GoldenEye 007 Is Getting A Digital Release On Xbox

There is no way there not going to bring this to a nintendo console, and if they don't, I don't even know what to say.

So defo not going to be a switch online release. First Nintendo direct of 2022 will be interesting...

XBox and Nintendo have been playing friendly with each other for a while now, so this can still wind up on the Switch at some point. If it were a Sony release, then I'd be worried.

Always sad to see people denying the legacy of this game. Before Goldeneye 64, FPS enemies were bulletsponges aimbots. In Goldeneye you really felt like you were shooting real people with a lot of different animations and realistic behavior. It was a game with amazing game design creativity. Nothing came close to it on PS1 or Saturn.

I thought Nintendo were one of the companies that had a say on this game? Either Microsoft gave them a bunch of money or... it's also coming to Switch Online... where I still won't pay extra to sub up.

Of course this is coming to Switch. First on Xbox, sure. But no way Nintendo courteously gets Banjo Kazooie from Microsoft but not Goldeneye.

Oh it'll come, I doubt Nintendo backed down without some kind of dual release for both systems. I want to bet Microsoft paid MGM a big sum of cash to get it released and agreed with Nintendo as long as it came to Switch too.

While the game was great when it released, it has aged so poorly. I wouldn't wanna ruin any of the great memories by replaying this today.

Nintendo really screwed up when they let Rare go.

With Banjo-Kazooie coming to NSO Expansion Pack in January it feels like what happened is Microsoft agreed to Rare's N64 games (including Goldeneye 007) coming to NSO Expansion Pack in return for Goldeneye 007 coming to Xbox.

Nintendo will get it ported in 2023, it will look a bit ropy, poor frame rate etc, but at least it can be played in handheld and will bring extra cash in for the developers.

Nothing about that leak suggests it isn't coming to the Switch, wasn't it Nintendo themselves who got the ban removed? Also why the N64 version as opposed to their own remaster?

I'd be very surprised if this doesn't have a Switch release as well

@Faucet,

Not so sure of that to be honest.

https://www.purexbox.com/news/2021/12/rares-everwild-is-reportedly-a-real-mess-still-being-figured-out

Awesome. Glad to see classics living again. Hope it does come to Switch too.

@SOOAP,

Not sure what you mean when you say Nintendo deserves what it gets, as even if they get the game or not it's hardly a massive loss, the game is a classic but it's wider appeal outside of core Nintendo fans is very debatable.

Never say never.

Oops wrong film.

I can see those who haven't played it getting really hyped about playing it and then playing it and realizing it its aged very poorly. The game really needs that remaster as a straight port with maybe better controls and a better framerate won't fix how dated and old it is. Incredible game for its time yes but like most 3D games from its era its aged and aged a lot.

they should finish the Remastered version too tho...

I'm not dismissing out of hand a Switch release because of leaked achievements on the Xbox. It would seem to be a clickbait article intended to trigger us, and it seems to have worked.

@Faucet it made me so sad.

Of course not...

@SOOAP,

I totally get buying more developers is a good idea, as would be expanding their own in house development teams, but not so sure Rare was such a massive loss to be honest.

Way to jump the gun with the article. Who says it's not coming to Switch? Just because only the xbox images got leaked doesn't mean it's an automatic xbox exclusive 🤔

@SOOAP the only thing they lost with rare is the goldmine of IP's that they have.
2022 and people are still missinformed about the whole Rare situation.

@Arkay,

If we look beyond the headline the article does go on the say a Switch online release might be on the cards.

" While it's disappointing that GoldenEye 007 isn't coming to Switch, it does bode well for a potential release, perhaps as part of the Nintendo Switch Online service."

This game as a single player has aged and it is only fun to play for the nostalgia. Now if you got 4 people to play some local splitscreen, then it is still hours of endless fun. Remote mines were always one of my favorite weapons. Online would be a great addition…

How? Will the game remain the same or will they replace Brosnan with Craig?

@johnvboy oh my, you are absolutely right! I completely missed that.
Thanks for pointing it out.

I have no interest in N64 games coming to janky, poorly running rental online services on Switch. I hope Xbox can emulate N64 games better and I hope xbox customers have a better service. Good for Microsoft. I have Goldeneye on my Wii, so I'm fine too.

Oh my goodness I don’t know why the spin here is so negative. This is HUGE news for NSO! I am a proud expansion pass subscriber and am psyched, even if this would be a 2023 add-on

Of course it’s coming to switch but also it’s likely Nintendo was the road block years ago yet were quick to blame MGM.

Its okay because i played this on my OG N64 the other week just for nostalgia reasons.

5 mins later i turned it off because as nostalgic as it is, the game is an absolute mess to play today.

Will definitely come out on the NSO Expansion Pack. Let's wait and see, because if a re-release is coming, and this is from Xbox's achievements, it's because Nintendo WORKED to get the game rereleased, no way they'd go through all the trouble, just to put it on Xbox.

@glaemay I’d say Medal of Honor was definitely close to GoldenEye and that was on the PS1. That type of FPS has died though which is a real shame.

This was leaked over 10 years ago. Don't know what happened for it not to come out but hopefully this time it will. Fingers crossed though for it to come to Nintendo switch where it belongs.

No announcement but the headline is claiming what’s absolutely unknown? Not optimal.

I would only be disappointed if this was an official announcement and not just some simple analysis of upcoming Xbox achievements.

Nintendo and Microsoft hold a special relationship, so there's no way this game would be exclusive to one or the other without a lot of talks and agreements.

This is why I'm happy to still have an N64 console and original Goldeneye cart. Still, would prefer to enjoy it on modern consoles for the easier access

It needs a remake not a remaster. Hope it will never get released and ruin the game's reputation

Bethesda games (Doom, Quake) have achievements on Switch, no reason they can't just add a menu for such things.

