Xbox boss says remaking GoldenEye 007 "has always been a rights issue", not a code issue

It sounds like the quiet death of that GoldenEye 007 remake wasn't due to quality concerns. Xbox boss Phil Spencer responded to a fan who asked whether the project was really being planned for Xbox 360 and gave some extra context to the not-so-secret situation in the process.

The 1995 film license was largely irrelevant to what made GoldenEye 007 an instant classic: smart one-stick FPS controls, a brilliant multiplayer mode, and tons of fun unlockables like the always-banned Oddjob and paintball mode. But it still means that MGM has some claim to the rights. Film distributor aside, GoldenEye 007 is filled with actor likenesses that would need to be reacquired or replaced. And developer Rare's old flame Nintendo has its finger in the pie, too, since it published the game on N64.

In short, the word "complicated" probably doesn't do the GoldenEye 007 rights situation justice. It's a miracle it ever came out in the first place, almost two years after its cinematic counterpart. So we might have to content ourselves with that half hour of leaked GoldenEye 007 remake footage for now. Or if you still have a working N64 you could just bust out the real deal, of course.

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