Interview: The Real Story Behind GoldenEye HD, As Told by its Directors – Video Games Chronicle (2021)

TITLE
Interview: The Real Story Behind GoldenEye HD, As Told by its Directors

AUTHOR
Andy Robinson

PUBLICATION
Video Games Chronicle

YEAR
2021

ARTICLE TYPE
Interview

FROM THE ARTICLE
Before the public could fire up an emulator and try it for themselves, all we knew of the N64 remaster were details leaked in a 2008 UK magazine and the occasional tantalising video clip uploaded to YouTube during the past decade.

Unsurprisingly, speculation has been rife around why the project never came to be: Was it cancelled because of Nintendo? Did Bond rights holder Eon get involved? Maybe Robbie Coltrane filed an image rights lawsuit?

As with most internet myths, the truth is slightly less exciting and significantly more complex than the rumour mill would have you believe.

GoldenEye Xbox Live Arcade, as it was codenamed, ultimately failed because of miscommunication between license holders and a young team who rushed ahead to create it, despite a deal for the game having never been signed.

Speaking publicly together for the first time about the project, Goldeneye XBLA’s co-project leads Mark Edmonds and Chris Tilston told VGC that the game was born from a phone call with Nintendo, and ultimately ended when the same company’s executives changed their minds over allowing them to release it.

COMPANIES MENTIONED
Microsoft
Nintendo
Rare

GAMES MENTIONED
GoldenEye 007

PEOPLE MENTIONED
Mark Edmonds
Chris Tilston