"It can't be for a Nintendo console, 'cos only the Xbox achievements have been leaked."
Makes total sense.
If it were due for Nintendo, too, we'd definitely have seen all of the Nintendo Online Achievements.

@SOOAP They aren't lazy, they literally refused to buy Rare, and in the end the company just didn't end up in Activision's hands (I can't imagine a worse fate for the company, they would probably be developing CoD right now) cause the company saw the Rare financial reports and withdrew from the acquisition, and Rare returned in despair to Microsoft (afraid of bankruptcy, expecting to be turned down as they refused Microsoft to go after Activision) but since Microsoft was looking for devs for the Xbox they avoided bankruptcy (which is probably the most beneficial result for Nintendo, as they would be able to get everything for a low price as they were already partially responsible in case of bankruptcy)

It was Nintendo that deban Goldeneye from Germany (and NoE is in Germany, so every game must probably also release in Germany), so yeah, it's also coming to a Nintendo System near you.

@johnvboy SoT Also had problems and 5 to 6 years dev cicle, still Rares best selling, more profitable game

@Arkay,

So did I, had to delete a few comments there, funny thing was one of my comments said to read beyond the headline, which i failed to do when I first saw the article.

The remastered version would be dope. Been aging that on my PC thru the Xbox emulator. Pretty fun switching back and forth between classic and new(ish) graphics. Played well with a Xbox controller too

@MaikonCSGarcia,

I think their main output was just to close to what Nintendo has already, and that sells better, and when Rare wanted a buyout all those years ago, it's was just more than Nintendo thought it was worth.

Banjo, they have Mario

Diddy Kong racing, they have Mario Kart

This game aged poorly, but aged poorly means it was good when it was new, it's just that other games came and improved its ideas even more, and now, it looks like a bad game in retrospect.

A proper remaster could fix many of its issues, especially technical issues like poor frame rate.

Ehh doesn't matter to me..that game DID not age well and anyone who tries to fool themselves otherwise has about 5 pairs of rose tinted glasses on at once.

I’d rather have the Wii version.

Here's hoping it comes to the NSO!

@Savage_Joe Not only that, Rare had problems with crunch, that IS what led them to 2 mass resignarion after PD released.

Is it not coming or are people just assuming this?

I hope it’s actually coming. The rumors of Chrono Cross remaster did not become a reality so far.

This is the only game that would get me to drop 50 smackeroos on Switch Online Plus.
People say it aged poorly but for me no FPS has ever had quite the satisfying controls and level design of Goldeneye.

And yes, I played it recently.

@Damo Goldeneye can't be released on Xbox without Nintendo's permission.
Nintendo blocked it from being released on Xbox 360, but this time they seem to have gotten an agreement with MS.
Microsoft deserves it looking at all their Switch support.

It can't be a coincidence that Banjo is coming to Switch this month, and Goldeneye achievements appearing same month.
My guess is that Banjo were part of a deal with Goldeneye.

Another reason not to purchase the online 64 subscription

@dBackLash Single player hasn't aged well, especially the cinematics, but the multiplayer is still fun as hell.

My only hope for this is that I can walk with the turok style controls, foward/back with the face buttons, and aim with left stick. I don't think that was included in the PD release on xbox. If i recall, you could walk with right stick, but that feels like garbage to me.

@Faucet well, Rare didn’t make any great game after the N64, so I think Nintendo chose wisely.

Hopefully Limited Run will come through with a physical release. This will be so much fun to play on my new Xbox Series X. I would prefer to have it on Switch though...

Wouldn’t it be great if it came to Xbox & Switch on the same day!

@Desrever I would say the Nintendo Xbox relationship is all Microsoft. Microsoft are probably paying Nintendo to let it on Switch Online for fan service.

Xbox is the true home of N64 emulation and retro gaming.

@Friendly Are you kidding?
Rare released several great games after Nintendo.

• Kameo on Xbox 360 were one of the best games on that gen even when released in 2005 and still looks gorgeous with it's free 4K/60 upgrade.
  Kameo were originally made for GameCube....Nintendo sure missed out there.
• Sea of Thieves became a huge success.
• Grabbed by the Ghoulies were great.
• Kinect Adventures were fastest and most accurate camera controlled game on any system ever.

Let's not forget their great Rare Replay collection with 30 games for only 30 bucks.

They are currently making a new AAA RPG called Everwild.

This has to be coming to both Xbox and Switch. Wasn’t it Nintendo asking to get it “unbanned” in Germany?

If this does get released, any chance we can get Diddy Kong Racing and Donkey Kong 64 re-released?

@liveswired Microsoft and Nintendo have a close and great relationship. In fact Xbox HQ and Nintendo HQ is only a 10 minute walk between them in Redmond.

Microsoft released lots of good games on Switch.
It's about time Nintendo allows Goldeneye on Xbox.

@ArcadeEighty it was a marketing firm that has worked for nintendo in the past

Wouldn't be surprised at all if this goes on N64 online or just on the eShop. There are plenty of Microsoft published titles on switch after they've run their course on Xbox.

There's no proof that it isn't coming to Switch, for all we know this will see a cross platform release on both Xbox and Switch

If it comes to Xbox I’m sure it’ll come to Switch considering all the hoopla involving Nintendo in the first place. Rather have it as a stand-alone release in HD and a better frame rate but Nintendo will probably rather have it to sell expansion pack subscriptions.

