC I don't think the controls have held up over time. Too slow for a FPS. Perfect Dark was a bit better, especially where multiplayer customization is concerned, so I'd rather see a Joanna Dark revival. Maybe with some kind of new bikini feature.

FantomRedux @ Aug 6th 2008 6:38PM

Wouldn't that mean EA have the license? If so.... actually, i'm not sure which way to lean on this. If it is EA, then maybe theyll release it as a WiiWare game with online. It'll also mean theres a chance of it on both consoles, so no-one misses out :)

But EA... blech...

Mr Khan @ Aug 6th 2008 7:31PM

Activision took the rights to the Bond game license a few years ago, so the balls in their court

FantomRedux @ Aug 7th 2008 5:35AM

Thats even better ^_^. Now I don't have to hate the developer :D

bowlhed @ Aug 6th 2008 6:46PM

i would do many things to get this on VC, especially if it supported some online multiplayer!

James @ Aug 6th 2008 7:20PM

I'm surprise that Nintendo and Microsoft can't just come to an agreement, and both have it; then all the licence holders would jump at the chance of some people downloading the game twice (well, maybe).

Fullmetal Salchemist @ Aug 6th 2008 9:30PM

Nintendo doesn't Microsoft to have it, because the XBLA version will probably have online multi, while the VC version will probably be a quick and dirty port. Guess which one most people would want to buy?

Dustin @ Aug 6th 2008 8:07PM

I wish I could get Banjo-Kazooie on VC.

alex @ Aug 6th 2008 9:14PM

im still waiting for the N64 Classic controller before i download any native N64 titles, or at least a converter.

Roto13 @ Aug 6th 2008 9:20PM

I don't know why people even care about Goldeneye after playing Perfect Dark.

Sonic_13 @ Aug 6th 2008 9:46PM

Isn't this old news. A while back it was revealed (and reported here) that the game was almost set for re-release on Wii and 360 but Iwata stepped in to prevent the deal from happening because he said he didn't want to see one of the best N64 games ever on another console (which I actually agree with).

Max Headroom @ Aug 7th 2008 12:02AM

I'd like to see a source on that if possible. That would be really, really frustrating if true. The thing that really bugs me about that statement is that Nintendo never really ended up doing anything with FPS's afterwards. If they recognized that it was such a great game, then why didn't they try to follow up with good FPS's on GameCube and/or Wii? I think they definitely dropped the ball on that one.

A bit more on-topic: I'd rather see Golden Eye on WiiWare with enhancements that allow it to support the Wiimote.

z_fallen @ Aug 7th 2008 2:00AM

uh....metroid?

Max Headroom @ Aug 7th 2008 6:18AM

Metroid and Perfect Dark don't compare well because the Metroid Prime series has always been regarded as a First Person Adventure. It is a lot more focused on exploring the environment, whereas PD is more focused on action missions. The two games have very, very different moods and playstyles.

There's also the fact that none of the console MPs had multiplayer, while both Golden Eye and Perfect Dark had very deep and customizable multiplayer options. Multiplayer is a huge reason that those two games are so popular and it is unfortunate that the console Metroids never got such treatment. The DS proved it could be done well.

Don't get me wrong, I liked the Metroid Primes, but they definitely didn't slate my hunger for a good FPS experience.

ChrisCanberg @ Aug 6th 2008 9:52PM

You wanna know something, here's a great solution. Put it on both.

Honestly, there's no reason why neither 360 owners or Wii owners have this title available to play. It was a seriously great game, so if both of them want it, and respect each other's companies and success as much as they say they do, then they should have no problems here.

Personally, I hate Microsoft and I almost hate the 360, and I may be considered a Nintendo Fanboy, but that doesn't mean I'm not reasonable. Let everybody have fun.

Aaron @ Aug 6th 2008 11:06PM

Sorry, I disagree. Everyone knows this is Nintendo's game, through and through. Rare was only a great company while living under Nintendo's wings.

You *can* still play Goldeneye 007 on the N64, if you've got one. If I were Iwata, I'd keep it that way too. Whether it's held up well over time or not, it's still an N64 gem. Unless they can ever release it on the VC as an exclusive, Nintendo should guard Goldeneye just as they would a classic Mario game.

Jayenkai @ Aug 7th 2008 1:59AM

Yeah, but what a nice little bit of advertising it would be to have a GOOD Rare game be on MS's system, but with a gigantic Nintendo logo plastered all over it ;)

Sisyphus @ Aug 7th 2008 4:43AM

It sounded like Microsoft was willing to allow it on VC, but they wanted to have an updated version for Xbox360 in return. MS would probably gain more in that exchange, and so I can understand why N would refuse. Its the same situation as Banjo on VC, or whatever it's called. Why agree to a situation that would allow your competitor to benefit?