James Bond in video games

James Bond
The official game logo of James Bond (007)
Genres	First-person shooter Third-person shooter Racing game Role-playing game
Publishers	Parker Brothers Mindscape Domark Nintendo Electronic Arts (1999-2006) Activision (2007-13)
First release	Shaken but not Stirred 1982
Latest release	007 Legends 2012

The James Bond video game franchise is a series of shooter games and games of other genres (including role-playing and adventure games) spun off from the James Bond film series developed and published by a variety of companies. The games centre on Ian Fleming's fictional British MI6 agent, James Bond.

Video games

1982–93

The first official James Bond video game, Shaken but not Stirred, was released by Richard Shepherd Software for the ZX Spectrum in 1982, exclusively in the United Kingdom. A year later, Parker Brothers released James Bond 007 for multiple consoles.

Since 1983, there have been numerous video games based on the official films, Ian Fleming's novels, and even original scripts created by the developer or publisher of the game.

The video games were somewhat profitable in the 1980s and early 1990s, featuring a mixture of styles including side-scrolling action and text adventure.

1997–2006

The popularity of the James Bond video-game series did not rise quickly, however, until 1997's GoldenEye 007 by Rare for the Nintendo 64. GoldenEye 007 was a first-person shooter that expanded on the film and added a multiplayer component to the game. The game received very positive reviews^[1] and sold over eight million copies.^[2] Subsequently, almost every Bond video game has attempted to copy GoldenEye 007's accomplishment and features with varying degrees of success.

In 1998 Nintendo released James Bond 007 for the Game Boy developed by Saffire. The game features a story featuring characters from multiple James Bond films, such as Oddjob and Jaws. It also incorporates gambling minigames, such as Baccarat and Blackjack.

The next Bond game, 1999's Tomorrow Never Dies, based on the film released two years prior, was the first released by Electronic Arts. Developed by Black Ops, unlike GoldenEye 007, it was a third-person shooter only released on PlayStation. Despite the game's success, it received mixed reviews. The next title, 2000's The World Is Not Enough game, returned to first-person. However, publisher Electronic Arts, which owned the rights to publish video games based on the Bond franchise, chose different developers for different systems - Eurocom for the Nintendo 64 and Black Ops for the PlayStation, with drastically different results, and the N64 version getting better reviews. Both versions were critical and commercial successes, albeit not in the same level of GoldenEye 007, and EA encouraged developers to create future Bond games unrelated to any of the films.

In 2001, EA released Agent Under Fire for Xbox, PlayStation 2, and GameCube, featuring an original storyline and lacking the likeness of then Bond actor Pierce Brosnan. The game took risks by adding the new elements of "rail" shooting and driving segments to a first-person shooter. The game has sold nearly 5 million copies since its release, making it the second-most successful game in the franchise, while only receiving mixed reviews. There are no differences between the console versions.

In 2002, Nightfire was released. It was developed by Eurocom for the PlayStation 2, GameCube, and Xbox consoles, with a PC port by Gearbox Software and a Mac port by Aspyr. The computer versions are substantially different from the console versions, featuring different missions, a modified story line, and online play. In 2003, the game also had a Game Boy Advance version by JV Games, which also differs from both the console versions and PC versions.

In 2004, EA released Everything or Nothing, developed by EA Redwood, for the PlayStation 2, GameCube and Xbox. Unlike the two previous installments, Everything or Nothing is a third-person shooter with driving missions, and it stars the voices and likenesses of Pierce Brosnan, Judi Dench, Willem Dafoe and John Cleese, among others. It was written by the scriptwriter of GoldenEye and Tomorrow Never Dies, screenwriter Bruce Feirstein, with a plot connected to the Roger Moore Bond film A View to a Kill. It was released to mostly positive reviews, the game also had a Game Boy Advance version by JV Games, which differs from the console versions.

Later that year, GoldenEye: Rogue Agent was released on the same platforms with the exception of the Game Boy Advance version. A first-person shooter loosely connected to the Bond franchise a spin-off, it stars a former MI6 spy known as "GoldenEye", who works for Auric Goldfinger against Dr. Julius No. The game was panned for its misleading title and poor storyline. the game was released on PS2, Xbox, Gamecube and Nintendo DS. At the end, however, EA listed 007 Racing and GoldenEye: Rogue Agent as spin-offs, completely out of their canonical order they have built.