If it does come to Switch, Oddjob should be banned from multiplayer 😡

But @Damo , if people stop complaining about every single article on NintendoLife, who is going to do the incredibly important, nay, absolutely vital work of holding video game journalists accountable?
After all, it weren't for these ever vigilant guardians of truth and accuracy, you lot would probably stop publishing Nintendo news altogether and just write endless articles about Sakurai's cat!

@electrolite77 A leak doesn’t mean “Not Nintendo”, even with an Xbox source. But “Not Nintendo” on a Nintendo blog is just picking at the emotional response of the audience since there’s been no press information

@Ventilator Well, the three games you mention are good games in my opinion, but not great games. Maybe Sea of thieves in the current state, I don’t know, but definitely not at launch.

And yeah, rare replay mainly thrives on the games released on the N64. Rare at its peak.

And Everwild has restarted development recently. They don’t know what kind of game they wanted to make, they just had a CGI trailer.

So Rare really is a mixed bag after the departure of Nintendo. Definitely not a company that made a hit after hit, as was the case on the N64.

@Desrever ps4 version comes out and any female with boobs is removed from the game

Having not been around for the n64 times, was the entire reason I got the expansion pack, so the more they add the happier I'll be.

@Friendly Sea of Thieves the last 2-3 years is nothing like release version and and is why it have 25 million players.
SOT still also gets new free content. 100% were free since release. Just like "No Man's Sky" game.

Kameo not being great? Average review score is 80% or something. It were also praised on release.
It's a unique game even today.

I feel as though the reason it's most likely the original version and not the remaster is BECAUSE it will be coming to the Switch too. Hear me out. Nintendo and Xbox have worked out Xbox releasing it, but Nintendo will most likely be allowing it because they too are launching it on their N64 online. But if Xbox had the remaster one, the Nintendo version would be "worse" and Nintendo wouldn't want that.

who cares if the game has or hasn't aged well? this would be a major win for games preservation. I want people 20+ years from now to be able to play such foundational games in as close to their original form as possible without having to pay exorbitant costs for ancient hardware that is more likely to have busted by then. hell, I want to try this game.

sometimes, there is value in playing old, "obsolete" games to see their historical relevance. I played QUAKE 1 for the first time earlier this year as a fan of more modern "boomer shooters" like DUSK or Prodeus, and while that game still holds up so well, it is far more fascinating to see how far the FPS genre evolved thanks to such a seminal release.

@MaikonCSGarcia This isn’t true. Rare rejected the Activision bid. The directors at the time wanted to stay connected to hardware so they could continue to be seen as industry leading tech-wise. I interviewed them all about it for a magazine about 5 years ago.

Rare continue to make great games. Grabbed by the Ghoulies has aged well, Viva Piñata is iconic, Nuts and Bolts isn’t what people wanted but it’s a damn good game, Kinect Sports, the first one, is the best Kinect game. And Sea of Thieves is one of the best games on Xbox.

Kameo was a bit average. Perfect Dark 0 was poor. And they suffered a load of cancellations. But Rare remains a top top studio

@Jordboy1 Not a bad theory.

@Arkay Clickbait to the max 👍🏻

???

How do you get "not coming to Switch confirmed" from Xbox achievements? Either the game gets a dual release, or including achievements was part of the agreement for Nintendo Online.

Not saying it's a for sure lock, but by no means is this "confirmation". Asking people what they think about it not coming to Switch as if you are Miss Cleo herself with the clairvoyance to see the future? First of all, I would think nothing, since MS owns the game. Second of all, I'm not convinced it isn't coming to Switch.

I'm of the opinion that the timing of this remaster, and Nintendo's recently launched N64 sub service is not a coincedence.

Rare had said that it was Nintendo that stopped the remaster from happening. I imagine a scenario where Nintendo approached the other companies about getting the title on NSO, and the other companies (i.e. MS) just said "yeah sure, as long as we get to release a remaster on our platform".

And quite frankly, I'd rather buy the title on Xbox than have to sub indefinitely on Switch.

@Ventilator I see. So to round up, in your opinion that’s one or perhaps a few great games in 21 years. I’d say that’s not comparable to the SNES and N64 days with all-time greats DK Country, GoldenEye and Banjo Kazooie.

@PushMyGran1986 you mean if they can be arsed releasing one before E3 XD

I’d care but i still have the original so I’m not bothered at all. Good for xbox fans.

I'm still firmly in the "believe it when I see it" camp as it's been so long waiting, but I'm more hopeful now than I have been in the past.

I'm still hopeful that an N64 Classic could be on the cards too. It always needed GoldenEye - and other Rare titles - and that is looking better now than it did 2 or 3 years ago.

GoldenEye is still excellent today. It sits right up at the top alongside Mario 64 and Ocarina of Time for best games on the N64, but, whilst Mario 64 and Ocarina have been enjoyed countless times since, GoldenEye was left behind. I don't think we should underestimate just how significant it would be to see GoldenEye arrive on Switch.

Getting tired of nintendo lately between the cloud gaming which sucks btw and their greedy online service losing alot respect for them.

It will come to Switch surely... I can feel it in my battered guts.

Eh, just pick up the Wii remake if you don't already have it on N64 (or even if you do). While there's no online play anymore, the original version doesn't have that, either. Meanwhile, the Wii version has much better graphics, framerate, and controls; plus you can actually shoot Oddjob easily.

@glaemay If your main complaint about early FPS games is bullet sponge enemies, Id Software had already been averting that trope for years with "Wolfenstein 3D" and "Doom."

I'd rather just buy it on an Xbox once instead of indefinitely paying $60 for it. Getting Achievements for playing would just be the icing on the cake, since Nintendo adding a system like that would RUIN THEM... somehow.

@dimi Um, it already got a very good remake on the Wii.

