A remake of GoldenEye 007 (codenamed “Project Bean”) for Xbox Live Arcade was in development at Rare Ltd. during 2007 and 2008. Goldeneye 007 was a critically acclaimed FPS for the Nintendo 64, originally published by Nintendo in 1997 and still loved by many fans. Although Microsoft, Activision (current owners of the game rights to the James Bond franchise)and Nintendo were said to have agreed upon a licensing deal for the title initially, Nintendo Japan allegedly refused to grant their permission at last minute. Therefore the remake had to be canned only months before completion.
Much like the original Goldeneye for the N64, the developers who were involved in the making of this XBLA remake had their faces scanned and implemented into the game (as enemies / civilians / scientists / naval officers). In the game we would have been able to change the HD converted graphics to N64 graphics, an online multiplayer mode was planned, along with the traditional split screen mode. Goldeneye XBLA would had over 200 point’s worth of achievements and a time trial leader boards.
Some more info can be found at Mundo Rare:
[…] the game was developed in just one year by just 8 people; Dam, Depot and Frigate levels are selectable as multiplayer arenas (even the fabled Citadel was considered just “for the fan reaction”) and the N64 version isn’t technically a port, but a rather smart graphic filter use that makes the new game look the old-fashioned way.
It’s possible that the engine used for this Goldeneye remake was later reused for the Perfect Dark XBLA Remake. Some images in the gallery below are from XBOX Magazine. In August 2016 Rare Thief uploaded on Youtube more than 30 minutes of footage from this lost game, you can see the video below! Some more details were also shared on their website:
Throughout the video the player uses the rumored feature of switching the game’s graphics between the original Nintendo 64 textures and the remake textures on the fly. The switch between the two appears to take zero effort or time, and can be done whenever without having to pause the game.[…] After the tour of some select missions, the video presents a few of the multiplayer options. On top of the expected multiplayer levels are three news ones including Dam, Frigate and Depot. Something even more interesting than that is the option to set all character heights to be equal, meaning Jaws and Oddjob would no longer have their advantages.
Thanks to DCodes7 for the contribution!
Images:
Videos:
What do you think about this unseen game? Give your vote!
Would you like to add more info, screens or videos to this page? Add a comment below!
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Breaks out in tears*
It was going… going to be p-p-p-erfect….. WHY!?
WHHHYYYY!!!!????
well at least Perfect Dark is being remade, hopefully Nintendo is a good sport and lets it be released :P
its PC emulator Hi res texture mod!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1
“Do you expect me to remove this Nintendo logo screen?
No Mr. Bond, I expect you to die.”
:D
at post 2…..
dude… this was officially announced, it is not fake…..
Why do you think rare is now porting Perfect Dark, because they couldn’t
do Goldeneye due to activision owning the 007 licence.
I doubt Activision were the problem MS could get around Acti. I’m putting the blame on Nintendo.
A sad day for gaming.
@Matt
I am putting the blame on Activision because Nintendo is allowing them to port Perfect Dark and that was a N64 game :P
but yes… sad…
@Chris
Yeah, but Perfect Dark is wholy owned by Rare/Microsoft, don’t you remember that Perfect Dark Zero exists? The problem is probably Nintendo, as Activision would probably be happy to take a small cut and use the game as hype generator for its next 007 game.
Exactly I would guess when MS brought Rare they brought everything to do with Perfect Dark including the rights to the N64 version. I’m guessing they didn’t see the point in getting the rights to 007 Goldeneye at the time.
I think as 007 Goldeneye would sell quite nicely as you said Activision would be happy for a cut of profits for it.
“Goldeneye 007 was one of the best multiplayer FPS for its time,”
was not, it is still one of the best of all time
@Miretank
No, Perfect Dark is the best,
Goldeneye is still the second best though…..
Though I own the original n64 version(go, me!), I may have bought this. It’s really too bad that they couldn’t release it.
I also blame Nintendo. They often times have their sticks so far up their butts that they can barely sit.(take a look at the Earthbound/Mother 2 scenario as neither hit either Virtual Console)
I have to say I played the Goldeneye multiplayer far more then the perfect dark mutliplayer even after I played PD I went back to Goldeneye eventually.
