Free Radical, the folks behind the TimeSplitters games and former Rare employees responsible for GoldenEye 007, have tossed up a poll on their website asking one and all which platform they'd like to see TimeSplitters 4 release on. We all know it's coming, they know we know and now are asking us which system we prefer? At the time of writing this post, it looks like more people would like to see the thing release on PS3, but the system isn't winning by that much.

If you want TimeSplitters 4 on Wii, we'd suggest you head over there and make your voice heard. If you don't know what TimeSplitters 4 is, then we suggest you play all of the previous games or, in the least, the best title in the series. We just hope the new game still has a level editor.

Oh, and they also have some artwork up on their site, featuring a cat on wheels and one hot chainsaw-toting nun.

[Thanks, hvnlysoldr!]

Microsoft wants it. Nintendo wants it. Rare has no control over it. Such is the situation with GoldenEye 007, fondly remembered and much-loved N64 shooter of yesteryear.

Speaking to Videogamer.com, Rare senior software engineer Nick Burton said that the bid to bring the eleven-year-old game to either the Virtual Console or Xbox Live Arcade was "locked in this no man's land," and that it was up to the separate license holders to play nice before the greatest Bond game of all time could be made available for download on any service. "The ball's not in anybody at Rare's court really," sighed Burton. "It's squarely in the license holders' courts. It's a shame. There's nothing on LIVE Arcade, there's nothing on Wii."

It's not solely about Microsoft or Nintendo reaching an agreement, either -- the revival of GoldenEye also hinges on those who own the license to the game rights now, the parties that have the licence to Bond as an IP, and "umpteen licensees." Man, looks like eBay is still your best bet if you yearn for some RCP-90 action.

GoldenEye on the Xbox Live Arcade. We've heard the rumor, have even seen it in action, but til this day, nothing has come close to releasing. And from the looks of things, a GoldenEye XBLA release probably isn't going to happen.

Talking to videogamer.com, Rare's senior software engineer Nick Burton acknowledged the GoldenEye development difficulties they've gone through saying that "it's incredibly hard to solve because there's so many licence holders involved. You've got the guys that own the license to the gaming rights now, the guys that have the licence to Bond as an IP, and there are umpteen licensees." Burton further explained that Rare doesn't have control over the project anymore and that it's in the hands of licenesee holders, making it almost "locked in this no man's land" of development hell. Long story short: GoldenEye XBLA is vaporware, turning out to be nothing but a sparkle of a dream of hope and nothingness. Got it?

[Via Joystiq]

Having foiled countless doomsday devices, monologuing masterminds and aesthetically pleasing assassins, James Bond has felt the bite of reality and become inextricably entangled in a web of legal nonsense. Though an Xbox Live Arcade version of the classic N64 FPS, GoldenEye, continues to make appearances both in dreams and alleged screenshots, nobody's been able to pull the game out of a web spun by numerous lawyers and license holders. "It's kind of locked in this no man's land."

That's according to Rare's senior software engineer, Nick Burton, who recently discussed the game's fate with VideoGamer.com. "It's incredibly hard to solve because there's so many licence holders involved," explained Burton. "You've got the guys that own the license to the gaming rights now, the guys that have the licence to Bond as an IP, and there are umpteen licensees." Last time we checked, "umpteen" was quite a lot ... at least 37 or so.

Burton goes on to explain that the game's release is no longer in Rare's hands -- it's up to the publishers to figure out how Microsoft can get its hands on a Nintendo game starring one of Activision's favorite characters. "It's probably going to go down in the annuls of gaming history as one of the big mysteries."

Wait ... the "annuls" of gaming history? What an appropriate misspelling.

The inventiveness of the homebrew scene never ceases to amaze us. Take for instance the above video. What you see in it is, in fact, GoldenEye 007 for Nintendo 64 running on a Wii with the "Homebrew Channel" installed.

The poster of the video states that he was able to get the game ROM working with the emulator used by the Virtual Console version of Sin & Punishment. He gives no details on how he managed the feat, mentioning only that the game works "for the most part" with occasional slowdown and a broken borked save system.

Hopefully Nintendo will see this video and, rather than simply order it pulled offline, realize just how much people really want a proper Virtual Console release of the game.

[Via Wii Fanboy]

Sit down if you aren't and don't start taking a sip of something before you click the play button on the video above: someone managed to get GoldenEye 007 to run on the Wii. As evidenced above, the title can be emulated on the Wii, but not in perfect form. There are still some issues with saving and frame rates dipping here and there. But, all in all, pretty impressive and manages to only strengthen our desire to have this one show up on the Virtual Console.

[Thanks, trefox!]