@Damo
I see the dilemna. And, you're not wrong. There's no evidence. But I always try to remember, absence of evidence isn't necessarily evidence of absence. It very well may never see the light of day on Switch. I'm not getting my hopes up. But I do think with Banjo Kazooie on N64 Online, this game surfacing seems a bit suspect at the very least. The timing, for example- why would MS drudge it up now instead of years ago for Rare Replay? The only reason I can think is if Nintendo is involved to see it released on NSO.

My take would have perhaps rephrased a tad:

"While there's no evidence for a Switch release at the moment, Banjo Kazooie leads us to believe it could be a possibility, though we can't say for sure either way just yet"

Wow, great news in 1 respect. In another, everyone who played it when originally released will get to see how horribly it has aged. It's a good time to show everyone how their minds can alter our memories of great experiences with games, to make us see them with rose colored glasses (since at the time, we didn't have all these current games to compare the games to). I think older gamers are better off not touching it if you enjoy your memories of how great it was.

Well this seems like a reasonable way to appease everyone. I mean I'd rather we were talking about the unofficially released remaster, but by releasing the original in the current day to Xbox, I have to imagine that bodes well for the original releasing to the Switch's N64 service in the near future.

TBH im fine with this since it likely means that people will be able to actually buy the game rather than being tied to a service.

would be nice to see a digital version on switch but since banjo kazooie ended up going the nso route rather than a port of the remaster there's no guarantee it wont be the same with this.

@Folkloner they have to find things to write stories about, to be fair. Try to have a little empathy, maybe (?), & imagine if this was your job. I'm sure they're pressed to do stories that they don't want to do sometimes, so as long as they aren't blatantly dishonest, i cut them some slack, myself. I do get upset when someone is flat out deceitful, but "potential" release is what makes the statement you quoted accurate, to me. I didn't see anything blatantly dishonest in this story, personally. I thought they explained their rationale well enough, but to each his own, ofc.

I played the game for the first time for real (I played occasionally for less than 30 minutes back in the day) on an original N64 last year, and as someone mentioned, the single player is forgettable, but the multiplayer is a blast. Too bad I don't have anyone to play it with.

If it comes to NSO I'd give it another go for sure, though.

@TJC04 Actually no, Microsoft only published 3 games on Switch, Minecraft, Minecraft Dungeons and Ori and the Blind Forest.

Moon Studio said that It took a real effort on their part to talk to Microsoft about porting Ori to the Switch, it was something the Xbox didn't want, they just did it to try to maintain the relationship with the studio and because the game was too small enough, but he has no plans to do it again and so Moon Studio has chosen not to work with Xbox Game Studios anymore. Ori still with Microsoft and Moon Studios is now in a partnership with Private Division.

MDHR did say that Microsoft asked than tô port It to the Switch (at the time it was supposed to support Xbox Live to encourage use on Nintendo's platform) but after that the contract was broken and relationships deteriorated, also It was never published by Microsoft not even on Xbox, they Just has a exclusivity deal (we dont even know If It was timed, similar to No Mans Sky)

PS: But i do believe It Will be released for Switch.

@Damo I think the issue here you kinda assumed its not coming to Switch where there's nothing to say its not. We know it might be coming to Xbox because of Achievements something what only Xbox has, we can't use that as evidence that its not coming for Switch because the Switch doesn't have achievements. I have no idea if it is or not but then no one outside of MS and Nintendo know either.

@Dringo Not what Ed Fries said in Interviews and he was part of the team at Xbox negotiating the acquisition. Go do some research, Xbox executives/former executives are very open about the company's past.

Rare did kept making great games, and I only got to know the company and became a fan thanks to SoT, but that doesn't change the fact.

The company had serious management, crunch, and financial issues, Nintendo and Activision refused to buy It, people remember Rare games for what they r, but these most of these games floped on sales, especially after two mass resignation from devs in the form of protest against the crunch (one of them coming after the release of Perfect Dark)

PS: And yes, this before the acquisition, in case of confusion

I have a huge issue that this article assumes that something official has been stated which none of it is.

This is all leaks and speculation, please indicate that in the article. This is how misinformation spreads. We also don't know if this release will be on Nintendo yet either, since Banjo is coming there's a high chance 007 could be coming as well. But there's nothing official. Wario64 is not an official source.

@Damo The title makes a conclusion. There was nothing to conclude about platform availability beyond the contents of the leak. It’s reasonably called out as premature.

@Faucet everybody that made Goldeneye, Banjo and Perfect Dark was burned out and leaving - sucks that they lost the IP but the studio itself was about to implode on the personnel side

@johnvboy I dunno. We'd be looking at a very different Rare to the one we have now in this hypothetical situation where Nintendo bought them.

I am thrilled it is coming to Xbox over Switch. The N64 emulation is not great on switch, and MS has been taking legacy content VERY seriously lately. Will happily play on my Series X.

Quagmire sums it up best: heh heh, all right!

Why the hell was it banned in Germany? The game doesn't even have references to nazism

@Orpheus79V,

Pretty sure if Nintendo had seen the value in the studio, they would have bought them, perhaps Rare wanted too much, and of course Nintendo already had it's own in house development teams making similar content.

@Damo,

Pretty sure your article was worded in a way as to leave the door open for a Switch online release, so not so sure you needed to change the headline, as it's true at the moment.

The reason why Goldeneye is NOT coming to switch is because it makes too much sense to Nintendo, remember the Disney Afternoon Collection? … yup it’s not coming just happy we are getting it on Xbox

@WallyWest agreed. The game is great. But I hope they do a remaster like perfect dark.

