GoldenEye 007: A Wii Exclusive

The 1997 Classic and Crosseyed Doc's pick for top 5 games of all time is being revamped for the Wii and released on November 2, 2010.




Daniel Craig is taking over for Pierce Brosnan, and the game's scenario has been almost completely rewritten. According to Activision, GoldenEye 007 is a reimagining of the GoldenEye story, just as Casino Royale shook things up with a much more gritty version of the James Bond character. GoldenEye still retains the basics of GoldenEye's story, but retells it in a way that makes sense with Daniel Craig's interpretation of James Bond.

The 1997 Nintendo 64 version was a big hit with over 8 million copies sold. Why did it take 13 years to give us more Bond?

Oh buddy, it's an ugly story. It turns out that GoldenEye is the bastard child of it's mother Nintendo and it's daddy Rareware. Rare it turns out is now Microsoft. Microsoft and Nintendo wouldn't call an ambulance if either one was laying in the street so they definitely aren't sharing James Bond.

GoldenEye sat on the table and Nintendo and Microsoft both sat there with knife and fork in hand and drooled for 8 years. If Nintendo tried to make it for the Wii, Microsoft slapped their hand, if Microsoft tried to touch it, Nintendo pulled the plate back.

Electronic Arts owned the license from 1999 until 2007 and couldn't do a thing with it. What is a company to do when involved in an ugly custody battle, sell it to Activision.

2007 Activision got the license and Rare is out, Eurocom is the new developer and puts Microsoft out of the picture. That huge change is why the Wii has exclusive rights to the game.

Is Eurocom keeping it legit? Yes and no. Some things we loved about the game are there and others aren't. Here's a few.

Remember the unreachable island off the dam in the original game? You couldn't reach it unless you had the GameShark code. All players saw it but only a few went there. It's still in the Activision version but you can only see it with a sniper scope. Not accessible in the game.

The Complex, OMG isn't there. The most popular multiplayer level in the original Goldeneye is out of the game. Why? Because it wasn't in the movie. This is a big let down and many gamers have said they will buy the game "for The Complex" That alone lost them some sold units. To make up for the lost they are advertising The Statue Park. Do we care? We'll have to see if a shooter will fly on the Wii. That's the big question from this point on. We'll see won't Wii.