If the reports by these media outlets are true, then they document a truly exciting and ultimately disappointing event in gaming. None of the inside sources can be completely trusted without confirmation from Microsoft, Rare or Nintendo. Still, the long-lived nature of the rumor, substantial evidence like screenshots, video and numerous corroborating testimonials give this rumor far more weight and validity than common industry hearsay. The implications are staggering—such a remake would have sold millions of Xbox Live downloads and maybe even consoles, and with GoldenEye kicking off a series of Rare classics on the Virtual Console, Nintendo would make money hand over fist as well. Unfortunately, all evidence points to Nintendo boss Satoru Iwata giving the project a kiss of death.
Nintendo is known for being proud to the point of foolishness when they’re on a winning streak. The company’s former CEO, Hiroshi Yamauchi, was a visionary leader and brilliant businessman, but he made his mistakes. His pride caused him to burn bridges with Squaresoft around the time of the N64 release. Years earlier, Yamauchi pulled out of a cooperative deal with Sony at the eleventh hour, infuriating the company and causing them embarrassment at E3. This indirectly led to the birth of the Playstation; burned by Nintendo, Sony decided to make their own home console, and created the most formidable rival Nintendo has ever known, beating them soundly in two hardware generations.
Iwata should be proud that he guided Nintendo in a phenomenally successful new direction with the Wii and DS, but he should also be careful that he doesn’t repeat the mistakes of his legendary, but still human predecessor.
If Iwata didn’t want a once-exclusive game to appear on another console, he’s a little late on the trigger—Rare completely revamped Conker’s Bad Fur Day for the Xbox a few years ago. In any case, threatening Activision to keep the GoldenEye remake down is foolish. Activision is currently the most profitable international game publisher in the world. Threatening them might solve Iwata’s rather trivial concerns in the short term, in the long run it might sour otherwise good relations with such a major industry player. Besides that, the threat itself seems childish. Pressuring Activision was really the only way Iwata could halt this project, and it looks like he almost did it out of spite.
It certainly doesn’t help Nintendo any. Besides the possible threat to relations with Activision, Iwata’s decision just doesn’t make good business sense. Nintendo has nothing material to gain from barring the release of a GoldenEye remake, and a lot to lose by doing so. Iwata is missing out on untold amounts of money by refusing this deal, from the millions in Virtual Console sales that Rare games would undoubtedly deliver. On a less material level, his rather stubborn and prideful decision is further damaging Nintendo’s reputation among hardcore gamers, who are already annoyed with the Wii’s overabundance of minigame collections, and serious lack of engaging material. The end result is the death of a legendary game, a squandered opportunity at huge profit, and the disappointment of legions of fans.
But it shouldn’t end there. If such a project was really that close to being finished, then it’s probably mothballed on some server deep within Rare headquarters. There is still hope.
This is a call to action for GoldenEye fans, owners of Xbox 360s and Wiis, and gamers in general: let’s make sure it doesn’t end this way. GoldenEye deserves to be reborn, and it’s time to vote with our wallets. Contact Microsoft, Rare and especially Nintendo. Let them know how badly you want this game to see the light of day—that you’d gladly pay for it. Tell them, respectfully and intelligently, that they are making a big mistake. Tell Nintendo that this is their chance to score big with American gamers, and make untold bundles of cash in the process. For such an epic remake, many hardcore fans would probably buy it for both consoles, and at a higher price than the going rate for VC or Live Arcade games.
What would’ve been a win-win situation was turned no-win by an arrogant mistake. Let’s show them it doesn’t have to be this way. Everyone can win.
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