So NLife calls it “confirmed”, but near every other site is in the speculation phase?
Unless it comes from someone more prominent, nothing has been confirmed, or de-confirmed for that matter

@Arkay that’s debatable. Microsoft hasn’t helped Rare since they bought them. Also, Nintendo had to make some amends with Microsoft to make sure they didn’t lose Diddy Kong and other characters Rare made with their IPs in mind. GoldenEye isn’t completely owned by Rare, Nintendo or Microsoft, Eon Productions is the parent company of James Bond and they have the majority say on it. The code of the game lies with Rare, then the publishing was done by Nintendo. The publisher side isn’t the biggest piece of the pie.

I don’t Nintendo lost out with Rare. It sucked Banjo-Kazooie, Conker and Perfect Dark all went to Microsoft, but those IPs have been pretty dormant for the last two decades. Killer Instinct on the Xbox was fantastic, but it failed to be a system mover. Sea of Thieves started off as a giant bunt, but it has recovered nicely. Still, it isn’t a system mover like Halo, Forza and Gears do for the Xbox. Minecraft pushes out more Xbox units than Rare’s catalog. It has taken Microsoft far too long to leverage Rare, so much to the point they’ve been a forgotten memory overall. Even damaged them. Which is terrible since they made so much magic on Nintendo systems in the 90s. When Nintendo lost them at the buyout, I would’ve agreed, but now it isn’t a big loss. Nintendo has survived the loss Rare, including with the Wii and DS.

Sadly, I loved GoldenEye when I was in middle school, but the game has not aged well at all. Playing it on my Ryzen 5 machine with modern controllers… ugh. If this is true, I hope Microsoft will make some promising changes in that department.

Also, if it does come to the Switch, it might be added to NSO’s N64 app.

@progx Yeah I was referring to when they lost it back in the day, not present time.
Also I still play both Goldeneye and Perfect Dark to this day, still love them as I did back then even if I am aware of their flaws.

@Damo cool cool 👍

@Friendly Well. PD and Banjo were extremely overhyped. They were never as good as the hype and dated terrible due to poor frame rate. Rare cared more about Graphics than Gameplay on N64.
I know, because i bought both on release on N64 because of hype.
Perfect Dark were very stale and static even for it's time on N64. PD on Xbox 360 which were more or less a HD version proved that. It will fail again when newest one releases in 2023 or something.
Rare on N64 is the reason why i stopped buying games based on lying hype only.
100% of their games also dated terribly. None of their games were timeless.

To be fair, Kameo and Sea of Thieves is the only games i ever liked from them and both aged well too.

@Gerald c'mon tho nobody plays with oddjob or they get couch banned

@Damo

2 things:
1) You do realize that MS needs(!) Nintendo to get it even released on xbox live?

2) Nintendo was the one who got it unbanned in germany. Why the hell would they do that for a game which only gets released on a rival console?

@Austrian I said the same above. It can't be released on Xbox without Nintendo, so it's quite obvious it will be on Switch too.

Nintendo own the assets of Goldeneye. Not Microsoft or Rare.

In fact Microsoft blindly bought Rare.
They found out later that Goldeneye and Donkey Kong weren't included in the deal.

@MaikonCSGarcia Indeed. And I interviewed Ed Fries, and his knowledge of what Activision did isn’t great. I put to him in my interview that Lee Schuneman and Gregg Mayles has a different recollection, and he said to ‘go with them, because we weren’t privy to the Activision conversations’.

He remembers raising their price to starve off the Activision bid, but Rare was already interested in Xbox first. Activision never removed its bid.

(I also sat next to Tim Stamper at the Develop Awards, and he made a comment about sometimes wondering if Activision would have been a better option in retrospect, which suggested it was a Rare choice)

Indeed, when Rare was took over they had some struggles. Their style of games didn’t gel with the ‘shooter box’ as it was at the time. And as AAA development got bigger, they took a while to consolidate. But I don’t agree that they’re a weak studio (which I know you didn’t say, but it is implied). They don’t make as many games, anywhere near, but then no studio does. Their 2008 games were wonderful. Their Kinect era went on too long but started well, and Sea of Thieves is their biggest ever game.

@Desrever supposedly microsoft was willing for xbox gamepass to come to switch, that would have been great I recon

Nintendo letting go of Rare was quite simply one of their greatest mistakes. Rare created so much hype for the N64, every game they released was of high standard. They had a reputation for pushing the console to it's limits. Even outdoing Nintendo in many areas. I can only imagine how much better the Gamecube library (and sales) would have been if Rare was on board throughout the console's life.

@BulbasaurusRex Yeah I loved the localized damage and headshots in Wolfenstein 3D and Doom...

Nintendo's publishing rights expired in 2017 so Nintendo have nothing to say about this since then, fortunately. Nintendo blocked the Xbox 360 version in 2008. Microsoft have always wanted to re-release the game so most people blamed Nintendo and then MGM and Danjaq (after 2017) for keeping the game in limbo. Now with Nintendo out of the equation, it should be easier to release this masterpiece. If the game is re-released for Xbox it's because Microsoft, MGM and Danjaq have a deal. I would expect the cancelled Xbox 360 port which is basically finished anyway and was leaked less than a year ago. As someone noticed in regard to the N64 thumbnails, "The Xbox 360 version could toggle back and forth the graphics so I assume this could be related".

That having been said, it doesn't mean that it will never come to a Nintendo console if Microsoft agree like with Banjo-Kazooie.

1997 controls and frame rate aside, the game is one if not the best shooter I've ever played and the multiplayer was a lot of fun, much more than Mario Kart 64 or any other N64 game to me. The way you deal with the enemies is better than in any other game of that era like @glaemay said. Besides, the missions and level design is top-notch. This is one of the best games ever made. The Wii reimagining was kind of disappointing.

