Wii GoldenEye Producer Wouldn't Play GoldenEye N64

[Tom Goldman]

Wii GoldenEye Producer Wouldn't Play GoldenEye N64

The Nintendo 64 version of GoldenEye 007 doesn't hold up according to the producer of the upcoming Wii remake.

GoldenEye 007 was basically 1997's console equivalent of coming to the Wii [http://www.amazon.com/Call-Duty-Modern-Warfare-Xbox-360/dp/B00269QLI8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1286211329&sr=8-1] in November, doesn't think so.

"Let's put it this way: I wouldn't go back to play it again," he told Edge magazine. Widdows says that bringing GoldenEye 007 back in 2010 for the Wii took more than replicating the same levels and gameplay from the N64 classic.

He explains: "It was a case of saying, 'Okay, what can't come forwards? What doesn't stand the test of time?' The narrative doesn't really stand the test of time in its purest form; it does feel very '90s." Eurocom and Activision had to update the Wii version of GoldenEye to reflect Daniel Craig as the new James Bond, and to make it closer to what modern gamers expect from a first-person shooter as far as gameplay and environments go.

I hate to agree, because GoldenEye 007 for the N64 was a ton of fun, but it really has taken a hit like most N64 titles for some reason. Gameplay feels slow, the levels look empty, and the story was mostly told through dossier text. Not that it matters, because GoldenEye provided a multiplayer mode that gamers sunk thousands of hours into, and single-player became a sandbox when mixing cheats. Invincibility mode combined with infinite rockets was the only true way to play through the story.

Despite Widdows not thinking GoldenEye holds up today, he does say: "It's still a great game and I think structurally it still has things that contemporary games tend not to have." He's got "fond memories" and doesn't want to look back on the game negatively. I say that as long as Eurocom models a bungee cord onto Bond's legs at the end of the first level, which I'm pretty sure Rare forgot to do, I'll be happy.

Source: CVG [http://www.computerandvideogames.com/article.php?id=267991]

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[More Fun To Compute]

Eeeeh, just pop a Cube version of a Timesplitters game in the Wii instead. Or Goldeneye Source.

 

[zombie711]

the man is right. most shooters from the n64 and ps1 dont hold up today, in fact the reason people like them so much is most likely nostalga

 

[Booze Zombie]

I was quite confused when I played the game, even at the time. I don't think remaking it solely for the Wii was very smart, though.

 

[Shoggoth2588]

First off: I just want to say that Goldeneye should be referred to as a Wii-Make as it is only coming out of the Wii.

ON TOPIC!

This is a Wii-make of Goldeneye, not a Wii-boot (I swear to Cthulhu, I'll try to stop now) so what I don't understand is this bit here:

He explains: "It was a case of saying, 'Okay, what can't come forwards? What doesn't stand the test of time?' The narrative doesn't really stand the test of time in its purest form; it does feel very '90s." Eurocom and Activision had to update the Wii version of GoldenEye to reflect Daniel Craig as the new James Bond, and to make it closer to what modern gamers expect from a first-person shooter as far as gameplay and environments go.

I don't see what's wrong with the narrative other then the dossier-based story progression which is a simple-enough injection of cut-scenes (although since this is a Wii-sclusive, adding cut-scenes may be easier said than done). Goldeneye is a product of the 90's and I feel as though that should be preserved. Another thing I really can't disagree with is the decision to model Bond after Daniel Craig. Goldeneye was Pierce Brosnan's Bond movie! If they remade the movie staring Daniel Craig then made a game based on that I wouldn't see the problem but, isn't that a bit of a slap in Brosnan's handsome-handsome face?

Of course the game wasn't about Brosnan in the end. It was about running slightly faster than the average Vespa Scooter with all the cheats on and killing Russians (or were they Communists?) So really as long as the cheats are still in place, the health/armor bar are...present (a 90's thing likely to be taken away now that I think about it) and every gun but the Klobb are present, I'll be content. May even pick the game up.

Slightly off topic but, isn't the 3DS supposed to be getting a straight-up port of Goldeneye?

 

[josemlopes]

I would prefer to play TImesplitters though. I actually would like to try GoldenEye 64 since I never played it and loved Timesplitters

 

[Treblaine]

I predict this game will be crap.

We go excited because this could have just been Goldeneye re-release. Now it's apparent they are just remaking it as another generic shooter but whoring out the good Goldeneye name.

They seem to be forgetting the nostalgia factor, the look, sound and feel of the 1997 original.

Just release the original Goldeneye on Virtual Console and be done with it.

 

[Treblaine]

Slightly off topic but, isn't the 3DS supposed to be getting a straight-up port of Goldeneye?

*Researches a bit*

http://www.nintendo3ds.org.uk/activision-considers-goldeneye-3ds/



Please let it come to be!

FU Widdow, we just want to play the original again without the inconvenience of acquiring a N64 or using an emulator.

 

[Master10K]

I still own my N64 with Goldeneye and I remember going back to play it last year and realizing how awful the graphics and gameplay had become. Sure it was my gateway drug to the world of the First Person Shooter genre but it really hasn't stood the test of time... unlike the original Call of Duty.

