. I've never been much of a video gamer, but I like the adventure games and the shooting games might help my hand/eye coordination for the gun sequences in the film. I picked up a few games not really knowing what I was buying and when I started playing one I realized I had picked up "Stranglehold" starring Chow Yun Fat! Based on the John Woo movie "Hard Boiled," the graphics are incredible, he jumps, flies and shoots in slow-mo, very John Woo, very cool. I feel a little shy to tell him I'm playing him on a video game, to tell him how cool it is!

Pretty nice random purchase if you ask me, considering one of her co-stars in the Dragonball film is Chow Yun Fat himself, who steps into the role of Master Roshi, the dirty old beach bum who just happens to be stronger than almost anyone on the planet.

As for the rest of Miss Rossum's blog? I suppose you could read through it if you wanted to - I mean it's not like you're doing anything important right now anyway. Aside from a few nifty insights into the making of the movie, this is pretty much what you've got to look forward to:

I suppose I should mention I had a pet rabbit for a week when I was 6. I was the lucky one (when my name was chosen out of the hat) in school to take the class pet rabbit home for a week. Mom was not too thrilled to have "Peter Rabbit" running around our apartment. Even I will admit Peter was pretty messy, but I really loved little Peter Rabbit, and I named him after the great children's book written by Beatrix Potter. Did you read that book growing up? It was one of my favorites.

Beans, beans and beans.... [Emily Rossum's MySpace Blog via VH1 Game Break]

What follows is a look at what it's like using this particular system, how it feels to have one at your disposal, and ultimately if it is worth spending upwards of $1200+ for a similar set up. What you won't find are benchmarks and technical specifications. If you're into that sort of thing, you already know where to go and most likely can look at the system specs and guess how the AMD Spider is going to perform.

Speaking of which...

The System Specs

- CPU: Phenom 2.4GHz

- Graphics: single Revelation RV670 256mb

- Motherboard: Asus M3A32-MVP Deluxe (RD790)

- Floppy: Sony (black)

- DVD Rom: SATA Asus (black)

- DVD RW: SATA Sony (black)

- Western Digital Raptor WD1500ADFD SATA (150GB)

- Western Digital SE16 500GB SATA

- Power Supply: SEASONIC M12SS-700HM 700WATTS

- Chassis: Lian Li PC-7B Plus (Black)

- Heat Sink: AMD validated B3 model AJIGO MF091-096 CPU COOLER

- Memory: Corsair CM2X1024-8500C5D (2x1GB = 2GB total)

- Operating system license (Vista Ultimate 32-bit - OEM version)

Initial Impressions
The system came preloaded with Windows Vista Ultimate, so installation merely consisted of the usual plugging in, turning on, and waiting for Windows to do its mystical Windows setup thing. Gathering data, making me type in tiny numbers, etc.

Once the system was up and running, I set about downloading the latest drivers, updating the BIOS, and downloading a few choice applications that I cannot operate a PC without (Firefox, for instance.) In standard Windows Vista the system is as smooth as butter, sliding through the interface like a hot knife through said creamy goodness. It certainly put my other Vista computer - a dual core Pentium laptop - to complete shame, but laptops are of course a whole other animal. Now I know I said I wouldn't be dropping any technical specs, but the built-in Vista system performance tool hardly qualifies as technical. It does give a pretty accurate gauge of performance, however, and the Spider system hit the max of 5.9 across the board. The max definitely needs to be upped.

Once I felt comfortable with the PC, I started packing on the gaming goodness.

Crysis
I feel kind of bad using Crysis as a test point on any computer really, but AMD provided it and I felt compelled to put it through the wringer. At medium settings—which is what Crysis automatically set me to after scanning the system—the game performed...okay. The frame rate was hardly smooth, and there were definite stuttering moments throughout. Lowering the settings seemed to smooth things out somewhat, but overall I was not too impressed with how the Spider handled things. My usual PC, which is a low-end dual core Pentium with an ATI Radeon x1950 Pro installed in it, seemed to get much better performance out of Crysis at similar settings. Not a good start.