@Dringo I agree. Rare's Xbox 360 games are much better than I expected after many Nintendo fans hadn't give them any credit. Sea of Thieves, directed by Banjo-Kazooie's designer, have become a wonderful game. Some might not like the genre but it's the most beautiful game of the last generation, in my opinion. A new Banjo-Kazooie game with those graphics would blow everybody's minds. Grant Kirkhope is more than willing to make the soundtrack. I hope it happens soon.

I would still rather go through all the hoops of emulators and roms than pay for the expansion Pak to play this.

The only part that has aged really poorly are the controls. If they add 2 stick support, the game will be a banger.

@Madao Exactly, I confirmed that with the Perfect Dark remaster. The 60fps also help, of course.

So what is the point then if nothing has changed, it's just a n64 ROM on modern devices, I don't know who would want to pay for this

@huyi It's not a N64 rom, that's just what some people are assuming.

This looks like it is coming to Xbox but it hasn't been officially announced and who knows last minute obstacles could possibly yet again prevent its release... I think this article is a little misleading when in claims the game is more or less confirmed for Xbox. Just don't want to get my hopes up till it's official.

@DreemWeever The article is misleading because it says that it seems that it's the N64 version because the thumbnails show N64 graphics. The only thing that is true is that the achievements list has been leaked with N64 thumbnails. The leaked Xbox 360 remaster has original and remastered graphics so the achievements could be using the N64 graphics because of that and because of nostalgia. Anyway, if the achievement list is genuine then yes, Goldeneye 007 is coming to Xbox.

I can't believe how many comments on here claim the Wii version was good?! Did I play the same game as you lot? I thought GoldenEye on Wii was dreadful - and reinforces the fact that the N64 game was and still is an excellent game (along with Perfect Dark).

@nocdaes The Wii version (that was later ported to the other consoles) is a let-down. It has some fine cinematic moments but the gameplay is cut, the level design is boring and the missions are daft. What makes the original game/Xbox 360 remaster so special is that you are able to accomplish varied missions in different ways. It's challenging in a realistic way, it gives you some level of freedom, the level design is perfect and the gameplay is brilliant. I also love the soundtrack which mixes classic James Bond tunes with new sounds and melodies. Besides, the multiplayer is the one I played the most on N64. Actually, it's the local multiplayer that I've played the most in my life.

@Savage_Joe The point is that this port of Golden Eye is no where confirmed ANYWHERE. It's pure speculation and leak releases.

It should be filed and reported as a Leaked Rumor and not confirmed.

Wario64 is not a reputable source as confirmation of an Xbox Port existing. Even if there is strong evidence that it does indeed exist, neither Xbox or IO interactive or MGM or anyone have confirmed it is actually happening.

@LegatoSkyheart In this case, Wario64 is not the source but True Achievements. We could discuss how does that website get the achievement lists before the games are listed. I don't know if they got it as data miners or the list was just leaked and they received it. They say that they "picked it up".

https://www.trueachievements.com/n48245/goldeneye-007-xbox-achievements

They should release instead, the original aged awfully. I doubt it'll come to nintendo switch online mostly because Nintendo is a cheapskate and they won't pay for the rights of the ip and actor.

@sketchturner

Controls? That’s the main issue with the game.

Halo’s control scheme made older shooter controls on console obsolete in 2001. Every FPS since has used variants on the original Halo’s control scheme because it works for controllers better than anything before it.

Goldeneye was a masterpiece of its time. Me and my buddies sunk our childhood into it. But the game’s controls, by modern standards, are terrible. First time I played Halo on a demo Xbox in 2001 was a revelation. Every console fps scheme before it was made obsolete.

I want a rerelease with modern controls and a good framerate. That’s all the game needs.

@Banjo- TA were integrated into Xbox One since launch in 2013 Since 2013 you could get TA achievement guides in game on Xbox One on all games.
They had automatic scanning of all new achievements from MS servers since Xbox 360 days.

This is far from first time achievements showed up before confirmation. Happens x amount of times every year.

@Savage_Joe Nintendo owns the Nintendo 64 assets and those don't expire.
MS probably have a native one for Xbox with no emulation like the Xbox 360 version which also ran natively on 360. This way they don't use Nintendo's assets.

Since Microsoft is a Switch supported, they will probably release it on Switch sometime.

@glaemay Nothing came close on PC at the time either.

It's not like Quake PC were anything like Goldeneye
The impressive Turok that came before Goldeneye were released on both N64 and PC, so that game don't count as it weren't a exclusive anywhere.
PS1 had too weak hardware and too little RAM for any major FPS.
Thats why PS1 were stuck with so much 2D Games.

@Jordboy1 Goldeneye were remastered for Xbox 360, but couldn't be released as Nintendo stopped it.
Wii were too weak to run the remaster and would also only be 480p/30? vs 720p/60 on 360. Wii would be stuck with a emulated N64 ROM.

The Xbox 360 remaster leaked online a year ago and runs flawless on PC with Xbox 360 Gamepad.

Goldeneye 007 isn't even a top-three FPS on the N64. Turok, Turok 2 and Perfect Dark are all better.

@Savage_Joe Yeah, but many claims the article is from a unreliable source. No one knows this for sure anyway.
It also looks like Nintendo isn't to blame for the cancelation of the Remaster as they had no saying.
Old movie based games is a licensing mess as too many companies is involved.
This is why so many other games can't be remastered.
Some license holders want too much money, and some refuse to give the license for remaster/remake to anyone.
KAIKO couldn't even get the license in recent years for a game they made in early 1990's, the legendary "Apidya" on AMIGA so they could make a HD version. I asked KAIKO directly and they told me.
Also. Only one guy own nearly all "Gremlin Interactive" licenses. For some reason SUMO managed to get Zool license in 2021, so they could remaster the game. Were released on Steam august 2021.

