Introducing Trevelyan's Mainframe

Ladies and gentleman, we are happy to announce a new section for our blog, titled Trevelyan's Mainframe. In this column, Alec will be reviewing a lot of topics regarding GOLDENEYE: aspects of the film, the game, and the careers of the actors twenty years ahead of the film that meant the return of James Bond to the cinema screens.

GoldenEye 007 Face-off With Pierce Brosnan on The Tonight Show

We've seen Pierce Brosnan playing James Bond four times from 1995 to 2002. We also saw him playing James Bond in a few videogames using his voice and likeness. But we never saw him playing a video game with his 007 on it, until now, when Pierce played the 1997 videogame adaptation for GOLDENEYE on Jimmy Fallon's THE TONIGHT SHOW.

Happy Easter!

Have a wonderful Easter Sunday, GOLDENEYE enthisuasts!

The Lost Art of Interrogation: Yannick Zenhäusern Interview

He's really the man with the midas touch when it comes to rescore a Bond film we love or bring a modern touch to the classic GOLDENEYE 64 tunes for the Mod version of the 1997 classic, hence his nickname GoldenZen. Ladies and gentleman, this is Yannick Zenhäusern, best known his work  on GOLDENEYE: SOURCE and GoldenEye: Decrypted, a rescore of the 1995 James Bond film. In the following interview, we have some "chit-chat" with GoldenZen about it all: Bond, Serra, NIGHTFIRE: SOURCE and, of course, something on his upcoming GOLDFINGER project...

Merry Christmas Bond Fans!

Have a wonderful Christmas 007 enthusiasts. We sincerely hope you get plenty of surprises underneath your Christmas tree (not as good as the one on the image above, I guess)

GOLDENEYE 64 ORCHESTRATED - Rich Douglas' Take On a Classic Game Music

Many people from the Bond fandom surely heard of Rich Douglas, a great 007 fan and musican who has worked on many videogame projects like HARVEST and TAKEDOWN. He's also very famous because of his many fan creations in music he usually posted in the CommanderBond.net forums.

Now, Richard presents his take on the score of a videogame every enthusiastic of Ian Fleming's secret agent, retro-gaming and first person shooters will remember and love: GOLDENEYE 007, released 16 years ago for the Nintendo 64 game system.

NOT QUITE A LEGEND – 007 LEGENDS review

007 LEGENDS cover artwork - now you
can judge a game by its cover!

Note: for an unknown game glitch I’m stuck on a part of the MOONRAKER mission where I have to hack a WiFi port, but for some reason, every time I press “E” on my PC, the thing doesn’t works. I don’t even have the “Press E To Hack” disclaimer. I’ll review the game until this point.

While SKYFALL was a true 50^th Bond anniversary celebration, 007 LEGENDS, the latest James Bond game by Activision after QUANTUM OF SOLACE (2008), GOLDENEYE 007 (2010), BLOOD STONE (2010) and GOLDENEYE 007: RELOADED (2011), is quite a disappointment.

GOODBYE, MR. ACTIVISION? - Activision Might not Return for Another Bond Game

After the tremendous fail of 007 LEGENDS, that led to the close of developer Eurocom, Activision, the video game enterprise in charge of the James Bond videogames since 2008, could not return for another Bond video game.

Artwork for Activision's
GOLDENEYE 007 RELOADED.

Their Bond videogames QUANTUM OF SOLACE, BLOOD STONE and 007 LEGENDS were deleted from Steam and official site online catalog, which means they could have ended up their 007 contract originally due to end in 2014.

Thanks to James Bond Brasil for the alert.

GOLDENEYE: SOURCE - The True Ressurection for Rare's Game?

To be honest, I've never cared about GOLDENEYE: SOURCE. I've played some of COUNTER STRIKE or HALF LIFE in my early youth days, but this HALF LIFE 2 mod based on the Nintendo 64 1997 game never took my attention. It seemed so... unofficial.

REFLECTIONS IN A GOLDEN MEMOIR

THE GOLDENEYE DOSSIER editor NICOLAS SUSZCZYK reflects (yet again) on his first GOLDENEYE viewing...

Spanish version here

From a game to a film, and from a film to a passion! 

It was about December 1997 or January 1998 and I was with my dad in the Alto Palermo Shopping Mall in Buenos Aires, Argentina, where I entered a toy store and I was invited to play a then very fashionable game called GoldenEye, for the Nintendo 64 game system. I was very impressed for the game, but especially because some days ago I was near the Plaza Italia zone in the Palermo town in Buenos Aires, where I saw a street advertisement that showed a tuxedoed-clad guy holding a silenced gun against a white background. It read GoldenEye, and below it showed the logo of Cinecanal, a cable-TV broadcasting company from South America.

In the meanwhile, my dad told me who James Bond was. But I didn’t really need an explanation. The game and the film’s ad really said it all.