Stranglehold
The Spider fared much better with John Woo Presents Stranglehold from Midway. I had played the game on the Xbox 360 and not been too impressed, but on this system, with settings maxed and resolution at 1650x1080, the game ran perfectly smooth, and I found that I enjoyed the mouse and keyboard controls much better than the Xbox 360 controller when it came to controlling Tequila. An excellent experience.

The Witcher
Atari's action RPG barely taxed my normal system, other than with the recently patched loading times issue, so it was no surprise that the AMD system performed admirably in tackling the massive game. Details seemed much sharper than when I had played the game previous, and overall my frame rate saw a massive improvement over my dinky little dual core.

World of Warcraft
Let's face it - if your computer cannot handle WoW at 60 FPS in a nearly empty newbie zone, it is time to purchase a new system. Thanks to my renewed interest in healing, I spent the most time on the Spider leveling a newbie Blood Elf priest, and I had a blast. Upgrading to a shiny new high-end system is the best thing for rekindling World of Warcraft lust, and the AMD Spider had me grinding up a storm. A triumph.

Second Life
Just a footnote, really, since many of you don't consider Second Life to be a game. Kind of a bummer, but it seemed like the system really struggled with the virtual world simulation, with performance marks via the program's built-in utility far below what I normally get with my home system. I was planning on using the Spider exclusively for the testing period, but thanks to this limitation I had to hook up my extra monitor to get my stripping for Lindens on. Most likely a problem with the game itself...generally any problem with SL is a problem with the game itself.

In Conclusion
I'd have to say the best thing about the Spider series system I've gotten to play with, is the fact that it is the complete package. You don't have to worry about compatibility between parts, and most drivers are conveniently located within the same couple of web pages, so staying up to date is a snap. It performed great with most of the higher end games I ran on it, and we can hardly fault a computer for choking a bit on Crysis. The real question I suppose is, "Had I the cash and the need for a new PC, would I feel the AMD Spider system a wise purchase?" I am a bit torn, really. As a PC user comfortable with putting together my own components into a case, I could probably build a faster machine for less. Having said that, if I were not comfortable putting together my own system, I would definitely consider the Spider a fine choice for a complete PC gaming package.

Zucker points to games like Vin Diesel vehicle Wheelman and the next-gen debut of Mortal Kombat as some of the "bigger" titles, the latter of which is planned for the end of 2008. There's also mention of more John Woo games, now that Stranglehold is somewhat of a success. Yay? Maybe Zucker and crew should focus less on publishing shovelware crap and try to make the Midway name less of a punchline in the coming years. It might just be crazy enough to work.

Midway resets for 2008 [Chicago Tribune via Game|Life]

Truth be told, I was a complete AMD man until a friend of mine convinced me to ditch my aging Athalon 64 FX for an Intel dual core processor. We'll see if they manage to win me back with what they've packed inside this demo system.

System Specs:
- CPU: Phenom 2.4GHz

- Graphics: single Revelation RV670 256mb

- Motherboard: Asus M3A32-MVP Deluxe (RD790)

- Floppy: Sony (black)

- DVD Rom: SATA Asus (black)

- DVD RW: SATA Sony (black)

- Western Digital Raptor WD1500ADFD SATA (150GB)

- Western Digital SE16 500GB SATA

- Power Supply: SEASONIC M12SS-700HM 700WATTS

- Chassis: Lian Li PC-7B Plus (Black)

- Heat Sink: AMD validated B3 model AJIGO MF091-096 CPU COOLER

- Memory: Corsair CM2X1024-8500C5D (2x1GB = 2GB total)

- Operating system license (Vista Ultimate 32-bit - OEM version)

We want you to play, play, play and tell your Kotaku readers what you think.

So in other words, this deal may be decent for our UK friends as well (and even you Ash, to pick up while you're in the States). It's odd not to hear from Ash in his night notes, isn't it? Not that Luke "kangaroo boxer" Plunkett isn't great, but I for one am eagerly awaiting the tales of Mini-Bash experiencing Tex Mex cuisine, American Santa and buxom Texas ladies.