2005 saw the release of From Russia With Love, based on the film of the same name. It starred Sean Connery once again as James Bond, and the other characters had the same likeness of the original cast. The game is a third-person shooter in the same style as Everything or Nothing, with expansions in the story and certain details changed (such as trading SPECTRE for OCTOPUS, due to legal problems). The game received positive reviews, and was released on Gamecube, Xbox, PS2 and PSP.

Electronic Arts announced in 2006 a game based on then-upcoming Casino Royale,^[3][4] but it ended up being cancelled, because it would not be ready by the film's release in November. This fact, which would lead MGM to lose millions in licensing fees, along with EA's commitment to move away from movie franchise games and focus more on internal IPs, led the company to abandon the Bond franchise in May 2006.^[5]

2007–13

Shortly after Electronic Arts abandoned the license, in May 2006, Activision acquired non-exclusive rights to develop and publish James Bond games, which were to become exclusive in 2007.^[6] Activision's first game was a tie-in to Quantum of Solace. 007: Quantum of Solace, which also included elements from Casino Royale, was released on 31 October 2008. it was released on PS3, PS2, Xbox 360, PC, Wii and DS. The game received mixed reviews, with the PS2 version receiving the best reviews.^[7]

At E3 2010, Nintendo officially revealed GoldenEye 007, a Wii-exclusive remake of the critically acclaimed 1997 game. Developed by Eurocom, using their Dead Space: Extraction game engine, the game updated the story of the movie, with a script by Bruce Feirstein and the current Bond actor Daniel Craig as 007.,^[8] it received positive reviews. A month later, a leaked media release suggested that Activision had hired Bizarre Creations to work on 007: Blood Stone, an original Bond experience written by Bruce Feirstein. Both games were released on November 2010. 'Blood Stone' was released for PC, PS3, Xbox 360 and DS, with mixed-to-positive reviews. In December 2010, a video (later backed up by Activision) and some screenshots from a new Bond game were leaked, identified as developed by Raven Software. This new game was thought to be set for release in 2011, but Activision never commented on any connection or status of that apparent title. In 2011 Activision ported the new GoldenEye 007 (featuring Daniel Craig's likeness and voice even though the film and original game featured Brosnan) to PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 consoles. Entitled GoldenEye 007: Reloaded, it presents an HD remastering of the original Nintendo Wii shooter from the previous year.

On 19 April 2012, Activision announced plans for a new game titled "007 Legends" to coincide with the fiftieth anniversary of the James Bond film franchise.^[9] The game has been described as a "greatest hits compilation",^[9] retelling six film narratives with an overarching storyline to connect them together. Activision did not comment on which film stories would be included in the game, but announced that the gameplay mechanics would return to the first-person shooter after 007: Blood Stone experimented with the third-person perspective suggesting that this had been the case due to the mixed reviews the game in question had received.^[9] On 21 May 2012, Activision released the first trailer for 007: Legends. Thereafter, the missions are revealed to be based upon Goldfinger, On Her Majesty's Secret Service, Licence to Kill, Die Another Day and Moonraker. On 9 November 2012, Activision added the last mission to the game, released as a downloadable content, which was definitely based on Skyfall. The game received negative reviews from several reviewers. Eurocom has since closed down.^[10][11]

On 4 January 2013, Activision and Steam's online stores quietly removed online copies and pages for Quantum of Solace, 007: Blood Stone, and 007 Legends without explanation or warning.

On 20 February 2013, Activision confirmed that in 2013 it would be backing away from licensed games in a statement though not confirmed, The 007 game license may have been revoked - The statement reads "Like any successful business, Activision Publishing consistently works to align its costs with its revenues—this is an ongoing process. In 2013, we expect to release fewer games based on license properties and as a result are realigning our structure to better reflect the market opportunities and our slate. Approximately, 30 full-time employees have been impacted globally, which represents approximately one half of one percent of Activision Blizzard's employee population. We are offering those employees who are impacted outplacement counseling services."

