video game: Nintendo 64 GoldenEye 007

Before widespread video games existed to capture the imagination, Ian Fleming published twelve novels and two short story collections featuring the British Secret Service agent James Bond. Between 1953 and 1966, the public waited eagerly for the next installment featuring the charming and elusive spy. Today, James Bond continues to captivate the world through film, books, and video games that present the opportunity for players to step into 007����_��s shoes and try their own hand at going undercover with MI6.

Parker Brothers released the first James Bond video came in 1983 for Atari 2600. Entitled "James Bond 007," this side-scrolling platformer features four missions, each based off a Bond film. Players must control James Bond����_��s car, jump over obstacles and dodge attacks to gain points. While this simple game served as a stepping stone for many future installments featuring secret agent James Bond, the Bond video games did not become popular until Rare released "GoldenEye 007" in 1997.

Released exclusively for the Nintendo 64, "GoldenEye" is a first-person shooter game based off the 1995 film of the same name. It transformed the first-person shooter genre by demonstrating that gaming consoles possess the capability to be as proficient as personal computers, which traditionally dominated the genre. It also introduced popular stealth elements into the game. Gamers play in either single or multi-player mode, and take on the role of James Bond in destroying the GoldenEye satellite using various weapons featured in the James Bond movies.

"GoldenEye" proved to be a critical and commercial success. It sold more than eight million copies and became the third best selling Nintendo 64 game behind "Super Mario 64" and "Mario Kart 64." Critics praised the game����_��s graphics, which developers modeled off the sets from the movie "GoldenEye," as well as its sound effects and depth. Doug Perry of IGN wrote, "the game beautifully blends smart strategy gameplay with fast-action gunmanship," and called the multiplayer mode the best game on the Nintendo 64 system.

In 1998, "GoldenEye" won the BAFTA Interactive Entertainment "Games Award," as well as the "Console Game of the Year" and "Outstanding Achievement in Software Engineering" awards from the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences. In 2000, readers of "Computer and Video Games" magazine voted "GoldenEye" the top video game of all time. Due to its profitability, subsequent James Bond video games copied "GoldenEye����_��s" format, though with varying levels of success.

The James Bond novels and movies stimulate imaginations everywhere, and 007 continues to amuse audiences through the medium of gaming.