Amazon [via cheapassgamer]

Midway Announces Stranglehold Downloadable Map Pack Coming Soon

Midway today announced a downloadable map pack for the acclaimed 3rd person action adventure title, Stranglehold, for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 video game systems. The map pack features 10 additional multiplayer maps ranging from the Kowloon Market to Wong's Estate Grounds to the Rooftops of Chicago, as well as 21 all-new multiplayer character skins. The Xbox 360 version will include 10 new achievements worth 250 points. Rated "M" for mature by the ESRB, the Stranglehold downloadable map pack will be available soon in North America via the PlayStation Network and Xbox LIVE.

The contest is based on Crecente's sadistic treasure hunts. Long-time readers will know what we're talking about. Basically, we give you a clue about a post we've done, and then y'all must go find it. If you find the correct post, there will be another clue, which you'll need to track down. And so on. This contest will have ten questions, or "Missions" as I call them. These missions are unnumbered, but if you are doing the contest correctly, they show flow into the next question, etc.

Anyone who posts answers on Kotaku or anywhere on the internet will be banned and made an example of. Here's your first mission:

While Crecente wasn't able to see out of his Halo 3 helmet, this guy was — and added an awesome visor. Thumbs up all around. Find him!

Send your answers, your address and ten correct links to kotakucontestATgmailDOTcom. Specs and some very important info after the jump.

Okay, if you clicked over, chances are you read Kotaku. Like really read it. And perhaps you want to win this great BlackSite: Area 51 computer. And hey, we want to give it to you, the reader. This is important: If you entered our contest, make damn sure you have a commenter account here. What's more, make damn sure it has comments in it. For those who have already entered, there is no need to send us your commenter account. For those who have already entered but don't have an account, create one and start commenting. If you were willing to spend your free time combing through the site, then you should have enough time to comment. At this point, you do not need to send us your commenter page.

This contest is going to be divided into two stages. The first stage is the scavenger hunt. The second stage is a "quick draw." We will randomly select 13 finalists. We will contact those finalists: If any of those finalists do not have a commenter page with comments on it, they will be disqualified. Immediately. If they do not respond to our email within 24 hours, they will be disqualified. New finalists will then be selected. What does that mean? Greater chances that you, Kotaku reader, will actually be a finalist and not some random person.

About the Lucky 13 Quick Draw: We will send those 13 finalists one question, which may be about anything game related or not. It could be a hard question or it could be an easy question. The important thing is speed and accuracy. The first contestant who sends in the correct answer wins the computer, the schwag and INTERNET FAME. The second stage of the contest will be on either Saturday November 17th or Sunday November 18th. The email question will not be posted on the site until the contest is over, hopefully ensuring an honest winner.

In case you haven't seen them, here are the computer specs:

Processor: Intel® Core™ 2 Quad Q6600 2.4GHz 8MB Cache 1066MHz FSB Operating System (Office software not included): Genuine Windows® XP Media Center Edition 2005 - With no Media Center Remote Control or TV Tuner

Chassis: Alienware® P2 Chassis with AlienIce™ 3.0 Video Cooling and 1000 Watt SLI Capable Power Supply - Space Black Chassis Customization : Alienware® Standard System Lighting - Astral Blue High-Performance Liquid Cooling: Alienware® Standard System Cooling

Motherboard: Alienware® Approved NVIDIA nForce 680i SLI Motherboard

Memory: High-Performance 800MHz DDR2 SDRAM - 1GB - 2 x 512MB System Drive: Single Drive Configuration - 250GB Serial ATA 3Gb/s 7,200 RPM w/ 8MB Cache Primary CD ROM/DVD ROM: 18X Dual Layer DVD±RW/CD-RW Writer w/ Nero Software Suite Graphics Processor: Single Graphics Processors - 768MB NVIDIA® GeForce™ 8800 GTX

Monitor: No Monitor

Sound Card: High-Definition 7.1 Performance Audio

Keyboard: Alienware® USB Full-Size Keyboard Mouse : Alienware® Optical 3-Button Mouse with Scroll Wheel

Warranty: 1-Year AlienCare Toll-Free 24/7 Phone Support w/ Onsite Service Alienware Extras: Alienware® Mousepad Alienware Extras: AlienInspection - Exclusive Integration and Inspection - $100 Value - FREE!

