Rare didn’t want to make GoldenEye 007, thought it would be a disaster, Nintendo suggested cancelling the game
This information comes from EDGE…
“It wasn’t something we were really doing – we were trying to build our own IP, and film tie-ins meant a lot of ownership by the film company. But Nintendo was very keen.” – Rare’s Mark Betteridge
“Then, as it was, GoldenEye sold several times more. Internally, while GoldenEye was being produced, there wasn’t an awful lot of faith in the game around the company apart from the core members of that team. I saw the game at various stages during its development, and I think, about four months before release, I saw a build of it and I thought, ‘Jesus Christ, it’s a bit of a mess.’ But then it all came together very close to the end.” – Gregg Mayles
According to Betteridge, when Nintendo asked Rare if they wanted to make GoldenEye 007, the team’s response was “well, not really.” He added that, at one point, Nintendo suggested that Rare cancel the game following long delays, but they “just never told the team.” Mayles said to EDGE that the development team believed GoldenEye was “going to be a disaster” after a lackluster showing at E3, saying “thank God we’ve got Banjo.”