Silicon Knights' long-awaited Xbox 360 action game Too Human is giving a shout out to a N64 classic, according to Wired. GoldenEye 007, the groundbreaking console FPS developed by Rare, featured a gun called the "KLOBB" – a nod to then Nintendo designer Ken Lobb, who helped out during the game's development. The gun was also the weakest in the game. D'oh!

Too Human promises hundreds of items ... and one of them, as Wired has uncovered, is the KLOBB. Not surprising considering that Ken Lobb is now serving as Creative Director at Microsoft Game Studios and is working closely with Silicon Knights on its game. For the record, it has a damage rating of 18.

Stylistically, it's been compared to Half-Life and Perfect Dark. What games have inspired design choices in The Conduit?

Rob: One of our goals from the very start was to make a fast-paced accessible FPS. To that end we looked at and stole shamelessly from mega-hits like Halo and Half-Life, recent titles like Resistance: Fall of Man and Metroid Prime Corruption, as well as classics like Goldeneye for the N64. We wanted to pick the best features from these titles, the things that made them fun and memorable and have features like those in The Conduit.

Matt: We've done art direction for so many different titles, and we've learned a lot about establishing a strong and cohesive visual style. The Conduit's art direction has come mainly from taking real world styles and locations and combining them with our own alien technology concepts and aesthetic design preferences. I suppose that it looks similar to those other games, but in the end it's The Conduit's own unique premise that has largely driven the artistic vision. When combined with the features that are specific to our engine tech, The Conduit will look stunning by the time it reaches the player's hands.

Will there be a calibration option, so we can "aim down the sights?"

Rob: One of the things we learned in our development process was that customization of controls is essential to an enjoyable gameplay experience. To that end, we allow players to customize sensitivity, dead zone sizes, as well as control layouts. But, if you mean, can you actually use the iron-sights of your guns, that answer is "not exactly". The reason being that several of our weapons are alien in nature and don't even have iron-sights... but you will have sort of an alien vision mode with some of the weapons.

Matt: There'll be on-the-fly, in-game look sensitivity adjustments, as well as a fully map-able control scheme, down to the button, in the game's front end UI. Players will be able to map the game's controls completely to their own liking. There'll even be a couple of alternate control methods for those that don't care as much for the Wii pointer style of directional turning. There'll be lots of options for maximum playability.



There hasn't been much word on who the publisher for The Conduit is. Rumor has it, Nintendo is actually going to publish the game. Can you comment on that? Can you announce one at this time?

Matt: I can neither confirm nor deny this, senator. ;) All I will say is that thanks to the explosion of interest in this title, we've had a lot of publishers knocking on our door.

Control-wise, will there be options for other methods outside of the Wiimote and nunchuk? Will it support the GameCube controller? Classic controller?

Dan: There are movement and weapon functions in The Conduit that require the Wii Remote's pointer, accelerometer, depth, and cursor rotation functionality in order to perform. The Conduit isn't your standard ported-over-to-the-Wii style of game. Using the Classic or GC controller kind of defeats the purpose of what we are looking to do.

Matt: With The Conduit we want to redefine first person shooter controls. Hard core FPS gamers that have played the game have told me that they are now convinced that Wii is the best system for the genre. When you play it you'll realize very quickly that the Wii Remote is an incredible control device for this type of game. It just feels amazing to play.

Rob: I think if you are buying a Wii, you're buying it to make use of its motion sensitive controls, which are tailor made for an FPS game.

Aside from the controls, what are the game's strengths that separate it from other existing PC/console FPSes?

Rob: I would say that would be the ASE or "All Seeing Eye" device. In game, this piece of hardware allows a player to adjust the "phase state" of things. This makes invisible enemies and hazards not only visible, but able to take damage. It also makes invisible cover and platforms become solid, leading to more gameplay. We also reveal secret puzzle locks that must be solved to get to special weapons.

Dan: We've put a solid amount of effort into enemy AI for The Conduit. A pet peeve of mine is single player FPS games where the enemies just stand there getting blasted, and don't seem to be reacting to the world around them. In The Conduit, our bad guys can hear and see, understand the use of cover, have variable levels of aggression, use grenades effectively, advance and retreat, and can determine when the player is susceptible to attack (i.e. reloading, exposed and moving in their firing cone). I think focusing a higher than normal amount of the dev time on AI makes our single player experience better than most other FPS titles out there. Of course, the overall look we're able to achieve with our advanced engine tech is also something the makes The Conduit a superior FPS game IMO.