Alienware Extras: AlienWiring - Exclusive Internal Wire Management - $100 Value - FREE!

The contest is based on Crecente's sadistic treasure hunts. Long-time readers will know what we're talking about. Basically, we give you a clue about a post we've done, and then y'all must go find it. If you find the correct post, there will be another clue, which you'll need to track down. And so on. This contest will have ten questions, or "Missions" as I call them. These missions are unnumbered, but if you are doing the contest correctly, they show flow into the next question, etc. The contest ends Monday November 11 at midnight EST. Send all your answers with links to kotakucontest@gmail.com with the word contest in the subject line. The winner will be randomly selected from the correct entries and announced Friday November 16.

Anyone who posts answers on Kotaku or anywhere on the internet will be banned and made an example of. Here's your first mission:

While Crecente wasn't able to see out of his Halo 3 helmet, this guy was — and added an awesome visor. Thumbs up all around. Find him!

Spent literally hours putting this together, trying to make this as hard and difficult as possible. Remember, nothing is free, so if you want this pricey loot, get to work!

Specs after the jump.

Eds Update: Quick note about the contest. Three things: Be sure to include your name and home address. Also, to enter this contest, you must be 18 years old and up. Also, if you are only sending us one link, you are wrong. Very, very wrong. Send us TEN links and correct answers.

Processor: Intel® Core™ 2 Quad Q6600 2.4GHz 8MB Cache 1066MHz FSB Operating System (Office software not included): Genuine Windows® XP Media Center Edition 2005 - With no Media Center Remote Control or TV Tuner

Chassis: Alienware® P2 Chassis with AlienIce™ 3.0 Video Cooling and 1000 Watt SLI Capable Power Supply - Space Black Chassis Customization : Alienware® Standard System Lighting - Astral Blue High-Performance Liquid Cooling: Alienware® Standard System Cooling

Motherboard: Alienware® Approved NVIDIA nForce 680i SLI Motherboard

Memory: High-Performance 800MHz DDR2 SDRAM - 1GB - 2 x 512MB System Drive: Single Drive Configuration - 250GB Serial ATA 3Gb/s 7,200 RPM w/ 8MB Cache Primary CD ROM/DVD ROM: 18X Dual Layer DVD±RW/CD-RW Writer w/ Nero Software Suite Graphics Processor: Single Graphics Processors - 768MB NVIDIA® GeForce™ 8800 GTX

Monitor: No Monitor

Sound Card: High-Definition 7.1 Performance Audio

Keyboard: Alienware® USB Full-Size Keyboard Mouse : Alienware® Optical 3-Button Mouse with Scroll Wheel

Warranty: 1-Year AlienCare Toll-Free 24/7 Phone Support w/ Onsite Service Alienware Extras: Alienware® Mousepad Alienware Extras: AlienInspection - Exclusive Integration and Inspection - $100 Value - FREE!

Alienware Extras: AlienWiring - Exclusive Internal Wire Management - $100 Value - FREE!

Processor: Intel® Core™ 2 Quad Q6600 2.4GHz 8MB Cache 1066MHz FSB Operating System (Office software not included): Genuine Windows® XP Media Center Edition 2005 - With no Media Center Remote Control or TV Tuner

Chassis: Alienware® P2 Chassis with AlienIce™ 3.0 Video Cooling and 1000 Watt SLI Capable Power Supply - Space Black Chassis Customization : Alienware® Standard System Lighting - Astral Blue High-Performance Liquid Cooling: Alienware® Standard System Cooling

