this post was submitted on 08 Mar 2026
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GoldenEye 007: The Accidental Masterpiece Trapped in Licensing Limbo (lemmy.world)
submitted 1 day ago by PerfectDark@lemmy.world to c/games@lemmy.world
19 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

So for today's article I wrote, its a retrospective on GoldenEye 007. Specifically with a bent towards the odd legal mix it caught itself up in with so many different entities being rights holders.

I covered how it was made (a team of nine, most of which had never developed games before!), how it was received (to say 'well' is an understatement), how it didn't fit in with what was typical on the Nintendo 64 at the time, and more besides.

Its not a hard-hitting piece, but it you wanna jump back in time and enjoy some nostalgia for the N64 or for GoldenEye, then you might enjoy my retrospective on it:

https://gardinerbryant.com/goldeneye-007-the-accidental-masterpiece-trapped-in-licensing-limbo/

top 19 comments
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[–] thethrilloftime69@feddit.online 46 points 1 day ago (2 children)

It's wild in retrospect how influential a throwaway movie tie in video game ended up being.

[–] Thunderbird4@lemmy.world 8 points 1 day ago

Part of that is because it wasn’t a throwaway movie tie-in game. The E.T. Atari game was appalling shit that came out the same year as the movie after a full 5 weeks of development and was definitely a throwaway tie-in. Goldeneye came out two years after the movie because the team thought it was the raddest shit ever and wanted to make it a good game. By the time the game came out, the movie was already long gone from theaters and had been out on VHS for almost a year.

[–] PerfectDark@lemmy.world 23 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

And how crazily good this is, even by today's standards, compared to the others from that era!

They really did change everything...all without really meaning to :)

[–] Widdershins@lemmy.world 5 points 1 day ago

I would faceplant open-mouthed into a pile of dog shit on the sidewalk if it meant Skate 2 got a PC release. I would settle for the game without a soundtrack at all. My theory is that the soundtrack was too good and they can't re-release it due to all the big names on there and licensing all those songs.

I would still faceplant into the shit if the soundtrack was replaced with just one assembly code song by Tim Follin.

[–] luciferofastora@feddit.org 9 points 1 day ago (1 children)

For players who had grown up memorizing Facility spawn points or banning Oddjob in living-room arguments, it was more than a nostalgic curiosity. It was validation that even the most entangled licensing knot can, eventually, be untied.

Bloodborne fans: "Don't do that. Don't give me hope."

[–] addie@feddit.uk 3 points 1 day ago (1 children)

The licensing isn't particularly difficult for Bloodborne - Sony own it, and their video game publishing arm is still a going concern. I doubt there's any technical problem, since it's on the same engine as Dark Souls 3, and that's multi-platform. Could probably recompile it for PC and release it tomorrow, if they wanted to.

From consider it one of their masterpieces, and want to do any 'HD' remake themselves. They've had quite a few offers (I understand) by other companies who'd like to do it, but I think they're aiming higher than unlocking 60 fps and a quick upres of the textures.

Sony have a bit of a complicated relationship with 'primarily single player games' and 'multiplatform ports'. Since Xbox appears to be dying, they'll have the only next-gen walled garden in town. Why share, when they could sell systems?

Any consolation, ShadPS4 can run BB at 4K / 60fps right now, if you want it? Need a bit of a beast of a PC, but can confirm you can play it all the way through, not too many issues.

[–] luciferofastora@feddit.org 2 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Any consolation, ShadPS4 can run BB at 4K / 60fps right now, if you want it?

👀

Need a bit of a beast of a PC, but can confirm you can play it all the way through, not too many issues.

What level of "beast" are we talking about? I only need 1440p, personally.

[–] addie@feddit.uk 3 points 1 day ago (1 children)

It doesn't take too much of a graphics card to push a ten-year old game about, but you need quite a CPU to handle the emulation. I've just upgraded from a Ryzen 7 / 2700X (which struggled a bit, kept 30 fps though) to a Ryzen 9 / 5900XT, which does it quite well. Ironically, the RAM crisis seems to have made CPU upgrades a bit more affordable, since not so many people are buying either.

Higher resolutions need a fair amount of RAM, but we're talking "a fair amount of RAM compared to a PS4" - if you've a few gigabytes of system and graphics card RAM, that should be plenty.

[–] luciferofastora@feddit.org 2 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Did my upgrade two years ago, didn't get "top of the line" equipment because monetary constraints. I've got a 5600X, 32GB RAM and a GeForce 3060 with 12GB VRAM, so that shouldn't be too bad?

[–] addie@feddit.uk 2 points 1 day ago

Should probably run it quite well. BB was 'designed for 30 fps' and you'll get more than that. Certainly run it better than it does on PS4, anyway.

[–] Bluescluestoothpaste@sh.itjust.works 10 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I mean id rather play Perfect Dark anyway

[–] Soulphite@reddthat.com 12 points 1 day ago

You wouldn't have PD without this game! But, I do remember being blown away with Perfect Dark, the "realism" was amazing for its time.

[–] ripcord@lemmy.world 4 points 1 day ago

Helluva article

[–] Brewchin@lemmy.world 6 points 1 day ago

This was a great read. Thanks for sharing. I bought my N64 specifically for this game at the time, and it didn't disappoint. 😊

Sadly, not having touched Nintendo products since their ClockWatch LCD handhelds years earlier, I struggled to find any other games I really liked on the N64. 🤷‍♂️ There were a couple, but it was all just filler to me.

[–] jballs@sh.itjust.works 2 points 1 day ago

Nice article. I had no idea GoldenEye was rereleased a few years ago! I'll have to check it out.

[–] altkey@lemmy.dbzer0.com 5 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Never tried it, but am starting to consider it (:

A similar legal fate happened to NOLF as well: https://youtu.be/1eDs93O-5ck

[–] yermaw@sh.itjust.works 10 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

Dont try the N64 version. It has horrible controls that havent aged well. Theres a ~~port~~ remake on the Xbox (and maybe elsewhere idk) that does it justice.

The praise/hype at the time and the nostalgia towards it are well earned, but mostly due to the controls it does not stand the test od time.

[–] binarytobis@lemmy.world 2 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

I’m not convinced this isn’t an elaborate attempt at gaslighting me to think this game existed.

[–] Hubi@feddit.org 3 points 1 day ago

It did and you can get it here for free:

http://nolfrevival.tk/

I just recently played through the series and it actually holds up pretty well, especially the second game.