Future

On 7 January 2014, president and co-founder of Telltale Games Kevin Bruner has expressed an interest in making a future James Bond game if he were ever afforded the chance. He stated that "I'm a giant James Bond fan and I'm always frustrated by games that make him a mass murderer." when he was asked which license he'd adapt next if money and licensing hurdles were not a factor. "He's a super-spy, and that's a different skillset. The films make him less of a mass murderer, and there's not much killing in the books – more spying and intrigue."^[12]

On 21 January 2016, president of Curve Digital, Dominic Wheatley expressed his very own interest alongside the company in the series, saying "I’d be very happy to have a James Bond licence. We could do a cracking game around that," adding that these opportunities are overlooked by the bigger firms, since Electronic Arts and Activision have their own IPs and no longer want to "promote someone else's brand."^[13]

Cancelled games

Film based games

Octopussy

Shortly after James Bond 007 was released in 1983 by Parker Brothers, another video game was announced, titled Octopussy, based on the film of the same name. The game was planned for release on the Atari 2600 System, Mattel Intellivision, and compatible systems. Set for release in the summer of 1983, it was cancelled shortly after it was announced by Parker Brothers.^[14]

GoldenEye 007

A racing version of GoldenEye 007 was going to be released the same year for the ill-fated Virtual Boy. Only a screenshot was released on the internet, but the game was later cancelled.^[15][16][17]

Related, a revamped version of the Nintendo 64 game by Rare was planned to arrive at Xbox Live Arcade on Xbox 360, scheduled for release on 27 February 2008, but due to financial disagreement between Microsoft (who acquired Rare and their intellectual properties in 2002) and Nintendo, the publisher of the original title, adding to that Activision had exclusive rights to publish video games based on the James Bond franchise at the time, the project was put into a blackout. Even though in July 2014, there have been reports on Nintendo 64 titles heading to the Wii U platform, no confirmation or word regarding the past, present or the future of GoldenEye 007 has been made as of yet.^[18]

Tomorrow Never Dies: The Mission Continues

The original VHS release of Tomorrow Never Dies featured a brief trailer with Desmond Llewelyn which highlighted a game that would "start where the film ends".^[19] Footage shows Bond skiing, scuba diving and driving in third person and on a first-person shooting mission.^[20] The game was to come out on PlayStation and PC in the fall of 1998 and was being made by MGM Interactive, not EA; EA was not involved in Bond until November of that year.^[21]

A Tomorrow Never Dies game was released on 16 November 1999, distributed by EA, but with notable differences from the 1998 attempt. The game was a third-person shooter with the scuba diving level nowhere to be found. But perhaps the most glaring difference was that the story now followed the plot of the film, not the continuation that had been promised.

A level in the game sees Bond skiing down a mountain and killing a Japanese terrorist named Sotoshi Isagura (who had featured very briefly in the film), while on another stage Bond has a driving mission in Switzerland. These were not from the film and may have survived from the 'continuation' story.

The World Is Not Enough

A port of The World Is Not Enough for the PC and PlayStation 2 version was cancelled in favor for Agent Under Fire.^[22] Electronic Arts thought, by 2001, that too much time has passed since the release of the film, and that the fans will be no longer interested in the product as talks of the succeeding film in the series were taking place, and eventually the process was scrapped.^[23]

Casino Royale

Based on the film of the same name where Daniel Craig starred as Bond and was going to give his voice and likeness in the video game. It was set to release on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 platforms. The game was 15% developed when the project was cancelled as Electronic Arts would not finish it by the film's release in November 2006. Later, unfinished development screenshots from the Venice level were uncovered.^[5][24][25] However, Activision's debut in the series, Quantum of Solace combines the storylines of the aforementioned film and its successor of the same name.

Skyfall

In January 2012, it was announced that a video game based on Skyfall would be released by Activision.^[26] Ultimately, a downloadable level based on Skyfall was released for Activision's 007 Legends, although a full game was not released.^[27]

Original games

007 Racing sequel

A PlayStation 2 sequel to 007 Racing was rumoured to be in development.^[28]

Bond6

EA Games began conceptual work on the game in 2003, under the working title of Bond6. The game was originally meant to be released in 2005, set to star Pierce Brosnan as James Bond 007. A video game adaption of From Russia With Love began development when Brosnan officially announced that he was stepping down from the role, which ended plans for Bond6. CGI work for the game was reused in television commercials for GoldenEye: Rogue Agent.^[29]

Blood Stone sequel

In December 2010, some screenshots and a video were leaked online that depicted a new James Bond game, which shared similar gameplay to its predecessor, Blood Stone. Reportedly, the project had been in development by Raven Software, but was postponed six months prior to the leak, at which point the game was believed to be back in development.^[30]

Other games

Role-playing games

A role-playing game, James Bond 007, Role-Playing in Her Majesty's Secret Service was released in 1983, by Victory Games, a branch of Avalon Hill.

