GameSpot may receive revenue from affiliate and advertising partnerships for sharing this content and from purchases through links.

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.

Got a news tip or want to contact us directly? Email news@gamespot.com

Join the conversation
There are 170 comments about this story
170 Comments  RefreshSorted By 
GameSpot has a zero tolerance policy when it comes to toxic conduct in comments. Any abusive, racist, sexist, threatening, bullying, vulgar, and otherwise objectionable behavior will result in moderation and/or account termination. Please keep your discussion civil.

Avatar image for Sepewrath
Sepewrath

30684

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 1

User Lists: 0

Edited By Sepewrath

lol its funny watching people respond to something they know nothing about. This game will always be tied up in licensing hell, by more than just Nintendo, so that's the reason it will never happen.

4 • 
Avatar image for nintendoboy16
nintendoboy16

41535

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 43

User Lists: 14

Edited By nintendoboy16

@Sepewrath: Yep, they act like Nintendo owns the Bond franchise, which they don't. Metro-Goldwyn Meyer is another obstacle here. Not to mention, other license games have similar, if not worse problems (see: The Simpsons - Hit and Run).

Upvote • 
Avatar image for bickle2
Bickle2

1076

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

@nintendoboy16: no, they're not. Activision, who held the Bond license at the time merely had to sign off, which they didn't the same as EA signed off on Simpsons arcade and Ubisoft on the Turtles arcade. And as someone who has long been involved in licensing, it's UA, not the MGM parent company, the Broccoli and Fleming estates only care when the royalty check arrives. Nintendo owns the original game design for Goldeneye, and they blocked it.

Upvote • 
Avatar image for nintendoboy16
nintendoboy16

41535

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 43

User Lists: 14

@bickle2: "Nintendo owns the original game design for Goldeneye, and they blocked it."

By that logic, I don't think Perfect Dark would be on XBLA.

Upvote • 
Avatar image for bickle2
Bickle2

1076

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

@nintendoboy16: not at all, since neither of us have insight into the Perfect Dark production contract, nor the conditions of the sale to Microsoft. And Perfect Dark is not a title it would be advantageous to hold out on

Upvote • 
Avatar image for Purpledust
Purpledust

346

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 4

User Lists: 0

@Sepewrath: says the nintendo fanboy. *triggered*

3 • 
Avatar image for bakagami
bakagami

324

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 2

User Lists: 0

There must be more to this story or Nintendo wouldn't have agreed to it in the first place

3 • 
Avatar image for Sepewrath
Sepewrath

30684

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 1

User Lists: 0

@bakagami: Of course, they wouldn't have disagreed just for the lulz

4 • 
Avatar image for captnforever
CaptnForever

164

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 5

@Sepewrath: yeah, and it gets hard to think it was just a douche move, like get them to spend resources on development then just say "i change my mind", its gotta be more than that, somebody somewhere wanted more money than they were willing to pay for sure

3 • 
Avatar image for danku_chan
Danku_chan

163

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 1

User Lists: 0

Edited By Danku_chan

Perfect Dark was always a better game to me anyways. So I'm not too bothered by this, it still is a shame though.

5 • 
Avatar image for LexLas
LexLas

7317

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 4

User Lists: 0

@danku_chan: Perfect Dark was really good, great game. Although i still like Golden Eye.

3 • 
Avatar image for juboner
juboner

1183

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 1

User Lists: 0

@danku_chan: GoldenEye, for its time, was a much grander experience without a doubt.

2 • 
Avatar image for captnforever
CaptnForever

164

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 5

@danku_chan: perfect dark pioneered on nothing

3 • 
Avatar image for DantheMan9856
DantheMan9856

332

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 2

User Lists: 0

@captnforever: are you serious? PD was miles ahead of Halo. I picked up Halo and I thought....this is Halo? This sucks...

2 • 
Avatar image for smokerob79
smokerob79

1750

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

@DantheMan9856: halo has always been a rip off of doom.....what 2 games had a space marine on mars???

