Activision GoldenEye game in November

By Tom Bramwell Published 4 June, 2010

Wii and DS versions, E3 reveal likely.

Eurogamer has learned that Activision is working on a James Bond: GoldenEye title for Wii and DS that should be released this November.

The new title may be a remake of the classic Nintendo 64 first-person shooter, originally developed by Rare, and according to our source the publisher intends to unveil it at E3.

Development duties have been split between UK-based Eurocom and US-based n-Space.

Eurocom has previously worked on James Bond titles during the franchise's time at E3, including the N64 title The World Is Not Enough.

Activision has been widely tipped to make a new GoldenEye game after it was spotted registering domain names derived from the name of the 1995 film. The original game is considered the best of a (mostly bad) Bond bunch.

Earlier this week it was spotted surveying gamers about a possible remake.

The Wii/DS GoldenEye title should not be confused with the Bizarre Creations game, thought to be called James Bond: Bloodstone, which is expected to focus on the driving side of the spy's skill-set.

We spoke to Activision but nobody was in a position to comment.

Picture of Tom.

About Tom Bramwell

Tom is Operations director of Eurogamer Network and Editor-at-Large of Eurogamer.net. He joined the company in February 2000.

Read more articles from Tom by visiting the Tom Bramwell archive page.

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Comments (57) 2 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • TonyHarrison #1 2 years ago

    Wow... this would be great. I'm sure some wouldn't be happy about it being Wii/DS, but if it is a Goldeneye remake, then it belongs on a Nintendo console....

  • RodHull #2 2 years ago

    Hurray! Eurocom never fail to deliver!

  • emhaslam92 #3 2 years ago

    simply awesome... presuming its a direct remake. still play it on the N64 - knives only... slapping only... golden gun... brilliant fun!

  • beastmaster #4 2 years ago

    I can see the pitch now - "A remake. With perks!!".

  • kangarootoo #5 2 years ago

    Goldeneye is the biggest example of rose tinted spectacles I've ever seen. It was awesome back in its day, when the FPS genre was evolving. These days, with so much progress made in the genre, it is passable but nothing special. I just don't get it, its like a religeon.

  • Ignatius_Cheese #6 2 years ago

    GoldenWhy?

  • pickles4uk #7 2 years ago

    Please just leave it alone Activision, just because you can't make a decent Bond game yourself don't trample on fond memories of a classic game. Nothing you ever produce will topple what Rare achieved so why waste the time and money.
    Edited by 1 at 04/06/10 @ 15:07

  • bluem4gic #8 2 years ago

    As long as the whore development house Eurocom do a DIRECT PORT with minor tweaks for dual analogue controls etc

    I will be happy

  • DoctorZoidberg #9 2 years ago

    Awful news. A remake will be terrible....

    What the people want is a port like Perfect Dark, but the people who care.

  • Machetazo #10 2 years ago

    @kanga: Goldeneye was a real breakthrough game for the FPS genre, on consoles. Before, it was the thing of PCs, and console players looked on. Here, Rare created a highly praised, critically acclaimed FPS game on console, that was not available on the PC, that carried the strength of the James Bond movie license for even greater appeal.

    It was also incredibly good fun to play, a great all-round package of fun. It's no surprise to me that it's remembered as fondly as it is. Rare completely shattered any expectations with the quality of what they produced, and showed that a movie-licensed game doesn't need to be rushed out to meet the screen date of its inspiration to be a success. Tbh, Rare could be thought of as trailblazers, here, as GE:007 started a revolution and inspired console FPS titles for many years after its release.

    On a related thing: Everything or Nothing is the best non-GE Bond game - agree/disagree? So, for a successful Bond game (in terms of it being enjoyable), there doesn't need to be the Goldeneye name.
    Edited by 1 at 04/06/10 @ 15:24

  • OldK1ngCole #11 2 years ago

    Drove passed Eurocom on the way to a family wedding in Ashbourne on Saturday which sparked a conversation between me and my brother why we hadn't seen or heard anything from them in a while.

    Lets hope they don't F**K this up!
    Edited by 1 at 04/06/10 @ 15:26

  • TonyHarrison #12 2 years ago

    We're a cheery bunch today, personally I'd love to relive Goldeneye, if it was done right of course. It's my favourite FPS as for the most part I've despised what the genre has become since then, so for me it would be like going back to the glory years of the genre.