Motherboard: Alienware® Approved NVIDIA nForce 680i SLI Motherboard

Memory: High-Performance 800MHz DDR2 SDRAM - 1GB - 2 x 512MB System Drive: Single Drive Configuration - 250GB Serial ATA 3Gb/s 7,200 RPM w/ 8MB Cache Primary CD ROM/DVD ROM: 18X Dual Layer DVD±RW/CD-RW Writer w/ Nero Software Suite Graphics Processor: Single Graphics Processors - 768MB NVIDIA® GeForce™ 8800 GTX

Monitor: No Monitor

Sound Card: High-Definition 7.1 Performance Audio

Keyboard: Alienware® USB Full-Size Keyboard Mouse : Alienware® Optical 3-Button Mouse with Scroll Wheel

Warranty: 1-Year AlienCare Toll-Free 24/7 Phone Support w/ Onsite Service Alienware Extras: Alienware® Mousepad Alienware Extras: AlienInspection - Exclusive Integration and Inspection - $100 Value - FREE!

Alienware Extras: AlienWiring - Exclusive Internal Wire Management - $100 Value - FREE!

Citing technical issues that have "taken more time to finalize than expected", David Zucker says that the delays for each will materially affect Midway's 2007 revenue. On the plus side, Zucker says those technical issues are now "complete at a core level in our engine" and that "now that we have the systems working, looking ahead to 2008 we expect the PS3 versions of our titles to ship day and date with other versions."

The game's recommend—unfortunately mislabeled as the minimum specs—are available here, in case you don't feel like waiting for the download and installation to complete before finding out your PC can't handle it. For those of you itching to see what a $30 million game looks like, have at it.

Stranglehold Demo [FilePlanet]

They're rumored to be:

OS: Windows 2000/XP
Processor: Intel P4 1.5 GHz or AMD Athlon XP 1500 or greater
Memory: 256 MB RAM, 64MB VRAM
Hard Disk Space: 3 GB of free space required
DVD-ROM drive: 4X speed
Sound: DirectX 9.0b compliant sound card
Direct X: DirectX 9 will be supplied on the DVD
Video: Video Card DirectX 9.0b compatible, including the following: ATI 8500, All In Wonder 8500, 9000, 9200, 9500, 9600, 9700, 9800, X300, X600, X800, NVidia Quadro, Quadro 2, Quadro 4 series, GeForce 3, 3Ti, Geforce 4, 4Ti, GeForce FX 5200, 5600, 5700, 5800, 5900, 5950, 6800

Keep in mind that until we hear back from Midway or actually pick up a retail copy of the PC version, these should be considered rumor.

MotorStorm owners can pick up the Revenge Weekend add-on ($5.99) which consists of one new track, five new vehicles (including a school bus!), a new online mode and nine new events. Four of those vehicles may be purchased individually for 99 cents each, if you're so inclined. For Ninja Gaiden Sigma players looking for more punishment, the Weapons Master pack adds five survival modes for $2.99. But wait, there's more!

Trailers for upcoming games include:

• Turok "Quiet Kills" Trailer
• PixelJunk Racers Trailer
• Heavenly Sword "Making Of" No. 5 and Anime No. 5
• Lair "World in Chaos" Video
• MotorStorm "Coyote Revenge" Video

On the Hollywood front we have:

• Drillbit Taylor Trailer
• Resident Evil: Extinction Trailer

Finally, a single Heavenly Sword wallpaper has been thrown on the pile. Fire up those fiber optic lines, kids, it's gonna be a busy night.

For those who own PS3s and are upset that 360 owners get the real thing while you just get a lousy demo, just remember: Strangehold really isn't all that great. You'll see for yourself when you download the demo. Which comes out really, really soon.

Confirmed: Stranglehold Demo for PSN [gamerscreed]

Stranglehold (X360, PC)
All the fun of a John Woo film on your 360!

Medal of Honor: Airborne (PC, X360)
It's WWII as seen from above.

The Sims 2: Bon Voyage (PC)
Send your little Sims on a dream vacation.

Naruto: Uzumaki Chronicles 2 (PS2)
The Naruto machine keeps on pumping.