Mobile and Smartphone Games

Since 2002, games featuring the Bond character and the 007 trademark have been published and distributed on mobile phones. The first two were being based on action sequences from Die Another Day, one of them was titled Hover Chase and the other was Ice Racer. Both were published by Vodafone.

In 2006, when the franchise was rebooted, Sony Online Entertainment released a side-scroll action game based on Casino Royale, which followed the storyline closely to that of the film's. In 2008, two games were developed and produced by the same firm to promote the release of Quantum of Solace, one of them was a tie-in based on the motion picture itself, featuring similar gameplay to its predecessor, and the other one was an arcade game called Top Agent. With the exception of the arcade game, the film tie-ins were developed by Glu Mobile.

In 2014, it was announced that Glu Mobile was assigned, once again to work on a game in the franchise, in association with MGM Interactive, specialized for smartphones and tablets.^[31] A year after, it was revealed that the application is titled World of Espionage,^[32] a strategic game that recaptures the storylines of the classic adventures 007 is put through, released in July 2015.^[33] The game, after being universally panned for its uninspired content, was removed from the app stores in December 2016 and Glu Mobile pulled the plug on the title.^[34]

The list overall in this category includes:

• Hover Chase (2002)
• Ice Racer (2002)
• Casino Royale (2006)
• Quantum of Solace (2008)
• Top Agent (2008)
• World of Espionage (2015)

Fanmade remakes

GoldenEye: Source is a total conversion mod using the source engine developed by Valve Corporation for the computer game Half-Life 2. GoldenEye: Source is based on the award-winning Nintendo 64 video game, GoldenEye 007. A 5th beta release was released on 25 December 2010.

In 2013, fans of the original Nightfire began porting the PC version to Source engine,^[35] planning to release it on Steam as Nightfire: Source.^[36]

Actors portraying James Bond in the video games

The actors listed below have provided the likeness of Bond in the 007 video-game series. However, they have not all provided voice work. The people who have voiced the character, filling the vocals of the official actors, were Adam Blackwood, Maxwell Caulfield and Timothy Watson, while for Agent Under Fire when Pierce Brosnan's contract was yet to be renewed, Andrew Bicknell provided his voice and likeness for the Bond character. Jason Carter also voiced 007 but in a non-Bond game GoldenEye: Rogue Agent. The classic games only provided the real actors' footage on the cover for whatever era the franchise was in, such as Roger Moore and Timothy Dalton. The first video game to feature a voiceover performance was Tomorrow Never Dies with Adam Blackwood impersonating Brosnan's voice.

List of games

Game	Title	Year	Publisher	Dimension	Point of view	Face of Bond	Voice of James Bond
1	James Bond 007	1983	Parker Brothers	2D		Roger Moore
2	A View to a Kill	1985	Domark				Roger Moore
3			Mindscape	Text-based game
4	Goldfinger	1986				Sean Connery
5	The Living Daylights	1987	Domark	2D		Timothy Dalton
6	Live and Let Die	1988				Roger Moore
7	Licence to Kill	1989				Timothy Dalton
8	The Spy Who Loved Me	1990				Roger Moore
9	Operation Stealth		Interplay			Alternative
10	James Bond Jr.	1991	THQ				Corey Burton
11	The Duel	1993	Domark			Timothy Dalton
12	GoldenEye 007	1997	Nintendo	3D	First Person	Pierce Brosnan
13	James Bond 007	1998		2D		Alternative
14	Tomorrow Never Dies	1999	Electronic Arts	3D	Third Person	Pierce Brosnan	Adam Blackwood
15	The World Is Not Enough	2000			First Person
16	007 Racing				Third Person
17	Agent Under Fire	2001			First Person	Andrew Bicknell
18	Nightfire	2002				Pierce Brosnan	Maxwell Caulfield
19	Everything or Nothing	2003			Third Person		Pierce Brosnan
20	GoldenEye: Rogue Agent	2004			First Person	Jason Carter
21	From Russia With Love	2005			Third Person	Sean Connery
22	Quantum of Solace	2008	Activision		First Person	Daniel Craig	Daniel Craig
23	GoldenEye 007: Reloaded	2010
24	Blood Stone				Third Person
25	007 Legends	2012			First Person		Timothy Watson

