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Xbox Boss Responds to GoldenEye 007 Xbox 360 Footage

"GoldenEye has always been a rights issue, not a 'getting code to run' issue."

170 Comments

Earlier this week, some footage of what was claimed to be an Xbox Live Arcade version of Rare's classic GoldenEye 007 emerged online. It looked wonderful and made us sad that it never came out.

Now, Xbox boss Phil Spencer has responded to it. Asked by someone on Twitter if the game was actually in development for Xbox 360 as was rumored, he didn't confirm either way. He did, however, say that getting GoldenEye on new platforms is a "rights issue."

"GoldenEye has always been a rights issue, not a 'getting code to run' issue," Spencer explained.

This may also explain why GoldenEye 007 was not featured in the 30-game Rare Replay package.

According to Unseen64, GoldenEye for Xbox Live Arcade was in development at Rare in 2007 and 2008. Microsoft, Activision (the James Bond rights-holders), and Nintendo apparently agreed to a publishing deal. However, Nintendo Japan is purported to have shut the project down for unknown reasons just months before its planned release.

Similar to the original N64 GoldenEye, developers at Rare reportedly had their faces scanned into the Xbox 360 version for all manner of side-characters like enemies and civilians.

Activision acquired the James Bond video game license in 2006. At the time, it was announced that the deal ran through 2014. A James Bond game from the makers of Kim Kardashian: Hollywood was released in 2015, though no new console or PC games have been announced.

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urbanman2004

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POS's

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SkyHighGam3r

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LEAK THAT SHIT

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Simulator_Shock

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I like how the entire article was summed up in the header. Working at gamespot must be a very slow job...

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PinchySkree

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No more staring at the floor to move at 20fps.

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Bickle2

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I know exactly why this was shut down

The contract with Nintendo required a release on Wii, but more importantly that it have feature parity

In all ways

Long story short, Nintendo wanted them to build Xbox Live for the Wii, a full featured Xbox Live. Which for some reason was turned down. They then got butt hurt seeing their chance of having a real online experience die, and backed out.

I'm sure Nintendo will be more amenable when they go third party

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Simulator_Shock

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Edited By Simulator_Shock

@bickle2:

"I'm sure Nintendo will be more amenable when they go third party"

Keep trying to convince yourself that kid.

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Bickle2

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@Simulator_Shock: They will when it's something to trade for things they want. With a horse no longer in the console game, and their staff completely unfamiliar with modern console architectures and tools, they'll want to get games out far more quickly than their existing staff can accomplish. It's an easy thing to trade that costs them nothing,

Remember, what they wanted out of the original deal was denied them, so they pulled out.

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cube-gage

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I always preferred the Single Player of Medal Of Honor Underground on PS1, so atmospheric and should be remade.
But yeah, Goldeneye multiplayer was very good at the time, but I doubt the rights issues will ever be resolved so might as well forget about it. Timesplitters 2 was an amazing spiritual successor, and why there isn't a Timesplitters 4 on current gen I don't know, it was a very popular franchise.

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Alex4789123

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Yet another mistake on the long list for Nintendo of Japan. They simply don't understand the western market. They are fools. They could have made a fortune off this.

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Timesplitt

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@Alex4789123: xbox live perfect dark died within a month and no one played it. how does a game that got universal multiplayer praise back in the day and was lauded; amount to nothing on xbox live?

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smokerob79

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@Alex4789123: it was going to sell for 10 dollars or less and you needed to pay RARE nintendo and MGM for rights usage.....to many hands in the pot.....

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UntraceableHaze

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You were to good for this world

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smokerob79

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i miss these games.....the couple they did for the first Xbox was good and will always love golden eye.....

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SonyPony4eva

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This game was good for its time when we were small children and teens, but it should stay in the past. I'm turning 28 and this game with its awful controls hasn't aged well at all. I know it's a N64 game (still have my original console) but there are way better old school games that actually need to be resurrected from the dead with a remake. Too many FPS games on the market already.

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Littlebitsofgaming

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@sonypony4eva: except this wasn't a simple port of the N64 version. This was a whole new game built from the ground up for the 360.

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Timesplitt

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@littlebitsofgaming: really built from the ground up? goldeneye sources on steam makes this look like poop

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UntraceableHaze

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@sonypony4evaAnd the dumbest comment of the day goes to......

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smokerob79

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@sonypony4eva: wow we are talking about the game that started muti player on so many levels it not even funny......getting that online with say 32 people in one server would crazy AWESOME.......

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Stiler

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Seriously, Nintendo is becoming my most dis-liked company as far as how they treat their fanbase. From the countless youtubers who they hit with strikes (even if it's not Nintendos creation) to the closing of things that many people would have wanted.

They seem to have an issue of letting people enjoy/share in things.

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Timesplitt

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@Stiler: same could be said for capcom, i hate you capcom or and i hate you crytek for killing timesplitters

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RhythmAndBlues

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@Stiler: They've been treating us like crap for years, mate. They'd still be charging £39.99 for Super Mario World if they thought people would pay it.