Worms: Open Warfare 2 (DS, PSP)
Worms you can carry with you in your pocket.

Sherlock Holmes: The Awakened (PC)
Holmes vs. Cthulu in a fight to the death.

Seven Kingdoms: Conquest (PC)
Lead your army of soldiers of demons to victory.

Pool Party (WII)
The kind with balls and a cue not the kind where you throw your keys in one.

Anacapri - The Dream (PC)
Take a trip to the Isle of Capri.

Legends of Norrath: Oathbound (PC)
The world of EverQuest gets a card battle game.

Garfield's Nightmare (DS)
Nightmare indeed.

Wait, I'm double checking my calendar. Oh. Oh my. That's not good.

No big deal. We PS3 gamers are certainly used to waiting for the Xbox 360's hand-me-downs. I suppose the promise of the Blu-ray version of Hard Boiled will make the wait much easier.

By: Mary Jane Irwin

Perhaps 6 pm was a wee early to get things started. Maybe Midway didn't realize it was up against stiff competition — Uwe Boll's screening of Postal. Or journalists tipped off to the headliner's absence, the Stranglehold multiplayer hands-on session, couldn't be bothered to show up. The thirty or so attendees barely occupied the modestly-sized Mezzanine. An odd turn for a club that recently hosted Mos Def.

But Midway did try to throw a swank soiree (despite the club's eery mood lighting). Twin bars and plenty of cocktail hosts per capita ensured drinks were circulating through the crowd. Servers would occasionally pushed lettuce wraps or Niman ranch burgers (i.e. hippy meat) upon the crowd. With the handful of game kiosks pushed to the perimeter, it was clear this was meant to be a social engagement.

It was disappointing that there wasn't much new to see. Midway was as surprised as we were at the foiled multiplayer debut. Apparently The Mezzanine failed to order a T1 line for the evening, a rather essential component. Midway was left with four Xbox 360 stations equipped with the E3 demo of BlackSite: Area 51, and about a dozen 360s and a few PCs sporting single player Stranglehold.

On to John Woo's actiony action game.

This wasn't the demo. It was the complete game (minus multiplayer). If you really wanted to, you could jump straight to the end. For anyone who has downloaded and played the Xbox Live demo, which happens to be the first level, you've had a fairly good taste of the game. The main difference between Stranglehold's seven chapters is the locale and enemy density. Gun play is occasionally interrupted by mission objectives. At the start of the second chapter you're tasked with finding drug stashes.

At it's best, Stranglehold is a adrenaline pumping shooter. There are endless streams of bad guys to kill. And nothing beats grinding down the back of the Chicago Field Museum's T-Rex while squeezing off rounds from twin sub-machine guns. Easily overwhelmed, Tequila Time is a constant life saver (although you can occasionally trick the system into prolonging your intoxication by statically standing on railings). Barrage is helpful in tight spots because you're free to move about the environment. The spin maneuver automatically targets and eliminates surrounding foes. Quite helpful if you need to catch your breath. Midway has done a nice job with the interactive environments. Pillars crack and crumble. Boxes splinter. Melons explode.

Stranglehold also defies all spatial relations.

Since all actions are context sensitive, you're constantly struggling to find your bearings. You'll inadvertently slide backwards across tables. You'll get trapped by objects. You'll wind up in alcoves and corners uncertain of how you got there. Set pieces feel overly staged. The game is just begging you to take that dining trolley for a ride. It's an illusion of creative freedom. It's also really freaking hard to keep track of enemies. I swear, sometimes they just materialize.

So if you're interested in Stranglehold, play the demo. Based on my quick fly-through a few of the later levels, It's representative of the final product. It'll be interesting to see how it holds up to a straight play-through. Will still have adrenaline pumping after a few solid hours? We'll find out closer to September 17th.

Now where the hell are those tequila shots?

Following rumors that GTAIV was delayed for PS3 programming issues, it brings to question, again, the merit of releasing the same games on multiple next get systems. The Xbox 360, Wii and PS3 are a pile of incompatible hardware. And something tells me that most $30 million game developers would like to see their return on more than one console.

UPDATE: Midway just forgot to attach a PS3 release date with their latest release. Stranglehold is on schedule for September 17th release.

Stranglehold Release Delayed [via gamingtoday]

If you want to dual-wield some chrome hand cannons and get the most out of your rendered dove flocks on PC, your box is gonna need, at a minimum:

• 
  
• OS: Windows XP SP2 / Vista
  
• CPU: Dual Core Processor
  
• RAM: 2 GB RAM
  
• Video: Nvidia 7800 or higher / ATI x1300 or higher
  
• Disk space: 15 GB
  

System requirements for PC? [Midway Forums via NeoGAF]

Surely, some of that is game development, but other large chunks are assumed to be marketing costs and securing that lovely Hard Boiled bonus on the Blu-ray version. Anyway, thanks, Mr. Speiss. Now that we know what Midway's sunk into the shoot 'em up, we'll be able to accurately gauge how spectacularly it succeeds or, God forbid, fails.

According to Spiess, however, we needn't worry about the latter scenario. He says "Stranglehold will be the top selling title this Christmas." That'll be excellent news, too! I've got my bottle of champagne chilled and ready to be sabered.

Midway investing $30 million in Stranglehold [GamesIndustry.biz]

We would not be the only publisher to tell you that we're a little concerned about the take-up of the PS3... Anytime you get a hundred dollar price on hardware it will improve sales. The question is, is it enough? Will there be more?

The Weinsteins and Genius Products, their home video partner, are very forward thinking on this issue, I have to say. We approached them not knowing their plans for their own re-release of "Hard Boiled" at the end of July. To protect them against worries of cannibalizing their release we did two things:

1. We contractually limited the total number of units we would produce to a set number. I can't tell you the number beyond the fact that it's a six-figure quantity, and this works to make the Special Edition a real collector's item—hopefully a part of videogame history in that it's the first ever SKU to have a game and film on the same disc.
2. The film can only play/launch on a Sony Playstation 3 game system, not from a dedicated Blu-Ray player. This means a videophile can't buy this for their Blu-Ray player; it's going to be a gamer who is passionate about this SKU.

We used the master digital tape from the film print and then ourselves converted it to support all HD resolutions, including 1080p. It's really the storage capacity of Blu-Ray that makes this pairing possible, and it's still a compelling product.

No, the standard edition will be region locked as well. And while this is but one title in a quasi-special circumstance, the precedent is cause for alarm. Every step back to region distinctions empowers companies to falsely inflate their entertainment enterprises. And in a global marketplace filled with educated consumers, we know when things really aren't "new" (I can't even stand seeing games at E3 that have been in Japan for months).

Sitting on my porch in my rocker, watching region-restricted content whiz by...I don't like this situation one bit.

Midway Forums [via ps3fanboy]

From our beta-testing, we anticipate around 12 hours of gameplay; each level is enormous. We are also seeing that due to the sandbox nature of our game design, there are numerous ways to play each level. We have full multiplayer support for 360, PS3, and PC so that means you can continue to play the game again and again in Deathmatch and Team Deathmatch with completely different experiences each time. It's just awesome to swing from a chandelier, in slow motion, blasting your buddies down below as they run up banisters or hide behind stuff that's shattering...

The demo will feature a number of unlockable bonuses that will ensure you'll get your money's worth with the copious amounts of replayability. It also happens to contain the first multiplayer footage of the game ever. Now how much would you pay for all this? Hopefully zero dollars, because it's free. Duh.

He's extremely excited. It's according to him "the best action adventure game Midway has ever created." Better than Mortal Kombat Special Forces?! We'll just see about that.

A downloadable demo for Stranglehold is due next month for the Xbox 360 and PS3. The final game is scheduled to hit in August. He touts the game's destruction, which the team likes to call "Massive D." Giggle.

