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 Activision

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

Video games

1983–1996

The first official Bond video game, James Bond 007, was released in 1983 by Parker Brothers.

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.

1997–2003

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 and sold over eight million copies. Subsequently, almost every Bond video game has attempted to copy GoldenEye 007's accomplishment and features with varying degrees of success.

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, 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 succeses, 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.

2004–2007

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 expectation 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.

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 was released on PC, PSP, XBOX and PS2.

Electronic Arts announced in 2006 a game based on then-upcoming Casino Royale, 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.

2008–2013

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. Activision's first game was a tie-in to Quantum of Solace. Quantum of Solace: The Game, which also included elements from Casino Royale, was released on 31 October 2008.

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. 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.

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 and, as such, is not considered a "new Bond title".

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. The game has been described as a "greatest hits compilation", 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 this been the case due to the mixed reviews the game in question received. 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.

On January 4, 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 February 20, 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"

Cancelled games

Main article: Cancelled James Bond 007 video games

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.

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.

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. 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 voiceover performance has been started from Tomorrow Never Dies video game, by Adam Blackwood.

Pierce Brosnan

Pierce Brosnan, the 5th official actor to portray Bond in the film series, lent his likeness extensively, appearing in GoldenEye 007, Tomorrow Never Dies, The World Is Not Enough, 007 Racing and NightFire. However, he did not voice the character until Everything or Nothing. A canceled video game called Phoenix Rising was going to feature Pierce Brosnan as Bond, with both his voice talent and likeness. However, it was replaced with the From Russia with Love video game, where Sean Connery starred as Bond, as by that time, Brosnan stepped down from the role.

Andrew Bicknell

Andrew Bicknell portrayed James Bond in likeness only for Agent Under Fire, in which the character was voiced by Adam Blackwood, who also voiced Bond in three video games. During that time, Brosnan had not renewed his contract as 007, disallowing the use of his physical appearance and voice. Bicknell's likeness was to be featured again in Nightfire, as early development footage showed, but he was replaced when Brosnan's contract was renewed.

Sean Connery

The first official actor in the film series, Sean Connery stepped in to portray Bond once again in the video game adaptation of From Russia with Love. The game featured both Connery's voice talent and likeness, as well as an updated plot penned by acclaimed Bond writer Bruce Feirstein, who wrote three Bond films and four video games.

Daniel Craig

Since assuming the role of Bond, Daniel Craig has portrayed the character in voice and likeness in the recent 007 titles, beginning with Quantum of Solace: The Game in 2008, which combined the events of the films Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace. He reprises the role in two games released simultaneously in 2010: GoldenEye 007, the remake of the original game, and Blood Stone. Craig would have appeared in a cancelled game based on Ian Fleming's short story "Risico", developed by Raven Software. Instead, Activision released 007 Legends which represents six missions based on previous films. Bond's physical appearance carries Daniel Craig's likeness but was voiced by Timothy Watson.

See also

• Outline of James Bond

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