Then it was Saturday, January 31^st. At 2.45 PM (or so the newspaper ad I still keep says), mom, dad and me watched GoldenEye all together on TV. From the moment in which Bond elegantly walks and shots to the screen through the gunbarrel sequence, to the tank chase through St. Petersburg and the Cuban antenna cradle showdown between 007 and rouge agent 006 Alec Trevelyan, not forgetting Xenia Onatopp’s good squeezes and the spectacular Archangel Facility infiltration and escape, GoldenEye  captured me and it was the introduction card for the previous Bond films with Roger Moore and Sean Connery, as well as the other three Pierce Brosnan films Tomorrow Never Dies, The World is not Enough and  Die Another Day, plus the Daniel Craig adventures Casino Royale, Quantum of Solace and Skyfall which is only a month away!

What it means GoldenEye to me now? Well, the biggest resurrection ever for James Bond. It is THE James Bond film I’d take if my house is set on fire. It is MY Bond film and Pierce Brosnan was, is and will always be MY Bond. That’s why I decided to make my personal tribute to the 1995 blockbuster and all its legend (we had four videogames, remember?) in my blog, The GoldenEye Dossier (goldeneyedossier.blogspot.com)

Happy 50^th 007!  And here’s to 50 more!

Nicolás Suszczyk

007 LEGENDS: Mission Round-up

All the 007 missions were revealed in the last months with trailers for each movie plot adapted and updated to fit with the Daniel Craig era. MOONRAKER, ON HER MAJESTY'S SECRET SERVICE, LICENCE TO KILL, DIE ANOTHER DAY, GOLDFINGER and possibly SKYFALL are the six missions that PC, XBOX360, Wii U and PS3 users will be able to play.

No GOLDENEYE? well, I'm afraid we can't complain since we've had four games re-adapting the story!
007 LEGENDS will be released on October 16th worldwide.

GOLDENEYE 64 VOTED Nº 8 BEST GAME OF ALL TIME BY G4

US cable channel G4 ranked the 100 best video games of all time, and 1997's GOLDENEYE 007 for Nintendo 64 made it to the 8th place.

As we are all aware, GOLDENEYE 007 is considered as the first modern 007 videogame, challenging players to do more than just "kill the baddies and reach the goal", but also accomplishing missions like protecting innocent civilians and other important objectives. It also featured an over-developed artifficial intelligence by the enemies, which made thigs a lot more difficult.

Thanks to MI6-HQ.com for the alert.

Activision announces 007 LEGENDS - The next Bond game!

Press release:

Experience James Bond's Most Iconic and Intense Missions as the World's Top Undercover Agent in 007™ Legends

SANTA MONICA, Calif., April 18, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- To celebrate the James Bond franchise's 50th anniversary, Activision Publishing, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Activision Blizzard, Inc. (Nasdaq: ATVI), will launch gamers back through time to relive a selection of Bond's most iconic and intense undercover missions from the popular Bond film franchise with 007™ Legends.

A first-of-its-kind Bond video game, 007 Legends features an original, overarching storyline tying together six classic Bond movies, concluding with this year's highly-anticipated 23rd installment — SKYFALL — to offer the most diverse Bond gaming experience yet!  As with the feature films, 007 Legends equips players with state-of-the-art spy gadgets, an arsenal of weapons, including Bond's signature Walther PPK, and sleek vehicles as they jet off to exotic locations and utilize Bond's quick wits, class and style to take down notorious villains and their brutal henchmen, perform impressive stunts, and of course...mingle with gorgeous Bond women.

"To honor 50 years of the world's top secret agent, 007 Legends offers a collection of his most famed moments in the smartest and most treacherous Bond game yet," said David Oxford, Executive Vice President at Activision Publishing, Inc.  "Creating a video game storyline that ties together six popular, yet very different, Bond movie narratives can be challenging, but together with EON Productions, our developer Eurocom, has pulled it off to create an homage that we think will be a unique and highly entertaining Bond video game."

In addition to 007 Legends' main story, the game will feature the return of fan-favorite single-player Mi6 Ops Missions, which debuted in GoldenEye 007: Reloaded and challenges players to complete extra missions ranging from all-out action to stealth and gadget-based gameplay and compete for the highest online leader board scores.  For the first time ever, players will be able to participate as one of Bond's cohorts or villainous foes, reliving the missions through their eyes, as well as 007's.  The robust James Bond multiplayer experience includes local four-player split-screen game modes and online competitive gameplay with new maps, weapons and characters derived from Bond's 50 year legacy.  With more gadgets, deeper stealth and spy investigation gameplay, gamers will have every opportunity to truly feel like the world's favorite spy.

Planned to launch this fall, 007 Legends is being developed by Eurocom, under license from EON Productions Ltd. and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios, Inc. (MGM) for the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft and PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system.  Stay tuned for more information on the game's official Web site and Facebook page.

About Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc.

