Topic: GoldenEye Details Confirmed, Not a Remake

[NWR_Karlie]

The new GoldenEye 007 for Wii will be a new experience, with inspiration and nostalgic elements from the N64 title.
 http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/newsArt.cfm?artid=23527

 In a game demo with the GoldenEye developers during E3, we asked Eurocom's Julian Widdows about how the game came into existence and how it compares to the original movie and N64 title. Activision, Eurocom, MGM, and Nintendo were all involved in the decision to create the game, which is a new experience based on several sources.    

 Widdows: What happened was Eurocom had made Bond titles for Activision and conversations were had between Activision and Eurocom about doing another Bond game and that led to the idea of how about bringing GoldenEye back but it was a very hypothetical conversation. We spoke to the people at MGM pictures and we of course had conversations with Nintendo and Nintendo got behind the idea of this new GoldenEye so that is really where is started.    

To answer the question about how much it is like the original game, it is a new GoldenEye game. I think that is really important to approach this from a fresh perspective. ItÂ’s been fifteen years since the film was released. ItÂ’s been thirteen years since the game was released and thereÂ’s a danger there that if you try to ape that you will create something that is derivative. This is a new experience. There are lots of things familiar from the GoldenEye property. ItÂ’s the same narrative. ItÂ’s going to be less Cold War focused. We recognize the cast of characters. WeÂ’re re-conceiving those characters. So weÂ’ve got Zukovsky, but heÂ’s not Robbie Coltrane (the actor who played him) anymore, heÂ’s a new Zukovsky re-imagined for a 2010 experience.    

WeÂ’ve got locations fans will recognize from GoldenEye. The dam, Severnaya, statue park, the jungle location, and yet theyÂ’ve all got a twist and we worked really closely with some interesting contractors, like Robert Cowper, who's a set designer who worked on the Bourne films and Stardust, a really talented guy, who brings a unique architectural perspective to the locations so you know the final location had to be this huge statuesque location in the jungle. You know the array in GoldenEye, itÂ’s now a solar collector so youÂ’ve got all these solar panels that are arched towards this huge array that collects the sun's rays and turns it into energy and thatÂ’s the focal point for the level.    

So how much of the original game is in there? ItÂ’s really a new GoldenEye experience for 2010 is the best way to describe it. Lots of nostalgia points touching back to the film, back to the original game.      

GoldenEye 007 is set for release on November 2, 2010.    

Staff Writer Jared Rosenberg contributed to this article.

[Fatty The Hutt]

This game looks and sounds so great. I have been enjoying "Everything or Nothing" lately and have enjoyed other Bond games in the past (including Eurocom's Nightfire). My favourite so far has been From Russia With Love. I am not at all familiar with the original Goldeneye game; I know it only by reputation. Looking forward to fun online and local multiplayer.

[Dirk Temporo]

So weÂ’ve got Zukovsky, but heÂ’s not Robbie Coltrane

Bahahahahahahaha.

And they think this is going to do well.

[UltimatePartyBear]

They'd have to pay him to use his likeness, so it's no surprise.  It would be weird to have Craig's Bond interacting with Brosnan's Bond's costars, anyway.  And I'm sure Craig's likeness is part and parcel of the Bond license itself right now, so I doubt they'd have been allowed to feature Brosnan in the main game.

[Kytim89]

Could they just call the game Remington Steel and have Brosnan's character model instead of Craig's.

[Jonnyboy117]

Activision is using every resource their license provides access to (the original movie content and current actors like Daniel Craig). They don't have any rights to the Rare game, so any resemblance must be (legally) due to shared ancestry with the film. I imagine a lot of the original game's developers are annoyed at the blatant aping of visual style and game design, but most of them no longer work at Rare, and there's nothing they can do unless Activision stupidly oversteps the line into copyright infringement, which would be fairly hard to prove with a licensed game such as this.

[TJ Spyke]

Nintendo agreed to the game, so using any asset's from Nintendo's version would not have been a problem. It makes no sense to use Craig's version of Bond in a movie based game he wasn't in. Since Nintendo is in on the game, they don't have to worry about borrowing stuff from the original (Microsoft has no ownership in the game, the only thing Rare did was develop it. It would be like saying that BioWare has any control over Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood). All 4 companies that could potentially have any control have already agreed to it.

