Technologies

N64 Classic GoldenEye 007 Is Out on Nintendo Switch, Xbox Now

The iconic 1997 Nintendo 64 first-person shooter brings classic James Bond action to Nintendo Switch Online and Xbox Game Pass.

Load up your silenced PP7s and prime those remote mines: GoldenEye 007 is available on the Nintendo Switch Online and Xbox Game Pass subscription services this Friday, Jan. 27. The beloved James Bond first-person shooter originally hit the N64 in 1997, and this is the game’s first rerelease since then.

Online multiplayer is exclusive to the Switch release, the official 007 website noted, but this version will otherwise be the same as the N64 original. It’s unclear if you’ll be able to use twin-stick controls — the N64 controller only had one stick, but the Switch offers two and the original game allowed you to do by using two controllers (gaming was weird in the ’90s).

You’ll need to be subscribed to Switch Online’s $50-a-year Expansion Pack tier to access GoldenEye and other N64 games.

The Game Pass version (playable on Xbox One and Xbox Series X and S) includes «alternative control options, achievements to unlock and native 16:9 resolution up to 4K Ultra HD,» Craig Duncan, head of Microsoft-owned developer Rare, said in a blog post Wednesday. So it offers more modern bells and whistles than the Switch release, but lacks online multiplayer (you’ll still have local splitscreen).

A subscription costs $10 a month, though people who own a digital copy of Rare Replay, the 30-game compilation of classics that came out in 2015, can also get access to GoldenEye for free. It isn’t available to purchase separately.

GoldenEye’s return was revealed in a Nintendo Direct livestream last September.

As a licensed tie-in to the 1995 movie that introduced actor Pierce Brosnan as the legendary British agent, the game won critical acclaim for its fun single-player campaign and epic split-screen competitive multiplayer. It became the N64’s third bestselling title, with 8.09 million units sold — it was only topped by Super Mario 64 and Mario Kart 64, which sold 11.91 million and 9.87 million copies, respectively.

Rare also developed GoldenEye followup Perfect Dark for the N64 in 2000, before Microsoft acquired the company in 2002.

Fans have been expecting a remaster for Microsoft’s Xbox Series X and S to be revealed for months, since achievements for it have leaked multiple times. It was reportedly planned for release on Xbox 360 in the late 2010s, and an apparent extended gameplay video appeared in 2016. At the time, Xbox boss Phil Spencer said the game’s licensing rights complicated efforts to get it on the console. The versions coming on Friday don’t appear to be the remasters; the Switch release seems visually identical to the N64 one, while the Xbox release looks like an upscaled edition of the original.

«Great to see that GE007 is being made available again. I hope this means that a new generation will get to experience and enjoy the game,» David Doak, a developer whose face was famously used for in-game Bond ally Dr. Doak, tweeted after the announcement last September. «It was an absolute privilege to be part of the talented team that created it 25 years ago.»

He also tweeted a recent shot of him dressed like his in-game counterpart, and joked that players shouldn’t «come crying» to him if they have trouble unlocking the infamous Invincibility cheat. That’s one of the game’s most difficult challenges — you have to beat the Facility level in under 2 minutes, 5 seconds to get it.

Doak has spoken at length about the game’s development over the years, and tweeted a 1997 shot of the original development team on Wednesday.

This year marks the 70th anniversary of Bond’s first appearance, in author Ian Fleming’s novel Casino Royale. Last year was the 60th anniversary of the Bond movie franchise — with latest film No Time to Die now available to stream on Amazon Prime Video — but the series is in a state of flux as fans await the announcement of Daniel Craig’s successor in the role. Hitman developer IO Interactive is also working on its own Bond game.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections Hints, Answers and Help for March 15, #1008

Here are some hints and the answers for the NYT Connections puzzle for March 15, No. 1,008

Looking for the most recent Connections answers? Click here for today’s Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands puzzles.

Today’s NYT Connections puzzle is kind of tough, but the yellow category has some fun options in it. Read on for clues and today’s Connections answers.

The Times has a Connections Bot, like the one for Wordle. Go there after you play to receive a numeric score and to have the program analyze your answers. Players who are registered with the Times Games section can now nerd out by following their progress, including the number of puzzles completed, win rate, number of times they nabbed a perfect score and their win streak.

Read more: Hints, Tips and Strategies to Help You Win at NYT Connections Every Time

Hints for today’s Connections groups

Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.

Yellow group hint: Mine, all mine!

Green group hint: A part you might use to build something.

Blue group hint: Blended words.

Purple group hint: Not a cow, but close.

Answers for today’s Connections groups

Yellow group: Greedily control.

Green group: Toothed wheels.

Blue group: Portmanteaux.

Purple group: Bull ____.

Read more: Wordle Cheat Sheet: Here Are the Most Popular Letters Used in English Words

What are today’s Connections answers?

The yellow words in today’s Connections

The theme is greedily control. The four answers are bogart, corner, hog and monopolize.

The green words in today’s Connections

The theme is toothed wheels. The four answers are cog, gear, pinion and sprocket.

The blue words in today’s Connections

The theme is portmanteaux. The four answers are blog, motel, smog and spork.

The purple words in today’s Connections

The theme is bull ____. The four answers are dog, doze, frog and horn.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Strands Hints, Answers and Help for March 15, #742

Here are hints and answers for the NYT Strands puzzle for March 15, No. 742.

Looking for the most recent Strands answer? Click here for our daily Strands hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.

Today’s NYT Strands puzzle is fun and timely, relating to a certain big ceremony held this weekend. Some of the answers are difficult to unscramble, so if you need hints and answers, read on.

I go into depth about the rules for Strands in this story.

If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections and Mini Crossword answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

Read more: NYT Connections Turns 1: These Are the 5 Toughest Puzzles So Far

Hint for today’s Strands puzzle

Today’s Strands theme is: Best of all

If that doesn’t help you, here’s a clue: The envelope, please.

Clue words to unlock in-game hints

Your goal is to find hidden words that fit the puzzle’s theme. If you’re stuck, find any words you can. Every time you find three words of four letters or more, Strands will reveal one of the theme words. These are the words I used to get those hints but any words of four or more letters that you find will work:

RATE, RATED, DATE, DOTE, DATED, DOTED, GATE, GATES, TROD, TRODS

Answers for today’s Strands puzzle

These are the answers that tie into the theme. The goal of the puzzle is to find them all, including the spangram, a theme word that reaches from one side of the puzzle to the other. When you have all of them (I originally thought there were always eight but learned that the number can vary), every letter on the board will be used. Here are the nonspangram answers: