GoldenEye Is 19 Years Old Today! Nintendo's "Coolest" Game Ever?

Soundwave

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Soundwave on 25 August 2016

spemanig said:

Soundwave said:

I think GoldenEye was the most popular game for a good while even among Playstation and Sega fans, don't think Smash ever really accomplished that, it's a fighting game with Nintendo characters, it was naturally going to be very popular with Nintendo fans unless it played like shit.

I remember people who hated Nintendo outright still saying they needed to buy GoldenEye. I had some buddies on my basketball team that were all about Sega (and later Playstation), but I always got asked to bring over the N64 with GoldenEye. That never happened with Smash Brothers.

Bond is cool, no shame in admitting that, he's probably the coolest movie character too.

Nintendo is a ubiquitously adored brand. It doesn't matter if a few PS/Sega fans don't like the characters. They are in a minority, even in Nintendo's worst years. Nintendo isn't a brand only adored by "Nintendo fans." It's a brand adored by everyone. That's why it's such a resilliant brand. "Cool" isn't defined as "not Nintendo."

Your anecdote is as flimsy as your definition of "cool." People will boot up Mario Kart/Smash 64 at a party lightyears before considering booting up Goldeneye. You just really like Bond. We get it. Lot's of people do, but let's not overstate Goldeneye's coolness compared to other games in Nintendo's history. Look past The 90s/early 2000s. Mario Kart Wii sold 35m copies, and was played my many people in that exact same teen/college age demographic. I should know, that's been my demographic. Not 35m "Nintendo fans/kids;" jocks, cheerleaders, frat boys, sorority sisters, everyone played those games. I've been to hundreds of parties/social gatherings, many with hundreds of people at a time. I know what these people think cool is, and it's not just guns and testosterone. If they're willing to play games at all, it's going to be something with a low barrier to entry, because "cool" people don't have the time to get good at precise aiming in Goldeneye. But they do have time for parties, and Smash/Mario Kart are party game kings. Not just for Nintendo fans. Not just for "video game nerds." For everyone.

If the N64 sold 100 million units like the Wii did, I wouldn't be surprised if GoldenEye would've hit 35 million itself.

8+ million sold with basically nothing from Japan (like Mario 64 and Zelda: OoT benefitted from) on a 33 million userbase is impressive. Also considering GoldenEye was not widely bundled with the system at all either (like Mario Kart Wii was) and had virtually zero marketing.

Nintendo having the no.1 FPS in the industry is a pretty unique occurance.

I think Nintendo hoped the Metroid Prime games or Resident Evil exclusivity could replace what GoldenEye brought to the N64, but both failed horribly in that regard. Nintendo's never had a game like GoldenEye since, a true system selling title outside of their mascot/family stable.

The game was so popular that even the movie producers have acknowledged it helped bring the character to new audiences. How often does a video game get credited as such?