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mattsaroni24

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Now that I've seen that video, I don't need the game to exist. Seriously it's only the visuals that you would want it for, and the video shows what it would have been. It satisfies the desire.

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Redsyrup

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@mattsaroni24: But the gameplay looked buttery smooth. That's where the charm lies in Goldeneye. The music is also superb.

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topgun777

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@mattsaroni24: Only the visuals, what about online multiplayers?

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smokerob79

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@topgun777: 32 people playing golden gun would be AWESOME......

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Troll_Elite

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Nintendo... *sigh* I really wish that company would just auction off it's IP to respectable developers and disappear from the face of Earth.

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smokerob79

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@troll_elite: they are still worth more then sony.......sorry not going any place.......and the fact they have been around for over a 100 years should be a clue as well.....

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Littlebitsofgaming

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@smokerob79: Nintendo are actually losing money year after year and making less profit per year than either Sony or Microsoft. The Wii U was the worst selling console they have ever made (not including the Virtual Boy).

The only reason they are still around is because of the money they made in the 80s and 90s. If they can't start making some money soon, they'll soon be going the same way as SEGA... and before you reply with "that will never happen", that's what SEGA fans said too.

Nintendo have not been Nintendo for years now and if this NX console isn't a runaway success, then they will probably have to quit the console market, stop being so 'protective' of thier IPs and start just being a game developer for other consoles.

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smokerob79

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@littlebitsofgaming: dude i heard the same thing in 95 when playstation hit.......20 years later they are still here....

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mattsaroni24

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@troll_elite: Oh, now that's it done making or publishing the best games ever, it can disappear?

F u.

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RhythmAndBlues

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@mattsaroni24: Anything can disappear if it ceases to be relevant. Nintendo have been flirting with redundancy since the N64 era - arguably their consoles would've disappeared from the home already, had they not hit upon runaway success with the Wii.

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xgalacticax

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Good! Good!

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e3man01

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Edited By e3man01

Since it's a rights issue, I can see why Activision would have needed to be involved as they held the rights to JB, but why Nintendo? This was a Rare game, why did the Big N need to be involved? Did Rare give up partial control to get this made? So all the crap Nintendo got for this not happening was warranted after all. Nintendo's new slogan should be, "Be grateful what we give you, it's not what you want, so '**** Off', we're Nintendo and deal with it".

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Littlebitsofgaming

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@e3man01: if I recall, while Rare developed the game. The coding and everything like level design, ect belong to Nintendo.

This is why the Goldeneye remake from a few years back had totally new levels. It's also why GE didn't appear on the Rare Reply collection from last year.

So if anyone wanted to do a remake of the original game using the original levels, Nintendo would have to give thier blessing.

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juboner

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If it lost its heavy, floaty feel, then I dont know if it would be as enjoyable. I dont think it would be and I think it was like that bc of the N64 limitations.

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e3man01

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This is one game I'd pay $30 for. It's THAT damn good. If you've played it, you know. One of the N64's best, top 10 easily.

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smokerob79

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@e3man01: this and the star wars game needs to be remade.....i miss that game as well.....

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Kynareth5

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@e3man01: Yeah, it was good. I'd buy the remake too if it were finished.

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MaxBlaze

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That music. Kreygasm

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westsiderz28

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This has got to happen Phil spencer get your wallet out this will shift consoles

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Otterbee

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Edited By Otterbee

@westsiderz28: Please elaborate on how this will "shift consoles". If you're saying that this game would be a system seller, I think you're being ridiculous.

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westsiderz28

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@otterbee: a true remake of one of the greatest 1st person shooters ever made only available on Xbox with live multiplayer would sell systems my boy

Just think of how many goldeneye fans there are

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ZmanBarzel

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Edited By ZmanBarzel

@westsiderz28: "Just think of how many goldeneye fans there are"

Not that many?

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smokerob79

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@zmanbarzel: lots of us out there.....this game really started what MP became......

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Littlebitsofgaming

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@smokerob79: As much as I loved GE, it didn't start multiplayer.

Doom for the PC really was the game that opened the door for online multiplayer gaming and even then, there were multiplayer games before that. But it was Doom that got ball rolling in terms of popularity and what could be done.

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smokerob79

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@littlebitsofgaming: not really.....many more copies of golden eye were sold then doom as a lot of people did not have a PC able to run doom.......im not saying doom did not do anything it did.....but what i saying is a lot of people got to see golden eye before doom......after that unreal set the stage for 32 and 64 players......

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nanosuituser059

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Edited By nanosuituser059

@smokerob79: Lmao more people had Doom installed on their computers than Windows 95. And that's just the paid version, it doesn't include shareware version or the console ports.

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smokerob79

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@nanosuituser059: none of the console ports had online as even i played doom on SNES.......i know what doom did but in the same time frame most people saw golden eye before they got to see doom......i did not see doom online until 1998 as i built something to play unreal on......more people had gaming consoles at this point then computers.....

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