GoldenEye 007 is a first person shooter based on the film James Bond 007 – GoldenEye based. The game was developed by the British software company Rare and released on July 31, 1997, two years after the film opened in theaters, for the Nintendo 64 in the USA. A PAL version for Europe followed in the same year. However, Nintendo decided not to publish it in Germany. The game was nevertheless indexed by the BPjM (Federal Testing Office for Media Harmful to Young People) and thus set a precedent. In the German specialist press and the German fan scene, the video game is also known as SilverEye, not to mention the indexed title by name. The indexing was in October 2021, however canceled earlywhich now leads us to this news.
In 2010 a remake was released and in 2011 a modernized new edition for different platforms. The version for the Nintendo 64 is considered to be one of the best games for this platform. A remaster of this version for Xbox 360 programmed around 2007 never appeared due to legal complications. The game developed under the code name “Bean” was to be distributed via the “Xbox Live Arcade” platform. In February 2021, a playable copy of this version was leaked online and can be run in emulators and on modified consoles. The first person shooter released in 2004 GoldenEye: Rogue Agent apart from the appearance of Xenia Onatopp, has no direct relationship to the movie, rather the title was probably chosen to appeal to the numerous fans of the original GoldenEye 007 to win as a buyer.
Because of the indexing of GoldenEye 007 the game was not allowed to be offered and advertised in public. Even if the game, similar to Dying Light, was allowed to be sold “under the counter” to adults on request, the game was thus denied to the general public in this country. Typically, a game on the index is checked again after 25 years. However, it has now become known that a Nintendo partner had deliberately requested the cancellation of the indexing, which means that it has now been re-examined and approved at an early stage. Is it coming on the Nintendo Switch Online service?
Now that we can play Nintendo 64 games through the Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack service, among other things, Nintendo seems to be making the impossible, and possible GoldenEye 007 finally to bring it to Germany as well. Since there is already an agreement with Studio Rare, which is now part of Microsoft, for Banjo kazooie was reached, nothing would stand in the way of a similar agreement in purely theoretical terms.
GoldenEye 007 was graphically elaborate for its time and hit zones and death animations in their variety unrivaled and explicit – even without blood splatters and the severed limbs and ragdoll corpses that are often decisive for indexing today. Killed enemies dissolve quickly, only weapons remain where they are. However, the opponents’ clothing turns red where they are hit, which is ultimately more realistic. Without a doubt, despite the agent flair and stealth, the fight is clearly in the foreground, even unarmed scientists can shoot Bond, which is also considered problematic in today’s games. There were good reasons for the index.
We’ll stay tuned for you. What do you think of it and would you be happy if you GoldenEye 007 could play on Nintendo Switch soon?