There’s been a lot of talk lately with concerns over video game violence, especially with a recent meeting held by president Donald Trump, in which it seems very little progress was made. But there are some interesting notes that have come out of this research, including one that looks back upon 1997 Nintendo 64 classic Goldeneye 007.
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It originally popped up in the New Yorker, which covered the topic of video game violence quite extensively. But during its research, it spoke with Martin Hollis, who served as part of the development team at Rare when they worked on Goldeneye.
In the midst of their project, Hollis received a fax from none other than the legendary Shigeru Miyamoto, responsible for a number of classic Legend of Zelda and Mario games for Nintendo, amongst other titles. He took a good look at the game while it was in the midst of its development, and deemed it “tragic” and “horrible.”
Granted, first-person shooter games work on a different level than your typical fantasy adventure games, so Miyamoto may have been looking at it from a much more unique perspective than most of us. But the suggestion that came next was rather interesting, to say the least.
Miyamoto proposed that, as part of the game’s conclusion, that players should be forced to shake hands with their victims as they lay recovering in hospital beds. The idea was never implemented, as Rare went with a more traditional ending, similar to what the movie had done back in 1995.
Some people have criticized that Miyamoto would suggest such a thing, but look at it from his perspective. He makes games in his own special way, and, again, he probably looks at first-person shooters with a much different perspective than most of us do.
Plus, it would have been an interesting psychological effect on some players if it was included, like “violence is bad” or what-not. But we can totally see why Rare didn’t go with it, especially considering the audience that it was reaching out to.
All the same, it’s a neat little footnote in the midst of this video game violence discussion – which is sure to be ongoing in the months to come.
Goldeneye 007 is available for Nintendo 64.
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