Rogue Agent for DS confirmed

It's official: Electronic Arts will publish GoldenEye: Rogue Agent for the Nintendo DS this summer.

The game was originally released for PS2, Xbox and GameCube last year, and was met with, erm, a less-than-glowing reception from the critics.

It's a first-person shooter, but that's about all the resemblance it bears to the N64 classic. You play a Bond villain fired from MI6 for reckless brutality and now best mates with crazy old Goldfinger, who's on a mission to do over Dr. No. The game features lots of other classic Bond characters, including Oddjob, Scaramanga and Xenia Onatopp.

We're promised "all-new features and innovative gameplay" for the DS version, including a unique multiplayer mode that lets up to eight opponents battle it out wirelessly with a single cartridge.

Gameplay will be shown on the handheld's top screen, while the HUD is displayed on the touch screen. It'll be used for checking ammunition levels, hacking electronic devices, decoding security locks and the like, and both the stylus and thumb-pad will come into play.

As well as the six-mission single-player game there's also an all-new 'Virtual Training' mode, where you can practice kicking in the heads of some infamous Bond villains to earn weapon upgrades.

"We are thrilled to bring GoldenEye: Rogue Agent to the Nintendo DS and create distinctive new features to benefit from the platform's unique technology," said EA executive producer Jon Dean.

"Playing this action-packed game on the go and right in the palm of your hands is incredible. Bond fans will not be disappointed." [You said that last time. -Ed]

Rogue Agent DS is slated for a June release in the US, and a European launch is likely to follow soon after.