Nintendo probably didn't fund TW101, and neither were Fatal Frame or Lego City. They got paid for timed exclusivity.
After GameCube days, it became less common for lifetime exclusivity. Nowadays it's usually only 12 months.

Bayonetta 2 and 3 is fully Nintendo funded, so those can't be ported according to Platinum themselves.

As for Goldeneye it kind of looks like MS decides if Switch gets Goldeneye or not.

After Series X launched, MS supported Switch way less as MS want as much exclusives as possible because of Game Pass increasing in popularity.

Anyway. I have the leaked 360 version on PC and it runs at 60 FPS. Plays way better than N64 version.
Hopefully MS have upgraded the gfx a second time now time as 360 version is quite old now, but still looks a lot better than N64 one. MS sure have the resources to make it modern looking.
Goldeneye isn't a big game and a team of 10 people could upgrade it.

GoldenEye was brilliant, but Perfect Dark is so much better in every way. The Bond license and the fact GoldenEye was first and in so many people's memories are the selling points for GoldenEye.

I'd love a remastered N64 Perfect Dark but am not too fussed about GoldenEye.

Hopefully the new Perfect Dark will be good, though I can't see myself buying the latest Xbox console and don't have a gaming PC either.

Not interested in a remake TBH, just give us the original.

Won't happen, will just be further files from the XBLA leak that occured.

@Ventilator Nintendo did fund the wonderful 101, Platinum games said Nintendo let them release the game on other consoles.

https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2020/02/nintendo_was_fine_with_platinum_releasing_the_wonderful_101_remaster_on_other_platforms

It would run @barely 20 fps on switch abysmal under-powered hardware. better it stays on xbox even if it was my favorite n64 game.

@AlexHarford I played Perfect Dark on Xbox over the holidays and it is indeed still an excellent game. I think some of the elements they added - the bots in multiplayer and secondary functions on the guns - really stand out. However, frequently the level design combined with the mission objectives leaves you with an unclear path forward - that got frustrating and I remember it being very annoying at the time.

Ultimately the Bond license, with iconic villains, iconic music and gadgets gives GoldenEye the edge for me - and I think the Developer just struck gold with the whole game coming together perfectly (and that stroke of luck with multiplayer being included).

@nocdaes I had no idea that Perfect Dark remaster existed, and now I want to play it. I thought the Rare Replay version was just the original, and now I'm suddenly tempted to buy an Xbox and Rare Replay!

You put up a good argument for GoldenEye, but even the music from Perfect Dark sticks with me more. The likes of Chicago Stealth are amongst my favourite gaming tracks. My main reason for playing Perfect Dark would also be the multiplayer, which I think is stronger than GoldenEye. I haven't played the single-player of either game for 20 years, so I might be as frustrated as you on aspects of that, but I remember loving the whole package at the time, whereas I have some negative single-player memories of GoldenEye (Temple level).

@AlexHarford The Perfect Dark remaster is awesome. The final boss is almost impossible on N64 because of the frame rate so playing the game in 60fps 1080p with improved graphics was a revelation. It seems easy to do but it's an old game on a very complex hardware so 4J did a great remastering job. I hope that this version of Goldeneye 007 is like that or the Xbox 360 remaster.

@nocdaes I agree, Goldeneye 007 is my favourite because of the missions, characters and the soundtrack but both are great. The Perfect Dark remaster plays great today, people complaining about the controls haven't played that.

@fenlix Okay. But Nintendo then get money from it too.

Since Sony is going bigtime on PC, it's about time Nintendo port Bayonetta 2 due to age to PC.
Then port Bayonetta 3 to PC, 2-3+ years after release.
Platinum said they love PC because of the powerful hardware anyway, so they would port anything.

PC is neutral with no licensing fees and is why Sony is all over it now.
Sony started with PC to get easy money and to cover the cost of high budget games.
About time Nintendo jumps on the bandwagon.

Microsoft still makes PC games not for Xbox, but gets 100% of
Xbox games too.
A few years ago i swapped to PC again as it have a lot more power than PS5 and Series X. Bought a brand new PC in 2021 again.
Switch is my secondary. PS4 and Xbox One X is dust collectors.

I would be surprised if this isn't released on everything. Too many property holders involved for it not to. Including Sony and Nintendo.

@glaemay You didn't say anything about those mechanics. You were only claiming that Goldeneye was important for introducing non bullet sponge enemies that felt like you were shooting real people, but that's simply not true. Although very limited, the Wolf 3D and Doom enemies even moved around and had other animations.

@TheRedComet Forget "Halo"! Motion controls on the Wii then made those FPS controls (and all others save for mouse/keyboard on PC and Playstation Move) obsolete! Even the Switch can't match what we had on the Wii and Wii U without a sensor bar. Dual analog controls suck in comparison!

As such, we already have a superior version of the game on the Wii. The only issue is that it was a full remake instead of the remaster that many people would prefer.

@BulbasaurusRex The Wii game is not a remake, it's a reimagining. The Wii game is totally different and infinitely worse.

@Banjo- The inferior missions and level design are more than made up for by the much superior controls and gameplay in the Wii remake, not to mention the superior graphics and framerate. It may have been disappointing, but it's still easily the superior version of the game.

Reimagining, remake, close enough. They're essentially the same thing in gaming terms.

@BulbasaurusRex Not at all, it has nothing to do with the original game. The Wii game is a very poor CoD clone with a 007 skin.

@Banjo- It tells the same story of the movie (just replacing who plays Bond) and is a similar kind of FPS. That's close enough. The semantics don't matter, anyway. The motion-controlled gameplay of the Wii version makes it the superior game all on its own.

@BulbasaurusRex It matters because everything is different, not just the Bonds but the levels, missions, gameplay and soundtrack. It's not a remake at all, if someone thinks so haven't played both games. It's a different game based on the same film.

@Banjo- Doesn't it still tell the same basic story? That's all it ever needed to do with its much superior gameplay and better graphics and framerate to be a better Goldeneye game. All of those improvements alone makes it a very good game such that making everything else a derivative Call of Duty clone is good enough and doesn't really matter, especially how much more fun it is to play in local multiplayer than the original.

It doesn't matter that it's otherwise a different game, and changing the level structure is what all remakes do in the first place. The gameplay is only different in that it was massively improved with the Wii's motion controls, otherwise it's still the same action/stealth hybrid FPS as the original. Irregardless of the differences, the Wii version is still easily the better game to play if you have to choose one over the other.

@BulbasaurusRex The story comes from the film, not from the N64. As I said, the levels and the gameplay (you are mixing gameplay and controls up) are totally different. On top of that, the missions and the soundtrack are also different. Last but not least, the gameplay of the Wii game is much simpler. Definitely, the Wii game is not a remake of the original game and it's inferior as a game, like a mediocre CoD clone with a 007 skin but the lack of shooters and the Wii Remote made it shine on Wii.

If you still don't believe me, some quotes from reviews back in the day:

"Instead of standing in the original GoldenEye's shadow, Eurocom has created a brand new game", Gaming Nexus.

"The enemy AI's simplistic strategies and lack of adaptability", Digital Trends.

"It is impossible for the game to live up to the original but it is still a damn fine serious shooter on the Wii", Gamesradar.

""A lacklustre game that fails to hit the same high notes of the original, or keep pace with modern shooters", Game Informer.

"This isn’t so much a remake of the 1997 game as it is a reimagining of the 1995 movie itself", Nintendo Life.

@AlexHarford Haha OK fair point on Temple! (Although that is of course a bonus level!)

Ultimately, two very good games - NSO and any potential N64 Mini would both be significantly worse off without them both.

Fingers crossed we get them.

@BulbasaurusRex

Dual analog is fine when combined with aim assist.

It’s not as precise, but it works fine. It isn’t obsolete. Modern aim assist has done a lot to alleviate the remaining issues.

Great game. This did soooo much for it's genre. I played hundreds of hours on this game. Yet, I don't care to go back and replay it. It's primarily for the same reasons I don't like replaying Mario 64 and Mario Kart 64. All of these great 64 games have aged very poorly IMO. All have been done 10x better on modern versions or similar modern games. I think it's cool that this is coming back for the huge fans, but me personally, I have very little interest.

I'm not into 15 fps gaming. Why in the world would they not release the xbla version?

@glaemay Powerslave on Saturn and Quake 2 on PS1 were both much better campaigns...

@Banjo- Yup. That XBLA version of PD is incredible.

@Snatcher You’ll say “THERE’LL BE HELL TA PAY!!!”

@Damo,

True, let's hope we get a Switch online release, it has to be coming.

@Ventilator Nintendo would prefer going bankrupt before releasing their games on pc. Nintendo only let the wonderful 101 and Fatal frame be on other platforms because they don't care about the ip.

Nintendo would prefer to destroy the last digital or physical copy of Ocarina of Time in the world even if it meant losing it forever than letting someone have it for free. However, they lost the Goldeneye 007 (N64) publishing rights in 2017 so now the game can be re-released if MGM, Danjaq and Microsoft agree.

@LikelySatan Well Nintendo did choose to release the N64 version of Ocarina of Time on NSO Expansion Pack instead of porting the 3DS remaster (which is better than the N64 original in every way) as a normal paid release. I do think Xbox will get the cancelled 360 remaster of Goldeneye meanwhile Switch gets the N64 original on NSO Expansion Pack.

@AlexHarford
Rare Replay for Perfect Dark & Conker's BFD!

Rare Replay on Switch please!

I can't imagine this not coming to Nintendo. If Banjo came to Nintendo, I can't imagine this not, the negotiations are already clearly well in place for that sort of thing. And I honestly can't imagine many XB players even on GP caring very much about this game. It's clear it's market is very much on Nintendo, and Nintendo alone. The game isn't actually very good in today's landscape, it's a nostalgia piece for N64 fans. MS would be throwing money away not putting it on Switch, and there's clearly no bureaucratic blocks preventing that kind of cooperation. The only viability to XB would be as a precursor to Perfect Dark, but even there, it's a weak connection.

@Kayvoo Rare Replay..The true gem there is Kameo - Elements of Power. A lovely game aged well. I have it on Xbox One X with the free 4K/60 upgrade.

Xbox Series S is always available and costs same as Switch.
Buy it for Game Pass which also includes Rare Replay and 100's of other games.
Best and most affordable console bundle ever to exist.

@NEStalgia And I honestly can't imagine many XB players even on GP caring very much about this game.

Actually you are wrong about that.
Majority of Xbox owners were all over the Goldeneye news.
A huge chunk of Xbox owners had N64.

Is this game going to be a port of the N64 original or is this going to be a remake, or remaster. I think they should make it look even better than the cancelled xbox 360 HD remake. now that we are on 8th and 9th gen consoles

I thought this was supposed to be a remaster? There is no way this game would ever come to Virtual Console on Nintendo Switch as a remaster. It wouldn't make any sense for Microsoft to also release the original N64 game alongside the remaster, as releasing the remaster on Nintendo eShop would allow them more control.