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James Bond

Nintendo’s Shigeru Miyamoto wanted everyone to kiss and make up at the end of GoldenEye

Nintendo’s last cartridge-based home console, the Nintendo 64, was home to a long list of games that no doubt played a big part in many of our lives, and none more so than GoldenEye 007. A first-person shooter that followed the storyline of the James Bond movie of the same name, GoldenEye’s all-guns-blazing split-screen multiplayer mode made and broke many a friendship over the years, and was considered the epitome of fun in back in 1997 when it launched.

But the game was an odd choice to appear exclusively on a console made by Nintendo—a company with a reputation for squeaky-clean fun and family-friendly software. And it turns out that the violent nature of GoldenEye was a matter of deep concern for Shigeru Miyamoto, Nintendo’s most influential director and producer and the creator of Super Mario. So much, in fact, that he suggested an alternate ending to the game: one where everyone shook hands and made up.

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Battleship Island: Five Reasons Why More Movie Villains Should Live Here

Hashima Island, better known as Gunkanjima (lit. Battleship Island) due to its warship-like silhouette, is a small island off the coast of Nagasaki with a remarkable history. Owned by Mitsubishi as a coal mining facility from 1887 to 1974, this was once the most densely populated place on the planet, with more than 5,000 inhabitants crammed into its 6 square-kilometre dimensions. Now, the place is deserted and all that’s left of the once-bustling metropolis is an eerie landscape of crumbling, grey buildings.

When the Bond villain Raoul Silva chose the island as his secret lair in the latest 007 movie Skyfall, Gunkanjima received worldwide attention. But did Bond’s nemesis know that the island is home to Japan’s first-ever multi-storey concrete reinforced apartment block? We visited the island and checked out areas off-limits to the public to find out more about what makes this the perfect villain’s lair. Take the full virtual tour and see our photos after the jump.

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