    Perfect Dark got a pretty decent reception when it was remade despite being of similar style to this (the style that so many claim to be outdated), so I don't see why this wouldn't do equally as well if they nailed it.
    Edited by 1 at 04/06/10 @ 15:25

  • MaoZedong #13 2 years ago

    Post deleted at 09:40:08 17-12-2011

  • ignatiusjreilly #14 2 years ago

    It's not even just the memory. Goldeneye is as fun to play now as any other N64 game. Part of that appeal is nostalgia of course, but it also had great level design and a wide variety of environments, and a more realistic shooting method that meant you had to stand still if you want to aim properly.

    It was awesome, and it still is. I think I've played it through at least once every couple of years since release.

  • chubster2010 #15 2 years ago

    If it's not a remake of the classic N64 title...why revisit Goldeneye? It was a shit movie. There are far better James Bond movies that could be made into a decent videogame.

    But then...gamers will get all excited when they see 'Goldeneye' on the box won't they....clever!

    Edit:

    @ the -2-ers. You genuinely think GoldenEye is a decent movie?
    Edited by 1 at 04/06/10 @ 16:27

  • CallousB #16 2 years ago

    I doubt it will be a remake. It'll be a new game in a similar style..based on the film.

    I would think a remake would be impossible unless Nintendo agreed to allow it on the 360 as well (unlikely).

    I won't slate Eurocom just yet...as they were behind Dead Space Extraction on the Wii.

  • peteb #17 2 years ago

    What's in a name?

  • geeza2020 #18 2 years ago

    I loved Goldeneye back in the day, but i have played it again recently and the rose tinted spectacles completely shattered when i realised it was horribly slow, suffers from awful frame rate drops when too much is happening on screen (explosions, large amounts of enemies), moronic AI, and just isnt that fun anymore. It really is a testament to Rare that Perfect Dark is still playable today and really was a far superior game to Goldeneye in every way.

  • WinterSnowblind #19 2 years ago

    @MaoZedong
    I imagine this will be similar to the Gamecube "Goldeneye" game.

    They used the name for marquee value and nothing more, the actual game had nothing to do with the original, or the movie and instead featured a villian that actually had a Golden eye.

    Plus we already have Perfect Dark on XBLA, which was easily the better game. All we need is for the Goldeneye single player levels to be added as DLC for it, which is still likely to happen, and will probably be a more true to the original experience than this 'remake'.

  • FenderMaster #20 2 years ago

    has GoldenEye aged well?

  • fiery_jackass #21 2 years ago

    Of course Golden Eye has aged: the FPS world has moved on structurally, graphically etc etc. It's hardly a revelation. It doesn't change the fact that playing through it at the time is one of the gaming moments that still gives me goosebumps to think about.

    There is nothing good to come from a remake. I bet they'll even fuck up the music, which remains absolutely incredible (i think)

  • xandaca #22 2 years ago

    HOLY BALLS!

    The greatest game ever made, enhanced with the greatest console FPS aiming system ever made?

    YES PLEASE MATRON

  • kangarootoo #23 2 years ago

    @Machetazo

    "Goldeneye was a real breakthrough game for the FPS genre, on consoles. Before, it was the thing of PCs, and console players looked on. Here, Rare created a highly praised, critically acclaimed FPS game on console, that was not available on the PC, that carried the strength of the James Bond movie license for even greater appeal."

    I agree with all of that, but these things have to face the turn of time. Nobody stands outside of a cinema showing Avatar, waxing lyrical about what an incredible visual experience Steam Boat Willy provided.


    "Goldeneye is as fun to play now as any other N64 game"

    Well no dout, but surely the key point there is that there are better game experiences to be had these days than anything on the N64.

  • BlinxHDD #24 2 years ago

    This will not end well.

  • Jamman3 #25 2 years ago

    Please, please, please don't screw this up =/

    Honestly, all they need to do is keep everything exactly how it was before and add in online multi player.
    Edited by 1 at 04/06/10 @ 17:15

  • albinac #26 2 years ago

    it was great back then because it nailed the feeling,mood,atmospher and the guns.this was a great game that i must dig out of my box of tricks and play it again. i would like to see what this new one will be like, a remake or a new game continuing on from the first.i´ll keep my lazy eye on this one.

  • lambtron #27 2 years ago

    "The original game is considered the best of a (mostly bad) Bond bunch."

    The original game is considered one of the best games ever...

