(Pocket-lint) – A 24-year ban on GoldenEye 007 in Germany has been lifted, leading to speculation that the iconic first-person shooter title could be making its way to the Nintendo Switch Online platform.
The 1997 title, widely considered to be a formative masterpiece for the genre, was previously banned and placed on the German Federal Review Board’s ‘Media Harmful to Young Persons’ list – something that has now been revoked, as first spotted by VGC.
Interestingly, the title was only one year away from potentially being given the green light to be sold or marketed to minors anyway, since media on the index is automatically reviewed after 25 years. Instead, that’s happened slightly early.
This is all significant because its removal from the list could be the prerequisite for its appearance on the Nintendo 64 expansion plan catalogue, which was released recently for Nintendo Switch Online subscribers. As VGC highlights, any Nintendo game sold in Europe has to pass inspectors in Germany, as this is where the company’s European eShop is based.
In that sense, then, the timing all appears to line up.
However, it’s not exactly clear who is behind the game’s ban being lifted.
Schnittberichte suggests that Stadlbauer Marketing, the toymaker who licenses Mario Kart for its Carrera slot car line also owns the German rights to Goldeneye 007. This, in itself, though, doesn’t necessarily guarantee it was behind any request to lift the ban, of course, or even that any re-release will come off the back of it.
With the timing of Nintendo 64 re-releases coming to the Switch, though, as we say, the timing does seem to hint that something is in the works. Until we know something official, we’ll have to play the waiting game – but it’s fair to feel cautiously optimistic that GoldenEye 007 will be with us in some capacity soon.
Writing by Conor Allison. Originally published on .
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