Matt: I think that going back to the Wii Remote, The Conduit has a unique control system that feels more like a VR experience than the typical spring loaded joystick controlled videogame. I also agree that the ASE device offers a unique style of gameplay that hasn't really been seen before in other games. Having the ability to discover and phase useful objects into the environment to assist with combat is a lot of fun. Beyond that, it's just rock solid action all throughout the game. There'll be fierce enemies, bad ass weapons, and white knuckle battles. It's going to be a hell of a lot of fun.

Does the game run at 60fps? 30fps?

Matt: If we can hit closer to 60, then that will be great! But for right now we are shooting for a steady 30fps, with zero drops in framerate. The whole team swears by the fact that a solid 30fps still feels great. Even our studio's most hard core PC FPS gamers think that The Conduit feels just right at 30fps. The quality will be there, and the game will look and run amazing by the time that it ships.

Dan: The game will run absolutely solid at 30fps. For HVS, choice is either to have less visual splendor and run at 60fps or achieve the look we want for the game and run at 30fps. 30fps is a frame rate that is plenty responsive for FPS gaming and we are valuing the increased visual detail we can offer over the slightly smoother gameplay we might otherwise get by scaling this back.

High Voltage has made an adventure game/minigame collection for the Xbox (Leisure Suit Larry: Magna Cum Laude, also on PS2 and PC), and now they're making an FPS for the Wii. Is this ironic or strategy?

Rob: I like to think it's beautiful strategy. At the time Magna Cum Laude came out, the Adventure game market was woefully barren. So we found a title and a publisher willing to take the risk to revitalize that genre. Now we're trying to do the same thing with FPS's on the Wii. We feel that The Conduit will be like rain in the desert, which seems to be the case judging by the online response.

Matt: Diversity is key. We don't like to sell ourselves short by sticking with one genre or style of game. High Voltage knows that it's okay to try new things. We've learned a lot after 15 years working with so many different publishers, developers, and licensors. I could go on about how licensed game restrictions, publisher mandates, and drop dead unmovable release dates ultimately affect the quality of your game, but this project is very different. The Conduit is something completely new for our studio. This game will rock!

The company seems very (vocally) confident about the ability of The Conduit to revolutionize Wii gaming. Was it always in the plan to build up so much hype, or was the hype a natural product of enthusiasm? Has the hype been more than expected?

Rob: The hype has certainly been more than I expected and I am grateful for it. However, it is a two-edged sword. While the hype has helped give us the pick of litter for a publisher, it does mean we have a LOT to live up to. But I think we are up for the challenge. =)

Dan: There aren't many large scale multiplayer games for the Wii at this point, nor any that push the Wii graphics HW to the extent we are. So, from these standpoints – The Conduit will be revolutionary for the Wii gaming market. It is HVS's belief that although there are great FPS games on the 360 and PS3 – what they all lack is the kind of unique motion sensing based control schemes that makes The Conduit for the Wii more fun to play. Giving gamers a great looking, great playing, great controlling FPS title is something we feel is worth hyping!

Matt: The plan all along was to maximize the potential of the system, and then build a game that showcases the engine tech and the fun of the Wii Remote. Every developer talks big about their own game, but no one at High Voltage could say for sure how well our audience would react to the screenshots and gameplay video release. We've always just been focused on making a great game, and the result is that The Conduit seems to be building its own hype. And we're very appreciative of all the kind words and support we've received from the Wii community.

Is The Conduit sharing tech with Animales de la Muerte? Where did the concept for that one come from? Is it still on track? Really, anything we could learn about Animales de la Muerte would be wonderful.

Dan: Animales is using the same engine tech as The Conduit, but in a much different way since it's a 'toon shaded game.

Matt: I don't want to say too much more about the title until it's closer to completion, but I will say that it's going to be bloody fun. By the way, much respect to our friends in Mexico. However, screw PETA...no animal in this game is safe!

Anything about multiplayer? Many of the folks interested in the game are looking to have some kind of online multiplayer, preferably something on-par with Medal of Honor: Heroes 2. Are you trying to implement Wi-Fi compatibility? Local multiplayer?

Dan: We are working closely with Nintendo to be able to provide the kind of multiplayer gameplay that we know the market wants.

Matt: Nintendo has been really helping us out with technical support but we still have more questions that will need be answered before we can release any specifics about our multiplayer modes. Obviously we want to be competitive with the other online console games, but we'd rather wait until we've got something great to show off before we make any announcements about this very important feature.

Thank you for taking the time to answer our questions!

There aren't many gamers who don't harbor fond memories associated with the Nintendo 64's classic adventure (and to many, the greatest installment in the Hylian franchise), Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. In addition to its beloved story and incredible visuals, it was a groundbreaking third-person adventure through an intricately detailed fantasy world -- but would we (and Game Rankings) still hold the triforce-hunting adventure in such high regard if we had experienced Hyrule directly through the point-eared protagonist's eyes?