For us Perfect Dark was the best multiplayer game, the player statistics were awesome, fun weapons and the best arenas.. and the bots! So much fun.. only Time Splitters 2 was able to move away the N64 from our multiplayer time :P
@ Hydrozor – The problems with the Mother games hitting the virtual console isn’t Nintendo. “Certain songs in the game resemble certain real songs far too much, which is something that wouldn’t fly with lawyers.” – NintendoLife.com
I think the fact that the copyrights for the game were so far distributed between companies made it hard for anyone to strike a clear bargain. While communication is key, it may not have played well between two giants and…well, an Activision.
With Perfect Dark hitting the 360, I’m not sure Nintendo may have been the only wrench in the wheel. Microsoft hasn’t been known to be the most generous of companies either…
I blame the economy.
Anyone know if this was built from the ground up? (It almost looks like they took the 64 rom and improved textures/models/etc. It’s hard to tell.)
It wasn’t from the ground up…not entirely. They basically updated the models and textures, place them over the old ones and I believe, at least by looking at the Perfect Dark release, maybe some voice updating…not sure. :3
They just made it look prettier. No real core changes. I’m sure someone will make a hi-def graphic download that matches this for ROMs. xD
Well I am happy to hear the the Perfect Dark port is going to include all the weapons and levels from this game :D
As far as i know, the Perfect Dark Remake will have only the same GoldenEye weapons and levels (2 or 3 multiplayer maps) that were in PD 64 too
Why would they let such a good game get shot down? I mean don’t get me wrong Perfect Dark was a good remake, and Banjo Tooie can go suck a dick. If Nintendo would get their fist out of their ass, we could have the #1 fps in the world reborn, to shine in the sun again, with all of the badass cheats, weapons, levels, characters. -.- i wonder if someone could upload the game demo from when it was around and put it one the internet so it can be downloaded to other xbox 360 consoles just to savor the awesomeness of the game.
it’s being remade i found out its being made for wii go to any game store theyle tell you like eb games microplay walmart
they should just change it slightly (i.e. take out all the Bond names and likenesses) and release it anyway. Wouldn’t be the same, but would be better than nothing ;_;
Playing it on the Wii, very awesome. Glad to see it remade, plays awesome on the Wii as well.
Goldeneye 007 wasn’t one of the best FPS.
Goldeneye 007 IS the best FPS.
WTF
who put that fake video there?
It looks like a couple new pictures were added. Does anyone know where they came from?
A dark day I would have loved it this is the second time I got angry at the xbox I am still unhappy about them removing the gun props for the aviators
It was a good game at least in the next James bond game for xbox let us use duel weapons that was my favoret part
This is not right this is a crime and we are the victims. We need goldeneye! Bring back goldeneye!
Oh come on bring it back oviously nintendo and activison never came to a agreement. JERKS!
I wonder how the multiplayer mode would’ve been… Only a 100% ported 4-player local mode? Online mode? Bots?
If they planned to expand it with bots and an online mode, this would’ve been even more awesome than the original game ôO.
Well, at least there’s “Goldeneye X” (rom hack) out there.
We can assume that the multiplayer mode would have had at least the online option, like the Perfect Dark Remake :O
Thank you Monokoma for preserving these screen shots for the now canceled remake of Goldeneye007. I examine it pixel by pixel. I am an Italian-American gamer and it gets my temper boiling knowing they canned the game at the last minute but at least we have the Perfect Dark remake. I guess if you play the facility level with the old Goldeneye guns in the Perfect Dark multi player it feels like Goldeneye so may be the game will come out someday James Bond once said “never say never again” Thanks again and mama mia!! sorry.
It would be great if someday this remake could be leaked, but it would still be difficult to play for most gamers without a modded Xbox 360 :O For GoldenEye lovers, there should be a Counter Strike GoldenEye mode out there!
Will there ever be a Jet force gemini remake on Xbox live? The soundtrack is awesome and it draws you into the game much like the soundtrack of Goldeneye007.”It blew me away”
I think i read something about a Jet Force Gemini remake somewhere, put maybe it was just in my dreams. Interesting to know: there was a cancelled Jet Force Gemini for the GBC and the main JFG music theme was a reused song from the cancelled Conker Twele Tales…
It’s so great that Rare Theif got ahold of that video!! I’m glad things still might come of this – and I would pay for that demo alone et alonendo anything to mod my 360 to play it!
Let alone*
the game got leaked in january of 2021 guys!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This should be updated, the deal has been made to finish development