THE RETURN OF JAMES BOND 22 MCV 15/10/10
Q&A BRIEFING: DAVID G WILSON
Bond Marketing’s VP of global business strategy at EON Productions – protector of the Bondfranchise – talks games vs film…
Why has the James Bond franchise lasted so long? It’s refreshingly different. Most of the screen heroes you see are crafted from American culture, so it’s nice to have a hero with British sensibilities, and that’s what Bond represents.
What made GoldenEye so special and why have no other Bond games achieved the same success? GoldenEyeon Nintendo 64 was the perfect storm. All those things came together in the right way at the right time. The subsequent Bondgames have been released into a very mature market place – GoldenEye wasn’t. It came at the beginning of a new console movement.
“People see games as a legitimate form of entertainment –and now its industry is bigger than film’s.”
It sold around eight million copies in a marketplace where consoles barely existed. Those would still be good numbers today, but it’s a much more mature marketplace that puts a lot of pressures on new games. Development has moved on and it’s become more challenging to come up with something as fresh and unique.
Why is it important to have Hollywood levels of production? We have a film property, we’re trying to figure out how to explore it in the game world, and that gives us some unique opportunities and challenges. We want it to feel as much like a Bond movie as possible. That’s why we brought in a lot of the Bondteam because their talents transfer very naturally to games, from art to stunt co-ordination. Bringing that Bond authenticity was important to make each game unique in the marketplace.
How can projects like these games keep the films prominent in the absence of new Bond movies? You have to stay present to be relevant. A two-year hiatus between films means a two-year lack of contact with your audience. Video games are a very important cultural phenomenon, and one that keeps us relevant. Now games have come of age,
people see them as a legitimate form of entertainment – and now the games industry is bigger than film’s.
Nintendo is raising awareness with Bond fans and gamers through its GoldenEye 007 TV ad
the most cherished titles among a generation of gamers. “GoldenEye on Nintendo 64 and the memories of that game are held in very high esteem and remembered very fondly by all gamers – not just Nintendo fans,” says Nintendo UK’s marketing manager Rob Lowe.
“It was a genre-defining game at the time and effectively re-wrote many of the gaming rules. Games simply didn’t warrant this level of love and affection from people unless they were brilliant.” Activision’s Julian Widdows, executive producer for the new GoldenEye 007 adds: “GoldenEye was a such a special experience – and still is in people’s minds. It remains the benchmark against which all future Bond titles are measured. I don’t think anything so far has managed to stand up and find its space next to GoldenEye.” Many have tried. In the years since GoldenEye on Nintendo 64, various film tie-ins and original adventures starring the British superspy found their way to shelves, but they were often met with average sales and reviews. Widdows says: “You
can’t throw Bond into any old title – it might not be quite right and that makes games feel uncomfortable within the universe. We had to make sure GoldenEye and Blood Stone sat comfortably in the film universe and stand up as valid Bond experiences by themselves.”
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mention that of Bond creator Ian Fleming, his legal guardians at EON Productions and Bond licensors Danjaq. And Bond is a truly British thing. These new games maintain that legacy; even Rare, the team behind GoldenEye on Nintendo 64, are based in the UK. Regardless of Union Jack parachutes, the series’ status as a proudly British franchise is a key element to its unique appeal. Activision was keen to maintain this: it has proven to be more useful while collaborating with the various companies that have a stake in Bond. Bizarre’s Nick Davies, producer on Blood Stone, says: “Being British gives us an edge, because a lot of Brits have seen the films. “Of course, Bond has become a global brand – it’s estimated that one in five people on the planet have seen a Bond film – but there’s something special about the series in the UK. “Much like Doctor Who, Bond is a British icon who has the ability to reinvent himself by having a different actor. The series is based on a really solid foundation of brilliant books and a
GoldenEye was genre- defining. Games simply don’t warrant that level of love unless they are brilliant.
Rob Lowe, Nintendo
THE THINGS I DO FOR ENGLAND Perhaps it is no coincidence that Blood Stone developers’ Bizarre Creations and GoldenEye studio Eurocom share the same nationality as James Bond – not to
brilliant character. Like the old phrase says: ‘Every man wants to be him, every woman wants to be with him’. He’s got that elevation over the likes of Bourne, Jack Bauer and Sam Fisher.” Widdows agrees, adding that ‘Britishness’ and a resultant passion for James Bond was a key factor in selecting Eurocom – a studio with
WWW.MCVUK.COM
several 007 titles to its name – to re- engineer GoldenEye.
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Bizarre and Eurocom aren’t the only British talents hard at work on these games. Award- winning composer David Arnold has created a new score for GoldenEye 007 – continuing his work from scoring the past five Bond films – while UK singer Joss
Stone stars at Blood Stone’s Bond Girl and sings the title theme.
In fact, the list of people involved in the new games is akin to the films’ credits. Each game has a storyline penned by veteran screenwriter Bruce Feirstein, Daniel Craig’s stunt double Ben Cooke assisted with the motion capture in Blood Stone, and both
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