In a recent discussion between Nintendo president Satoru Iwata and revolutionary game developer (and Time's most influential person of 2008) Shigeru Miyamoto, it was outed that Shiggy secretly possesses a penchant for first-person shooters (notably, Rare's seminal N64 shooter Goldeneye), and that he'd considered creating Ocarina of Time using an Oblivion-esque first-person perspective. We're not quite sure how this would have affected the title -- but we're certainly terrified of the prospect of witnessing Darunia's sexy dance of seduction first-hand.

First off, GoldenEye 007 is not coming to the XBLA. We repeat, it is not releasing to the XBLA now or ever. Gots it? Goods. Let's get to the fun.

Yesterday, British magazine Xbox World 360 released it's "highly anticipated" March issue which was supposed to feature an exclusive look at GoldenEye 007 for the XBLA. Which it technically does, but early reports hinted at GoldenEye still being on track and in development. But that isn't the case. Xbox World 360 does have a four page spread featuring the now-revealed-to-be aborted XBLA GoldenEye port which was being developed by Rare. Their article includes a few exclusive screenshots (like the one above), how the game was improved going from the N64 to the 360 as well as quotes and comments from both Rare AND Microsoft. The same Microsoft who said they never spoke with Xbox World 360. Meh, no matter. If you're interested in torturing yourself and knowing what could have been, pick up a copy of Xbox World 360 and drool over the two new screenshots they posted. So sad ... no prettified GoldenEye for us.

We're on the fence as to whether or not the upcoming issue of Xbox World 360 Magazine does indeed have legitimate details about the supposedly-canceled Goldeneye 007 remake for Xbox Live Arcade. On the one hand, CVG claims the issue features four pages of details about the unfinished project, with numerous screenshots and comments from Microsoft.

On the other hand, Eurogamer reportedly spoke with Microsoft Game Studios, who claim that Xbox World 360's look at the Goldeneye game is based entirely on rumors and speculation, with no participation from Microsoft in the story.

Both these sources seem entirely at odds with each other, and only seem to agree upon the fact that this game definitely isn't coming out. Our shiny optimistic side wants us to believe in the (heavily watermarked) screenshots and details, but the reality is it's probably all speculation masquerading as fact (not unlike GamePro's Gears of War 2 "coverage"). Hopefully once the issue hits stands we'll have a few more answers.

Read - GoldenEye XBLA: Go inside the game [CVG]
Read - MS rubbishes GoldenEye XBLA talk [Eurogamer]

We don't have to wait for Wednesday's big Xbox 360 World reveal, because Microsoft is already putting the nail GoldenEye 007's coffin.

Last week, we told you about British magazine Xbox 360 World claiming they had some "never-seen shots and hands-on details" on GoldenEye 007 for the XBLA, making it seem like the game was in development. But after digging a little deeper and running a few updates (okay, a LOT of updates), we finally settled on the idea that GoldenEye was still sitting at a "canceled" status. And we were right. Microsoft confirmed with Eurogamer that "the story in Xbox World 360 is based entirely on rumour and speculation" and that they "do not have the necessary rights to release GoldenEye on Xbox Live Arcade." Sadly, no XBLA GoldenEye for us as wipe our hands clean of this disheartening story and call it a day.

Update 2: Updated the title to clear up some of the confusion. We know that the magazine article will have details and impressions about the XBLA version of GoldenEye 007 when it was being developed, but its current development status is very much up in the air. The accepted word on the street is that the game is still at a canceled status, it's just that Xbox World 360 has information regarding the game when it was being worked on. So, this is NOT confirmation that the game will release to the XBLA. We apologize for the confusion.

Update: Craptacular ... We're now hearing that the Xbox World 360 article may only feature impressions of the still canceled, not going to be released XBLA version of GoldenEye 007. So, for the time being, don't get your XBLA GoldenEye hopes up. Stupid magazines bull-crapping us, oh bother ...

Our whining, groaning and petitioning may have actually paid off for once. as the once rumored, then not rumored Xbox Live Arcade version of GoldenEye 007 is officially going to happen.

British magazine Xbox World 360 is teasing that in next month's issue (which hits newsstands next Wednesday the 27th) they'll be revealing "never-seen shots and hands-on details" from "Rare's retooled classic" and all the changes that have been implemented in this re-make. We obviously don't have to hype this news any further as we're pretty sure N64 GoldenEye fanboys will take this, run through the streets and scream joy at every street corner. Bring on the golden gun and bring on the details ... Wednesday just can't come soon enough. W00t!

[Via Joystiq]