[AV]

Activision is using every resource their license provides access to (the original movie content and current actors like Daniel Craig). They don't have any rights to the Rare game, so any resemblance must be (legally) due to shared ancestry with the film. I imagine a lot of the original game's developers are annoyed at the blatant aping of visual style and game design, but most of them no longer work at Rare, and there's nothing they can do unless Activision stupidly oversteps the line into copyright infringement, which would be fairly hard to prove with a licensed game such as this.

What does that mean to the multiplayer maps? Do they need to re-do them to be different? I watched the movie goldeneye once in my life, but aren't the multiplayer levels based off the movie so they don't need to totally change them? I love the multiplayer maps and I don't want them to change them to be totally different. 

[Jonnyboy117]

They aren't borrowing any game content or assets or anything else from the original game. Nintendo is complicit (to use Greg's term), but Activision is walking a fine line with this project. I guarantee Rare and thus Microsoft have legal claim to certain game assets that Activision has to carefully avoid.

[TJ Spyke]

Has there ever been any evidence that Microsoft has any claims to the game? I can't think of any possible legal claims. Nintendo published the game and had the license to the franchise (and own the copyright). It's possible I could be wrong, but I can't think of any possible way MS would have any legal claims and I have never seen any evidence that they do.

[Mop it up]

I'm curious what they mean when they say "Nintendo got behind the idea." It's clear that none of the content from the Nintendo 64 game is included in this, so I wonder if they had the option, but turned it down? Or, did Nintendo simply agree to help market the game, but not allow them to use anything from the N64 one?

[MegaByte]

Has there ever been any evidence that Microsoft has any claims to the game? I can't think of any possible legal claims. Nintendo published the game and had the license to the franchise (and own the copyright). It's possible I could be wrong, but I can't think of any possible way MS would have any legal claims and I have never seen any evidence that they do.

Nintendo transferred all Rare-related IP rights except for Donkey Kong to Microsoft in the sale.  It's not so clear what the status of this particular license is, since it also involves another party who has already re-licensed to yet another party, but it appears Nintendo and Microsoft couldn't come to an agreement over the XBLA Goldeneye release, so obviously it is a sticky area.  These types of licenses tend to be limited to release on a specific console.

[TJ Spyke]

They only transferred stuff Rare already owned (Killer Instinct, Conker, etc.).. Rare never owned any rights to the Bond games, so why would Nintendo give them to Microsoft?

The XBLA was simple, why would Nintendo let a game they legally own the rights to appear on a rival service?

[MegaByte]

If you have any actual evidence to support your claims, feel free to post them here.  Even Rare said regarding the XBLA release, "It's incredibly hard to solve because there's so many licence holders involved. You've got the guys that own the license to the gaming rights now, the guys that have the licence to Bond as an IP, and there are umpteen licensees."

[BlackNMild2k1]

I think it went like this, Nintendo licensed the IP and financed and published the game, but Rare coded it, so they both had rights to the code. But then they had to negotiate with a 3rd (& a 4th?*) party over the Bond rights so the game never got released on any system.

I'm sure Nintendo felt their share of potential profits were far too thin to bother letting MS capitalize on a Nintendo game.




*There were different rights for the Game License and the Movie Likenesses right?

[TJ Spyke]

Looks I may indeed be wrong. I just did a search on the US Copyright Office website, and I found the copyright notice for the 1997 game (PA0000815731), and this is the file:

Type of Work:    Computer File
Registration Number / Date:    PA0000815731 / 1997-08-28
Application Title:    NUS-NGEE-USA.
Title:    Goldeneye 007.
Edition:    N64 version.
Description:    Videogame.
Copyright Claimant:    Nintendo of America, Inc., Rare, Ltd.
Date of Creation:    1997
Date of Publication:    1997-08-25
Authorship on Application:    audio-visual materials and computer program: Rare, Ltd., employer for hire.
Previous Registration:    Motion picture prev. reg. 1996, PA 767-549.
Basis of Claim:    New Matter: audio-visual work; program.
Names:    Nintendo of America, Inc.
           Rare, Ltd.

