Versions

This page is under construction.

GoldenEye 007 has three versions for the three major console regions of the time: NTSC-U (North America and much of Latin America), PAL (Europe and most of the rest of the world), and NTSC-J (Japan). The versions are largely similar, but were compiled weeks apart and do have some differences. According to the game's decompiled code, these are the compile dates for the three versions:

• NTSC-U — Jun 29 1997 20:46:05
• NTSC-J — Jul 10 1997 14:53:37
• PAL — Jul 31 1997 14:53:03

The biggest difference between versions is the frame rate. The two NTSC versions run at 29.97 frames per second (Source) while PAL runs at 25 frames per second. This means the NTSC versions can run at a higher frame rate, but in practice sometimes fail to reach it. Players describe the PAL version as having a more stable frame rate. The slower PAL frame rate gives the Nintendo 64 more time to complete its calculations each frame, and thus slowdowns are a little less common.

The game itself was only released in two languages: English and Japanese. Sometimes the packaging and instruction booklet were translated into other languages, such as this one in Danish, Swedish, and Finnish.

Unlike some other Nintendo 64 games such as Perfect Dark, GoldenEye never had a revision to fix bugs or add features.

Below is a map of the approximate GoldenEye regions. I say approximate because some countries such as South Korea and the Philippines did not have a dedicated release and had to import their cartridges. NTSC-U and NTSC-J Nintendo 64 consoles are actually compatible. The only region lockout comes from the physical shape of the tabs on the back of the cartridges. This great video from GoldenEye speedrunner MadmanFlechr teaches how to modify a NTSC-J cartridge to play on a NTSC-U console and vice versa.

Spellings

American English spellings are changed to British English in the PAL release. This is a non-exhaustive list of spelling changes:

• armor → armour
• rumored → rumoured
• minimize → minimise
• neutralize → neutralise
• defense → defence
• center → centre

Briefings

Some briefings were reworded for the PAL version:

The NTSC-U line about the bombs being armed when the last one is set isn't accurate. Remote Mines are armed as soon as you throw them. The PAL line was changed to be more accurate and helpful. The line about rough handling had to be dropped to make the text fit.

The PAL change makes sense here since the player is not introduced to the Janus Crime Syndicate prior to this.

Very small change in wording here. I think I like the NTSC-U version better, actually.

This section is for changes made after the final NTSC-U compile. That means the PAL and NTSC-J got these changes, but not the NTSC-U version.

Rumble Pak Fix

On NTSC-U if you remove the Rumble Pak then reinsert it, it may no longer function. The only way to get it working again is to reset the console. PAL and NTSC-J fix this bug.

The code below is from the GoldenEye Decompilation Project. The preprocessor directive BUGFIX_R1 applies to the PAL and NTSC-J versions of GoldenEye. The following code is found in the file joy.c.

void joyRumblePakTick(void)
{
	s32 i;

	for (i = 0; i < MAXCONTROLLERS; i++)
	{
		if (g_ContRumblePakCurrentState[i] != g_ContRumblePakTargetState[i])
		{
			if (g_ContRumblePakTargetState[i] == RUMBLEPAKSTATE_ON)
			{
				if (0 == osMotorStart(&g_ContPfs[i]))
				{
					g_ContRumblePakCurrentState[i] = RUMBLEPAKSTATE_ON;
				}
				else
				{
					set_rumble_pak_init_state_not_ready(i);
				}
#ifdef BUGFIX_R1
			}
			else if (g_ContRumblePakTargetState[i] == RUMBLEPAKSTATE_UNKNOWN)
			{
				if (osMotorInit(&g_ContInputMessageQueue, &g_ContPfs[i], i) != 0)
				{
					set_rumble_pak_init_state_not_ready(i);
				}

				osMotorStop(&g_ContPfs[i]);
				g_ContRumblePakCurrentState[i] = RUMBLEPAKSTATE_OFF;
				g_ContRumblePakTargetState[i] = RUMBLEPAKSTATE_OFF;
#endif
			}
			else
			{
				if (0 == osMotorStop(&g_ContPfs[i]))
				{
					g_ContRumblePakCurrentState[i] = RUMBLEPAKSTATE_OFF;
				}
				else
				{
					set_rumble_pak_init_state_not_ready(i);
				}
			}
		}

		if (g_ContRumblePakTimer60[i] <= 0)
		{
			g_ContRumblePakTimer60[i] = 0;
		}
		else
		{
			g_ContRumblePakTimer60[i]--;

			if (g_ContRumblePakTimer60[i] <= 0)
			{
				g_ContRumblePakTimer60[i] = 0;
				g_ContRumblePakTargetState[i] = 0;
			}
		}
	}
}
				

The fix adds code to handle the condition when the Rumble Pak's state is unknown, a case which was not addressed in the original code.