Let me rephrase that: current licensing rules prevent Nintendo from putting any of the Perfect Dark characters in any new game. They can do whatever they want to the one they are in but cannot reuse them without permission. XBOX users are in the same boat with Goldeneye on their version of the Virtual Console. Not even the game creator can re-release the original Goldeneye game, even in a different format, without Nintendo’s permission, which they will never get after betraying them like they did.
Licensing rules suck for the users but they are put there for this very reason.