  • jonsaan #28 2 years ago

    It's not a remake though.

  • JamieR #29 2 years ago

    Crytek UK Studio is where most of the the golden eye people moved to i think so shame they aren't able to work on it.

  • Shikasama #30 2 years ago

    If you play Goldeneye on the N64 and still can't have fun because of the 'evolved genre' (look how much Call of Duty 'evolves' with each release) then you have no soul. You are an empty carapace of a human being.

  • ignatiusjreilly #31 2 years ago

    Well no dout, but surely the key point there is that there are better game experiences to be had these days than anything on the N64.

    There are some, sure, but the vast majority of games released these days still can't hold a candle to Goldeneye IMO.

    edit: and Steamboat Willy is better than Avatar ;) Not visually, but like with Goldeneye I'm not talking about the visuals.
    Edited by 2 at 04/06/10 @ 19:41

  • AphoticCosmos #32 2 years ago

    Goldeneye - awesome
    Activision - sucky

    Goldeneye doesn't need to be remade, it simply needs to be graphically updated. What's the bet they'll add in perks, killstreaks, choppers, harriers, etc.

  • Royal Fool #33 2 years ago

    Eurocom and n-space, together on a project?

    Wow, this will be spectacularly bad.

  • KDR_11k #34 2 years ago

    n-Space? Isn't that the company that made Geist for the Gamecube?

  • PierrePressure #35 2 years ago

    This will not end well.

  • spookyzombie #36 2 years ago

    I'm sure this'll make all the over 40's put down their Just Dance and Wii Sports bowling.

  • L0cky #37 2 years ago

    To be fair, nobody has said anything about it being a remake.

  • sega #38 2 years ago

    I'm thinking it might be a remake of the original - simply because it's on the Wii. You'd think, if they could, they'd try and sell a Goldeneye game to the 360 croud. I'm guessing this is on Wii because Nintendo actually hold the rights to the title rather than Rare - by that I mean Rare developed it for Nintendo in much the same way as Sega developed F-Zero GX and Namco developed Starfox Assault (and Rare themselves with the Donkey Kong games). There might be some problem with using the Rare logo, the orignal code etc so a remake would get round all that. So basically they could remake it exactly as it was, update the graphics and there you have it - a rerelease of N64 Goldeneye.

    Of course that's just a theory - we'll find out for sure in the coming months.

    It's just a theory

  • Phishfood #39 2 years ago

    I'm more pessimistic into thinking that its a Goldeneye : Rogue Agent sequel

  • Godz_Mercenary #40 2 years ago

    "The original game is considered the best of a (mostly bad) Bond bunch."


    That kind of makes Goldeneye sound like it wasn't amazing just better than the rest. Goldeneye was a classic not the "best of a bad bunch".
    Edited by 1 at 05/06/10 @ 12:37

  • Toadie48 #41 2 years ago

    But but but if you remake the original it's a Rare game, even though you have the current James Bond licence. Please please let Rare have a part in developing it even just a little part, it's got to be emotional for Rare seeing there little 'baby' giving attention to another developer.

  • Raiko101 #42 2 years ago

    It's the head guys at Free Radical who were responsible for what Goldeneye was. It's those guys who need to be directing this game, not Rare.

  • Koborover #43 2 years ago

    Rumours are that this new GoldenEye game will star Daniel Craig as Bond. Weird, but not unexpected because the Brosnan days are over and it beats using a generic Bond dude (that Sean Connery game was a nostalgic one off).

  • Slipstream #44 2 years ago

    A 3rd attempt at Goldeneye? Rare got it right the 1st time.

  • lavalant #45 2 years ago

    As much as I loved and still love Goldeneye, I'll pass on a Wii remake with Waggle controls leeching off of Rare's masterpiece.

  • Dylbot #46 2 years ago

    For the love of god, don't fuck this up, Acti. Straight port with tidied up textures and no bollocks waggle controls added in for shits and giggles please, and this will be a local multiplayer monster like it was on the N64.

  • trip919 #47 2 years ago

    Don’t really know how I feel about this to be honest. Goldeneye is a masterpiece – but it’s certainly of its time and the single player is immensely dated now. It would have to be massively revamped to be worthwhile. With that said, the multiplayer still stands up. I’m sceptical.

  • kangarootoo #48 2 years ago

    @ignatiusjreilly

    "There are some, sure, but the vast majority of games released these days still can't hold a candle to Goldeneye IMO."