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc., through its operating subsidiaries, is actively engaged in the worldwide production and distribution of motion pictures, television programming, home video, interactive media, music and licensed merchandise.  The company owns the world's largest library of modern films, comprising around 4,100 titles.  Operating units include Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures Inc., United Artists Films Inc., Ventanazul, MGM Television Entertainment Inc., MGM Networks Inc., MGM Domestic Networks LLC, MGM Distribution Co, MGM International Television Distribution In, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Home Entertainment LLC, MGM ON STAGE, MGM Music, MGM Worldwide Digital Media, MGM Consumer Products and MGM Interactive.  In addition, MGM has ownership interests in international TV channels reaching nearly 120 countries.  MGM ownership is as follows:  Providence Equity Partners (29%), TPG (21%), Sony Corporation of America (20%), Comcast (20%), DLJ Merchant Banking Partners (7%) and Quadrangle Group (3%).  For more information, visit www.mgm.com.

About EON Productions/Danjaq, LLC

EON Productions Limited and Danjaq LLC are wholly owned and controlled by the Broccoli/Wilson family.   Danjaq is the US based company that co-owns, with MGM, the copyright in the existing James Bond films and controls the right to produce future James Bond films as well as all worldwide merchandising.   EON Productions, an affiliate of Danjaq, is the UK based production company which makes the James Bond films.   The 007 franchise is the longest running in film history with twenty-two films produced since 1962.  Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccolisucceeded Albert R 'Cubby' Broccoli in 1995 and have produced some of the most successful Bond films ever including CASINO ROYALE and QUANTUM OF SOLACE. They are currently producing the 23rd film, SKYFALL.

About Activision Publishing, Inc.

Headquartered in Santa Monica, California, Activision Publishing, Inc. is a leading worldwide developer, publisher and distributor of interactive entertainment and leisure products.

Activision maintains operations in the U.S., Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Sweden, Spain, Norway, Denmark, the Netherlands, Australia, South Korea, China and the region of Taiwan. More information about Activision and its products can be found on the company's website, www.activision.com. 

Sources: Activision, James Bond Brasil, MI6-HQ

LARGO AND PUSSY GALORE, ALSO RELOADED!

1964's GOLDFINGER and 1965'S THUNDERBALL, both starring Sean Connery as James Bond, are considered the biggest Bond films since they were responsible for the launch of the Bondmania wave in the 60's. Both films were also memorable by villains Pussy Galore (played by Honor Balckman) and Emilio Largo (played by Adolfo Celi). Now, Gameinformer confirms both characters will be available for XBOX 360 and PS3 as downloadable content for GOLDENEYE RELOADED in December 20th.

Emilio Largo, villain of THUNDERBALL

Pussy Galore, villain of GOLDFINGER
 (until Bond came in, that is).

Each character will cost $2.00 (160 MS points), and they'll be playable in both splitscreen multiplayer and the online Classic Conflict mode. Along with the new multiplayer characters, a single player demo has also been made available as of right now.

GOLDENEYE RELOADED RELEASED! Site Updated, Reviews & Walkthrough

Following today's release of GOLDENEYE RELOADED, the Official Site has been updated showing renders of the characters, trailers and game features. Activision has released a narrated walktrough of the MI6-Ops mode, and gaming sites like TGN and GameVortex highly acclaimed the game.

Special thanks to Archivo007 for the image.

GOLDENEYE RELOADED: LAUNCH TRAILER

The launch trailer for GOLDENEYE RELOADED has finally hit the gaming sites and YouTube. The game will available in stores next Thursday, November 1st, two days before the main details of the 22nd James Bond films will be officially revealed by EON Productions.

GOLDENEYE RELOADED DEMO IN NOVEMBER

Gamerzines has confirmed a Demo version for GOLDENEYE RELOADED will be released for XBOX 360 and PS3, in early november. The game will be available on stores on November 4. The content available in this demo version is still unknown.

GOLDENEYE RELOADED: MULTIPLAYER TRAILER

Activision has revealed a trailer showing interesting features of the Multiplayer Mode, which includes new classic characters like Max Zorin, Tee Hee and Dr Kananga.

GOLDENEYE RELOADED: ACHIEVEMENTS & NEW MP CHARACTERS

Xbox360 has confirmed 50 achievements for GOLDENEYE RELOADED. They can be seen on the following link

Plus, in a more interesting note for classic Bond fans: IGN published brand new pictures which reveal new classic characters for the multiplayer mode not abailable in the Wii version, such as Dr Kananga (LIVE AND LET DIE) and Max Zorin (A VIEW TO A KILL).

HUGO DRAX GETS RELOADED

Activision has announced GOLDENEYE RELOADED will include the Hugo Drax (played by Michael Londsdale in 1979's MOONRAKER starring Roger Moore) character as a free downloadable content for Playstation 3 users.

At the same time, a PS3 Bundle pack will include Drax's Laser Gun to take full advantage of the multiplayer mode.

"Working closely with Sony, we've created a great bundle that arms fans with all the vital secret agent equipment right off the shelf," said David Oxford, Executive Vice President at Activision Publishing. "We can't wait for gamers to pick up the PlayStation Move and Sharp Shooter to experience a James Bond video game like never before."

The PS3 Bundle set will be released on 1st November.

Thanks to MI6-hq.com for the alert.