 

[KeyMaster45]

Too be frank I think replacing Brosnan's Bond with Craig's Bond was a good idea. I mean the first game was meant to reflect the story of the movie Goldeneye. Asthetically speaking it really shouldn't matter what bond stands in for the role so long as the story remains the same. (hell they could have used a Timothy Dalton model cause in the end it's still the character James Bond)

While I don't own a Wii (and don't plan to in the near future) I'll be interested to see how this remake stacks up against the legacy of its predecessor.

 

[Random Argument Man]

It's still fun. It's a bit nice to play rambo without taking cover once in a while. (Except maybe the Jungle level. It was the bane of every kid my age except me. I hated "complex" instead).

Oh well, I hope this is good. Maybe I'll be able to kick someone's ass online.

 

[TLatshaw]

Personally, I'm glad they're not looking too much at the original GoldenEye. "Nostalgia factor," as people like to say, is nice in some respects, but it doesn't mean "I want to play the same game over and over, just updated." That would make Madden have quite a large "nostalgia factor," would it not?

 

[dragonslayer32]

I still play Goldeneye on my N64 and it is still one of the best games around. Sure, the graphics aren't too good these days, but graphics don't really matter to me, gameplay does and nobody can say that it has bad gameplay. The game was a huge step forward in the FPS genre and to this day, I still don't think there is a better FPS out there.

 

[Irridium]

I still don't see how replacing Brosnan was necessary. He's a better Bond than Craig, at least to me he is.

And from that it sounds like they're going to be using the same old environments found in every other game. I find that to be lame. Since it will feel boring and "same-y". Although perhaps they just mean adding some detail to the levels...

Anyway, I agree about the "not standing the test of time" thing. It was an amazing game for its time, but now... not so much. The fact that the N64 controller is basically just badly designed doesn't help anything either.

 

[LastMondaysHangover]

Goldeneye is one game that does not need to be re-released, at least in my opinion. Yeah, the game itself is extremely primitive when you compare it to the FPS games of today, but remaking it just doesn't bode well for me.

On a sidenote, N64 Goldeneye probably had the first game soundtrack that I remember enjoying. Rare did a great job in that regard.

 

[KSarty]

I don't understand some of his points. Sure the game's way of telling the story doesn't fit any more, but the story itself is taken straight from the movie and still holds up very well imo. I also don't understand switching out Brosnan for Craig, didn't they just recently make a From Russia with Love video game with the main character made to look like the Connery Bond?

 

[zfactor]

GoldenEye is made of win, no reason to try to make it better, people will just say the first one is the best (some people say Zelda I is the best, but that is in error, Ocarina of Time is the best!). No need to remake a classic, just make a sequel or prequel.

 

[Daniel Matthews]

Its for the Wii...thats all Im saying.

 

[CrystalShadow]

First off: I just want to say that Goldeneye should be referred to as a Wii-Make as it is only coming out of the Wii.

ON TOPIC!

This is a Wii-make of Goldeneye, not a Wii-boot (I swear to Cthulhu, I'll try to stop now) so what I don't understand is this bit here:

He explains: "It was a case of saying, 'Okay, what can't come forwards? What doesn't stand the test of time?' The narrative doesn't really stand the test of time in its purest form; it does feel very '90s." Eurocom and Activision had to update the Wii version of GoldenEye to reflect Daniel Craig as the new James Bond, and to make it closer to what modern gamers expect from a first-person shooter as far as gameplay and environments go.

I don't see what's wrong with the narrative other then the dossier-based story progression which is a simple-enough injection of cut-scenes (although since this is a Wii-sclusive, adding cut-scenes may be easier said than done). Goldeneye is a product of the 90's and I feel as though that should be preserved. Another thing I really can't disagree with is the decision to model Bond after Daniel Craig. Goldeneye was Pierce Brosnan's Bond movie! If they remade the movie staring Daniel Craig then made a game based on that I wouldn't see the problem but, isn't that a bit of a slap in Brosnan's handsome-handsome face?

Of course the game wasn't about Brosnan in the end. It was about running slightly faster than the average Vespa Scooter with all the cheats on and killing Russians (or were they Communists?) So really as long as the cheats are still in place, the health/armor bar are...present (a 90's thing likely to be taken away now that I think about it) and every gun but the Klobb are present, I'll be content. May even pick the game up.

Slightly off topic but, isn't the 3DS supposed to be getting a straight-up port of Goldeneye?

I don't understand why they'd use Daniel Craig either, except perhaps that it has voice acting, which may be easier than getting Pierce Brosnan back in at this point.

As for cut-scenes; The wii can do those just fine you know? Hell, even Perfect Dark (Goldeneye's sequel in all but name) has 30 minutes of fully voiced cut-scenes, and that was a cartridge based N64 game.
The Wii uses DVD's, so even pre-rendered cutscenes would be possible.

But, while I get what he's saying about the gameplay, and even the Wii can do much more impressive stuff, I still have to wonder about some of the weird decisions this remake is taking...