While working on his piece for The New Yorker regarding the invalidity of claims linking video games to gun violence, Simon Parkin sat down with former Rare developer Maritn Hollis, who worked as game director on 007 GoldenEye. During the interview, Hollis recalled getting a fax regarding the game from the legendary game developer, who described the game as “tragic” and “horrible”. Miyamoto also proposed that the game should end with players being forced to shake the hands of their enemies while they lay wounded in hospital, an idea that obviously never came to be.
It can’t really be overstated how influential 007 GoldenEye was to the first-person shooter genre. While other games came first in the genre like Doom or Wolfenstein 3D, 007 GoldenEye was the first to show consoles as a capable and profitable platform for such games. Many other features, like a realistic and grounded story-mode as well as a console multiplayer deathmatch mode, also come from the seminal game.
All of this comes at a time where video game violence is a hot topic of conversation in the United States. Last month 17 people lost their lives when a gunman opened fire at Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida. These events are sadly becoming more and more common in this country, and it seems some are choosing to focus on video game violence as a possible case, with President Trump even getting in on the discussion.
This is hardly the first time claims about the connection between violent video games and real-world violence. For years, many lawmakers across the country have pointed the finger at video game developers and publishers for violent behavior despite little evidence to back them up. While video games have been found to foster aggression, studies have shown little connection to actual real-world violence.
Throughout all of this, it’s important to remember that Miyamoto probably looks at the situation very differently. Ignoring for a second that these comments where being made in the late 1990’s, when the video game violence debate was non-existent, Miyamoto make his games in a very heartfelt way for everyone to enjoy. So a game on his system with such content would concern him. From what can be seen, Miyamoto was genuinely trying to help, and that’s all anyone can really ask.
Source: The New Yorker