Upvote • 
Avatar image for captnforever
CaptnForever

164

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 5

@DantheMan9856: i fail to see what you are trying to prove, either way GoldenEye 007 is a 1997 game, it laid the carpet on anything that would follow... including Perfect Dark (2000) and Halo (2001)...

3 • 
Avatar image for deactivated-59e0c3e2b083b
deactivated-59e0c3e2b083b

140

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 11

User Lists: 0

@captnforever: THIS.

3 • 
Avatar image for deactivated-5861e28463500
deactivated-5861e28463500

117

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

@captnforever: So? Golden Eye might be a pioneer... but it was a bad game. Just like No Man's Sky.

Upvote • 
Avatar image for captnforever
CaptnForever

164

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 5

@ndmallmann:bad compared to what? it was '97, there was nothing better, everything you know and everything you love about fps's saw first light in goldeneye...

2 • 
Avatar image for danku_chan
Danku_chan

163

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 1

User Lists: 0

@captnforever: I never said perfect dark pioneered anything it just perfected what goldeneye had without limits of being a movie license.

Upvote • 
Avatar image for smokerob79
smokerob79

1750

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

@danku_chan: it was a good game that would never have happened without golden eye....its that simple......

Upvote • 
Avatar image for danku_chan
Danku_chan

163

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 1

User Lists: 0

@smokerob79: Tell me something everyone doesn't already know, it laid down the framework for my many great fps games one of which is my personal faovrite of all time which is perfect dark, I love goldeneye i was just saying that i liked perfect dark better and it perfected goldeneyes formula.

Upvote • 
Avatar image for t0mmgunn
T0mmGunn

49

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 5

User Lists: 0

Edited By T0mmGunn

Well can't blame Nintendo for getting its revenge :P

Upvote • 
Avatar image for sladakrobot
sladakrobot

11867

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

@t0mmgunn: For what?

Nintendo didnt wanted Rare anymore and MS bought them.

The acton from Nintendo Japan was just stupid

3 • 
Avatar image for grimakis
grimakis

147

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

@sladakrobot: You have no idea what happened to make Nintendo change their mind. In 2010, Goldeneye Wii came out, perhaps it had something to do with that? Maybe Nintendo was trying to secure 007 franchise for Nintendo consoles.

Upvote • 
Avatar image for Sepewrath
Sepewrath

30684

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 1

User Lists: 0

@sladakrobot:Nintendo never actually owned Rare, they were independent, Nintendo just had a large stake in the company. When they decided to start making games for other platforms, Nintendo sold their stock which I believe was 49% and MS bought Rare's majority portion as well. Then MS ruined the company, though it looks like Sea of Thieves may finally be Rare of old returning.

2 • 
Avatar image for westsiderz28
westsiderz28

670

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

@Sepewrath: rare of old will never return

Rare are now play tonic games

Upvote • 
Avatar image for alexatkin
alexatkin

126

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 1

User Lists: 0

@Sepewrath: Nobody said they owned Rare, just that they didn't want them any more which is confirmed by the fact they were willing to sell their share.

Upvote • 
Avatar image for clay544888
clay544888

728

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

I don't have to worry about a "rights" issue when I could just download the rom for PC and play it with an emulator IN HD graphics for FREE. If you have at least an average pc, then I don't see why you wouldn't just do that to play it...

Upvote • 
Avatar image for DantheMan9856
DantheMan9856

332

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 2

User Lists: 0

@clay544888: lol, HD Graphics doesn't entail changing the resolution in an emulator. lol

2 • 
Avatar image for clay544888
clay544888

728

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

@DantheMan9856: Then what does it entail? The graphics are clearly HD after the change..I don't understand exactly what you're saying...

Upvote • 
Avatar image for DantheMan9856
DantheMan9856

332

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 2

User Lists: 0

@clay544888: using an emulator to improve resolution doesn't make it HD. HD in these cases pertain to remapping everything with new HD detailed graphics. I am pretty sure they didn't scale their graphics down from HD to import them to 64 hardware when they made the game. If anything, they were already low res to begin with. The selling point is the new detail and finishing touches that the original game hardware could not capture or handle or to put in things that weren't even there to begin with. Simply emulating the game to 720 HD on an emulator is not the same thing as what we are being shown in the new GoldenEye video.