    I agree with this too. My issue is not that GoldenEye isn't a very good game, which it is. My issue is when people say GoldenEye is still the best game ever made. That sort of talk is I believe steeped in nostalgic rose water.

    There have been games made since which, that if they had existed at the time, the devs of GE would have no doubt taken lessons from and taken GE to even greater highs as a result.

    There seems to be a feeling (in and out of this thread) that game design is something you get "right" or "wrong", and if you get it right, your work is done. Its more shades of grey than that. It is not heresy to say that the very good game that was GE could have been better, and that other games made since have made improvements in some areas. In fact not only is it not heresy, it is inevitable.

  • Mono_X #49 2 years ago

    @kangarootoo

    I'm no fan of nostalgia, but what improvements to FPS have their been since 1997 other than technical ones?
    Off the top of my head, the only significant changes to FPS have been regenerating health and limiting player guns to 2 or 3 and streaks/perks.

  • xandaca #50 2 years ago

    @Mono_X: I generally agree with you, but the major improvement is in signposting and making it easier for the player to work out what they have to do to complete a level. GoldenEye 007 remains my favourite game of all time and I play it fairly regularly, but I know it inside and out: a newcomer, especially for a generation of gamers raised on being led by the hand, would find some of the objectives impossibly obscure ('Install Covert Modem') and have difficulty with the idea of exploring, as happened with the XBLA re-release of Perfect Dark.

    But then it's entirely possible that Activision might rectify these things, possibly with the inclusion of a map marked with objective points or something. My unrealistic hope is that they'll fill in all the loose ends Rare left in the game (and kept people speculating for years), like putting an objective on the Dam island (originally there was an extra alarm and you had to collect the Piton Gun), using Ouroumov's briefcase to enter a rocket on the Silo, using the bike and blocked room on Runway etc.

  • sneetch #51 2 years ago

    @kangarootoo
    Goldeneye is the biggest example of rose tinted spectacles I've ever seen. It was awesome back in its day, when the FPS genre was evolving. These days, with so much progress made in the genre, it is passable but nothing special. I just don't get it, its like a religeon.

    Yeah, for myself, I loved Goldeneye, played it to death finishing all levels on all skill difficulties (same with Perfect Dark). I also adored the multiplayer, four player carnage with mines and klobbs.

    And I couldn't go back. I have my N64 with all my carts in the hall cupboard but I just couldn't do it. I've thought about it but like you said too much has changed and I think it'd ruin the memory. I don't know what this new game will be like but you can be sure that it won't be as good as I remember Goldeneye being, it's impossible. Remember being the operative word there. :)

  • kimchibaka #52 2 years ago

    IF it is a remade GE a la Perfect Dark it would be irresistible to an awful lot of gamers, including myself. Updated controls, online multiplayer (a shame it's on the Wii for that side of things), and of course a rocksteady framerate as well as superior visuals...yes please.

    To those expecting such a project on the 360, or GE DLC for Perfect Dark, it's not going to happen because of rights. I believe a buffed-up GE was already produced for the 360 but Ninty wouldn't flog them.

    And to those saying Rare should be involved - quite apart from this being similarly impractical, as Microsoft own it, there's no-one left at Rare of any note who had a hand in the original.

  • Nikanoru #53 2 years ago

    "and a more realistic shooting method that meant you had to stand still if you want to aim properly."

    I'm always baffled why anyone would use the standard control scheme that made you do that. The best controls, aiming with the stick and walking with the c-buttons, were as good as if not better than modern dual analogue (seriously... who even cares about analogue walking?) but people rarely seem to remember that.

  • bionutz #54 2 years ago

    yes, yes, yes!!!

  • dr_faulk #55 2 years ago

    Pistols only with one-shot-kills on Archives. Best multiplayer ever.

  • Der_tolle_Emil #56 2 years ago

    I don't really understand the rose-tinted spectacles comments. Of course we don't need to argue about graphics or the control scheme - those are completely out of date and I'm sure the remake will happily address those issues.

    The important part however is the gameplay and, especially multiplayer, is still amongst the best games out there. Brilliantly balanced and incredibly well designed maps as well. A bit basic maybe but it really has everything a good FPS multiplayer title needs.

  • varsas #57 2 years ago

    @Zedfragg: I'm guessing you think that most gamers don't like SMG?