WHAT IS A "BETA VERSION"?

The "beta version" isn't really a version of all. The term "beta" is merely the name for the developing stage in a game, when many changes are still being made.

All games receive changes before they are released. When preview screenshots are taken, we can often notice small differences when compared to the final game when it is released.

In the case of Goldeneye 007, many things were changed and removed from the game before it was completed. As a result, practically every screenshot taken of the game before it was released, has major differences from the final version.

Things like going to the distant island in the Dam level, and an elevator in the Silo are examples of changes in the levels themselves. Other things were also changed, like the removal of the infamous "All Bonds" characters.

And if that's not enough, Rareware left a large number of unused things inside the game's memory, that we normally wouldn't see. But with the help of game enhancers like Gameshark, and Action Replay, we've been able to re-activate long lost cheats, characters, pictures, levels, items, and other things in the game.

I've been asked a million times, "Where can I get the beta version". "Beta" games are never released to the public, and even if they were, they would not even be playable on your N64. I'm willing to bet that Rareware would have some "beta" games stashed away, but they would be merely for reference, and testing purposes.

So, why would Rare remove all of these great things from the game? The answer is simple. They just could not get all the bugs worked out of these things, so they were scrapped. The only part of the game that was removed for reasons other than bugs and glitches, was the featured "All Bonds" characters, (Sean Connery, Roger Moore, and Timothy Dalton). Those Bond characters were apparently removed for legal reasons. Of course, with a video game enhancer, you can activate the character select pictures of the former James Bonds.

Beta Goldeneye has become quite a hot topic, and many people have asked me why. It would seem as if everyone's just curious about what else Rareware intended to include in this awesome game. After years of playing the game as we know it, it's always a surprise to many people to learn that there were many more things that Rare intended to include.

-DetErest
Webmaster, Detstar.com