The instruction booklet is also listed under both Nintendo and Rare (although the box is just listed under Nintendo). This may be why

[ThePerm]

yeah, you always own your code. Thats why Starfox Adventures had great graphics, but you didn't seem Mario Sunshine looking that good, it took Nintendo years to top it with Mario Galaxy. So because Rare owns the code, the textures, levels, menus, and character models Activision has to make them from scratch. Although, Sean Connery was in Goldeneye via Cheats. Also note, most bond character models were the same aside from a skin swap. Also, they didn't use Brosnan probably because they have to pay him, whereas Craig probably has to do these things because its in his contract. I would like to see Connery, Lazenby, Moore, Dalton, and Brosnan as unlockables though. Face editors are always welcome in games, if not legally possible.

[King of Twitch]

So can they copy non-movie related level design from Goldeneye 64 or can't they?

[Crimm]

They have to develop this game as if GoldenEye for the N64 never existed...while trying to copy GoldenEye from the N64 was much as they can.

That is to say that yes, there is a level based on a dam, but that's because there is a dam in the movie.  The level itself has to be different in ways than the N64 game because Rare created that.  If Rare had created a level in the game NOT based on the movie, Activision's GoldenEye could not rely on that scenario.

[Arbok]

That is to say that yes, there is a level based on a dam, but that's because there is a dam in the movie.  The level itself has to be different in ways than the N64 game because Rare created that.  If Rare had created a level in the game NOT based on the movie, Activision's GoldenEye could not rely on that scenario.

The movie opens with Bond jumping off the Dam... you really don't see anything of the actual Dam beyond him leaping from it and the small gate and railing. However, the video going around for this game looks like they took the opening portion of the N64 and added rain effects.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ekGb8SsEcis

Watch the video and look at around the 40 second mark. The truck is there from the first level, and even the double bridges that you cross.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2s_m7GEyIw

N64 version with around the 1:50 mark being the Dam level. Now take note that none of that is from the movie, yet the similarity to the N64 game is overt as one can get besides adding rain to it (which doesn't even make sense in regards to the events of the movie).

[ThePerm]

if the geometry is not the same then the level is not the same, as simple as that. Level layout i think is really hard to argue in a court, but because design is co-owned by Nintendo it would be easy to say yeah "we could do that", also all rare has to do is remake the game themselves with activisions approval and bam money on both sides.

I think a remake is better than a port anyways, because if you want to play goldeneye dust off your n64. If you no longer own one or the game...get them. Or you could just play perfect dark on XBLA

[BlackNMild2k1]

I would like to see Connery, Lazenby, Moore, Dalton, and Brosnan as unlockables though. Face editors are always welcome in games, if not legally possible.

Maybe Activision will include the Face editor option (Motion Camera Compatible) that Rare was gonna use before the Columbine Incident back in the day.

[GoldenPhoenix]

Should be interesting to see how close the game is to the original without blatantly copying it.

[ThePerm]

I would like to see Connery, Lazenby, Moore, Dalton, and Brosnan as unlockables though. Face editors are always welcome in games, if not legally possible.

Maybe Activision will include the Face editor option (Motion Camera Compatible) that Rare was gonna use before the Columbine Incident back in the day.

i was thinking that too, since the DS has a camera, and sd cards are compatible with Wii, it only seems logical...although that was more acceptable with shitty n64 low polygons. Still, amazing things have been done with facee editors. One time I went over to my friends house and he was demoing Aion, an mmorpg game. So, i jump on the editor and make Angelina Jolie in about 2 minutes while he left the room. He pops in and he's like woah Angelina Jolie! It was great. It wasn't creepy tabloid Jolie either, it was hot in movies Jolie. Kinda amazed i got her face just right with the editor so quick, there were so many options I could have taken ages to do it. It wasn't even a bad caricature, it looked real good.
It was kinda cool, because the face editor was similar to a face editor i used called facegen. I would love to like make all sorts of people given the chance. I used to screw around like crazy with the wwf attitude and warzone editors.