GoldenEye 007 for XBLA canceled because of money?

No matter which side of the fence you were on when the Sony PSX, Sega Saturn, and Nintendo 64 battled it out in the fifth-generation console war, you have to respect Nintendo and Rare’s classic FPS GoldenEye 007. It’s hailed as one of the genre’s all-time greatest, and for good reason. You may not have realized it, but Microsoft Xbox 360 owners may have come close to getting it back via XBLA. It’s too bad the game was apparently canceled. Find out why in the full article.

In the latest EGM issue, it was revealed that there was a discreet effort on the Microsoft camp to bring the classic GoldenEye 007 back to life on the Xbox Live Arcade. Two months before the project’s completion, the project would be canceled for totally mysterious reasons.

A lot of us were left wondering how something that could have made a lot of sense (and money) could be scrapped. In a new site post, 1UP would reveal some possible reasons why.

According to 1UP’s post, original devs Rare Ltd. and publisher Nintendo initially had a pact with Microsoft to have the title come back in XBLA form with the same graphics, maps, and the addition of online multiplayer play. The deal fell apart, apparently, when Microsoft and Nintendo couldn’t agree on the part where money was involved.

It was explained that there could have been two options: First was a one-time deal where Nintendo would receive a hefty sum. Another option was for Nintendo to get periodic cuts on what the game makes over at XBLA. Both options had their pros and cons, but for some reason, the two game giants never came to terms.

We have no way of confirming if this was true, but knowing Quartermann’s reputation, his predictions and rumors are right most of the time. It’s a shame that this piece of gaming history couldn’t be brought back. At least not at this point.