3 • 
Avatar image for Purpledust
Purpledust

346

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 4

User Lists: 0

@clay544888: thats some amazing logic for a 5 year old boy, and yes I just assumed your gender

3 • 
Avatar image for santinegrete
santinegrete

6778

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 46

User Lists: 0

@Purpledust: honestly, 5 years today only game with mom's cellphone or the tablet.

5 • 
Avatar image for clay544888
clay544888

728

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

Edited By clay544888

@Purpledust: Wow you got some bad assumption skills..it must be that purple dust you're on getting to that (obviously) little brain you have there. Or maybe you're just that stupid..I'm ASSUMING both. Lmao.

Upvote • 
Avatar image for grimakis
grimakis

147

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

@clay544888: Of course you don't need to worry about rights if you don't honor them. Just like you don't need to worry about shoplifting laws as long as you can run fast enough.

4 • 
Avatar image for paul136
Paul136

184

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

@clay544888: I did that a couple of years ago. Plays nice on the dual sticks after you've spent sime time fine tuning the controls. It also looks a lot nicer than the original thanks to improvements built in to the emulation software.

That being said, i didn't enjoy playing it anywhere near as much as i was hoping. Call me crackers, but there's something about a legal & official release that you just can't beat :) Now that i know it was pretty much ready to go, it makes me sad to think that a small legal rights hiccup stopped it dead.

If anyone at MS is reading, i'd happily pay £20 for this on the store! Pay off the miserable gatekeepers & reap the rewards!

3 • 
Avatar image for sladakrobot
sladakrobot

11867

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

@clay544888: its not for free if you bought a pc to run it and the internet to download stuff

/s

Upvote • 
Avatar image for bakagami
bakagami

324

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 2

User Lists: 0

@sladakrobot: Yeah, you also have to pay rent and electricity in the home where you house that PC

Upvote • 
Avatar image for clay544888
clay544888

728

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

Edited By clay544888

@sladakrobot: Well if you got it on xbox, you'd have to have internet. Point is, you can have it now IF you have an average or even below average pc WITH internet of course. But c'mon who doesn't have access to some kind of internet nowadays anyway?? You're using internet right now to post this message.

Upvote • 
Avatar image for sladakrobot
sladakrobot

11867

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

Edited By sladakrobot

@clay544888: you didnt saw that "/s" ?

3 • 
Avatar image for bakagami
bakagami

324

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 2

User Lists: 0

@sladakrobot: yeah but I'm trying to figure out what /sausage means....

Upvote • 
Avatar image for roxor3
roxor3

142

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 5

For its time, Golden eye was a mater piece, and one of the only, if not only video game based on a movie character that didn't suck. That game made owning a N64 worth it by its self.

4 • 
Avatar image for deactivated-5861e28463500
deactivated-5861e28463500

117

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

@roxor3: The controls were horrible. Bad game. I remember hating it and not understanding the appeal even at its time.

Upvote • 
Avatar image for JoInfo
JoInfo

103

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 24

User Lists: 0

What profit does Nintendo hope to make here?

2 • 
Avatar image for t0mmgunn
T0mmGunn

49

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 5

User Lists: 0

@JoInfo: revenge for taking away Rare and killing it in the process XD

2 • 
Avatar image for Elranzer
Elranzer

1422

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

@t0mmgunn: "Taking" Rare? Nintendo SOLD their stake in Rare to Microsoft when they decided to dump Rare, as their game quality was going down. I have a feeling that Nintendo was none too thrilled with Conker's Bad Fur Day.

Upvote • 
Avatar image for louixiii
LouiXIII

10052

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

Looks pretty clean.

Upvote • 
Avatar image for pixel8
PIXEL8

203

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 6

User Lists: 0

Looks good. Release the damn thing already.

Upvote •