It is now possible to play GoldenEye 007 with four separate monitors, but it will cost you
Editor’s opinion: GoldenEye 007 is a classic first-person shooter and arguably one of the best games released for the Nintendo 64. It was even a finalist for inclusion in the 2020 World Video Game Hall of Fame but shamefully missed out. Although it’s been almost 25 years since I’ve played this game, I still miss the fun of playing it with friends in four player split screen mode.
As fun as it was to play GoldenEye 007 in local multiplayer, the split screen got in the way. At the time, some complained about screen cheating, but since everyone could see all the screens, it was still a level playing field and eliminated annoying tactics like camping. The main problem was reducing the already small screen you were probably playing on by a factor of four.
In the current era of multiplayer games, this is not a problem since everyone plays over the Internet. However, this does not solve the GoldenEye problem. Even with multiple consoles, it’s not possible to connect four players without split screen – until now.
4 GoldenEye screens on original N64 hardware! There is no screening here! …but how?
Come and experience it at our GoldenEye 25th Anniversary Party for Nintendo 64: https://t.co/F918hEQ20v pic.twitter.com/05jA82upb8— Computing History (@computermuseum) May 4, 2022
British Center for Computer History designed way to play GoldenEye 007 on four monitors with one N64 console. This process involves splitting the video signal and adjusting the image so that each has an output image angle. The displays in the museum are relatively small, but in theory you could use larger monitors.
There is only one caveat. The museum had to use about $10,000 worth of equipment. He probably already had the equipment on hand, but it’s unlikely that many of us have it. So it’s still not possible for most of us to play GoldenEye on different screens – at least for now.
However, rumors surfaced in January that GoldenEye 007 would be coming to Xbox. It was unclear if this would be a remaster or just a port of the original. Next month Jeff Grubb of Giant Bomb suggested that we may get an official announcement about the release of the remaster on Xbox and Nintendo Switch.
He reasoned that Microsoft had already commissioned Microsoft-owned Rare to remake it for Xbox Live Arcade. Rare finished the game, but it stalled due to complicated licensing issues – MGM owns the license for the GoldenEye movie, while Nintendo owns the license for the game. The mess is presumably sorted out and the game is coming to both platforms sometime this year, which means an announcement is coming soon.
Of course, this is just a guess, so take it along with your daily sodium intake. However, if a remaster is in development rather than a port, we may see full multiplayer gameplay. However, is this good or bad?
This can be good or bad, depending on how you look at things. On the one hand, screen size won’t be an issue anymore, especially with the 4K remaster. On the other hand, not being able to see what others are doing means putting up with campers, real scammers, and ridiculous traps.
