The chance of a GoldenEye 007 revival via Xbox LIVE Arcade or Virtual Console appears no more feasible now than it was around a year ago. Speaking in response to a fan question about a port coming to either of those two downloadable platforms, a representative of Rare responded, largely, in the negative.

That was some time ago, my friend. Fate was against us that day. Destiny conspired to raise the hurdles even as we attempted to clear them, resulting in unpleasant groinal injury. I suspect we're long past the stage where an agreement was on the cards, but you never know. Stranger things have happened… somewhere … probably.

Licensing issues, naturally, have played a huge part in the still unfolding GoldenEye 007-to-downloadable-platforms drama. In August 2008, Rare’s Nick Burton said the problems weren’t on his studio’s end, rather, it was all Activision -- the license holder. "The ball's not in anybody at Rare's court, really," he said. “It's squarely in the license holders' court. It's a shame. It's kind of locked in this no man's land. There's nothing on LIVE Arcade, there's nothing on Wii."

At least Perfect Dark is coming, right?

[via Kotaku, via Nintendo Everything]