See also

• Outline of James Bond
• Perfect Dark

References

1. "GoldenEye 007 Reviews". gamerankings.com. Retrieved 29 January 2006.
2. "Microsoft Acquires Video Game Powerhouse Rare Ltd". Microsoft. 24 September 2002. Archived from the original on 11 January 2010. Retrieved 13 May 2006.
3. James Bond 007 :: MI6 - The Home Of James Bond
4. EA's Lost 007 'Casino Royale' Videogame :: Gaming :: MI6 :: James Bond 007 Video Games
5. Fritz, Ben (3 May 2006). "Bond, Superman games on the move". Variety. Retrieved 18 May 2006.
6. "Activision Acquires Bond Video Game License". Retrieved 3 May 2006.
7. "Quantum of Solace reviews - Metacritic". Retrieved 30 January 2014.
8. Earwaker, Kiran (8 October 2010). "GoldenEye 007 - Hands On Preview". TVG Media Ltd. Retrieved 10 November 2010.
9. Williams, Owen (19 April 2012). "Activision Announces 007 Legends". Empire. Retrieved 19 April 2012.
10. http://au.ign.com/videos/2012/10/16/007-legends-video-review
11. http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2012-12-07-james-bond-developer-eurocom-makes-remaining-staff-redundant-ceases-trading
12. Reilly, Luke (7 January 2014). "Telltale President Keen to Make a James Bond Game". IGN. Retrieved 7 January 2014.
13. Dring, Christopher (21 January 2016). "Curve Digital: We could make a cracking James Bond tie-in game". MCV-UK.com. Retrieved 21 January 2016.
14. http://www.mi6-hq.com/sections/games/octopussy_1983.php3?s=games&id=02917
15. "GoldenEye 007". GT Anthology. gametrailers.com. 11 July 2009. Retrieved 7 May 2011.
16. "Goldeneye Steps Up To NU64" (JPEG). Nintendo Power. 78: 112. November 1995. Retrieved 3 June 2006.
17. "Games - Unreleased - GoldenEye". Planet Virtual Boy. Retrieved 8 January 2007.
18. "Nintendo 64 titles heading to Wii U virtual console". Mi6-HQ.com. Retrieved 26 January 2016.
19. "Tomorrow Never Dies Video Game". YouTube. 21 December 2007. Retrieved 22 May 2012.
20. "IGN: 007: Tomorrow Never Dies Screenshots, Wallpapers and Pics". Media.psx.ign.com. Retrieved 22 May 2012.
21. "EA and MGM Bond - PSX News at IGN". Psx.ign.com. Retrieved 22 May 2012.
22. "The World Is Not Enough - PlayStation 2 Preview at IGN". Ps2.ign.com. Retrieved 22 May 2012.
23. "The World Is Not Enough on PC and PS2". MI6-HQ.com. 6 January 2007. Retrieved 13 September 2014.
24. MI6-HQ Copyright 2011. "James Bond 007 :: MI6 - The Home Of James Bond". Mi6-hq.com. Retrieved 22 May 2012.
25. MI6-HQ Copyright 2011 (26 May 2010). "EA's Lost 007 'Casino Royale' Videogame :: Gaming :: MI6 :: James Bond 007 Video Games". Mi6-hq.com. Retrieved 22 May 2012.
26. "James Bond 'Skyfall' Game In The Works". GameRant. 3 January 2012. Retrieved 12 September 2016.
27. "Skyfall mission in 007 Legends launches first for PS3". GameSpot. 16 October 2012. Retrieved 12 September 2016.
28. "Bond Races to PlayStation 2 Again - PS2 News at IGN". Ps2.ign.com. 11 December 2000. Retrieved 22 May 2012.
29. James Bond 007: "From Russia With Love" by EA Games
30. "First Look At Next 007 Game". MI6-HQ.com. 7 December 2010. Retrieved 12 September 2016.
31. "Glu to Create James Bond Game with EON Productions and MGM Interactive". MarketWatch. 8 April 2014.
32. "The Next Bond Game by Glu Mobile". MI6-HQ.com. 2 June 2015.
33. "James Bond: World of Espionage". MI6-HQ.com. 18 July 2015.
34. "Game Over for Glu Mobile". MI6-HQ.com. 2 December 2016.
35. Nightfire: Source Community
36. "'Nightfire' being remade in Source Engine". PCGMedia. 27 July 2013.

External links

• Bondpedia; The Bond Encyclopedia
• James Bond universe (GameSpot)
• MI6-HQ.com - Gaming Section
• James Bond licensees at MobyGames
• Treyarch to Develop Next James Bond Game
• MobyGames - James Bond