Tequila is really shooting the SHIT out of everything. He's also drenched in blood. Drenched! We're treated to a John Woo staple, with Chow Yun Fat's character shooting, arms splayed, dodging bullets and pulling off head shots in, well, bullet time.

People are cheering!

We move on to The Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar. They're rather proud of it.

Then immediatly to Aqua Teen Hunger Force: Zombie Ninja Pro-Am. They're working hard to bring the tone of the TV show to the video game. Epic action adventure combat golf racing game kitchen sink.

TNA Wrestling is coming to the Xbox 360, PLAYSTATION 3, Wii and PlayStation 2. They don't show any screens today, nor any shots of actual T and A. Biggest let down of the show so far. Rumble Roses USA this is not.

Midway shows artwork of The Wheelman, co-developed with Vin Diesel's personal development studio but little else. The artwork, however, does feature a Vin lookalike popping a wheelie while firing a machine gun. It's hard to complain about a situation like that.

After recapping some pre-E3 announcements, involving a number of DS and Wii games—Ultimate Mortal Kombat, The Bee Game, —the focus switches to Blacksite: Area 51. It's a first person shooter, in case you'd missed that. Actually, the enemy design looks fairly interesting. It hits in September.

Blacksite looks very pretty. Nice character models, textures and effects, but it's going to suffer from its generic design choices. We've got the token black guy. The tattooed badass. The semi-butch, semi-attractive female counterpart. There's an interesting moral system and squad tactics relationship. I'm worried these guys and gals worked really hard on a game that's going to get lost in the FPS shuffle.

Mark Rein from Epic Games takes the stage, clarifying that Unreal Tournament III is coming to both the PC and PS3. He talks up the game's ability to run mods on the PLAYSTATION 3 then kicks off another video of the competitive shooter. Gorgeous and constantly blazing at high velocity. Its the same (or largely the same) trailer shown during Sony's E3 keynote.

Even more applause. I'm starting to think this place has a few Midway plants.

And out of nowhere, the lights go up. It's over. It's over?

I received this wood box in the mail yesterday afternoon, inside was a set of these Inspector Tequila pistols with Stranglehold engraved on the sides. The best part? They're also lighters. Now I just need to find to people who need a light at the same time. Brian Crecente

Midway just unveiled the details on the Xbox 360 version of Stranglehold Collector's Edition and while it's packed with director-esque extras it doesn't sport a free copy of the movie like the PS3 version does.

The $70 collector's edition comes with:

• Poetry In Slow Motion - Behind-the-scenes documentary on Midway bringing the style of John Woo to video games.
• Extended Cinematic Sequences - Extended scenes which didn't make it into the final game.
• MTV Studio Visit - Follow MTV visit with the game team during crunch time.
• The Vision of Stranglehold - See the progression from concept art to final game.
• The Sound of Stranglehold - An insiders look at sounds design.

Not really worth the price of admission, I think. You can't really blame Midway for the lack of movie, though. I suppose they could have shipped a standard version of the movie, but really HD is where it's at and with the HD-DVD player not built in to the 360 that would make no sense at all to include. Brian Crecente

I can't wait for this game to come out so I can play an Asian person that isn't a ninja or some kind of half-anime character. I gotsta represent my peeps. Kim Phu

The Making of Stranglehold [GameTrailers]

New trailers for the summer blockbuster Transformers are up, as well as a preview of Bruce Springsteen Live In Dublin. Yes, that's it. I feel defeated.

See you next Thursday! Michael McWhertor

We would definitely bring 'Stranglehold' to the big screen. We want to be very selective about producing games. We would like game titles to have all kinds of possibility. Having a movie made from them is certainly a major consideration for deciding on a title.

Woo has already started work on another video game/movie combination called "Ninja Gold", but neither the script for that movie or the timetable/publisher for the game has been announced.

At the rate Woo is going, there will probably be rumors that next week you will be able to Stranglehold DVDs at Best Buy, Ninja Gold will be number one at the box office, and people will be able to fly to work in their briefcase saucers. He works that fast. Kim Phu

Woo Logs on to "Ninja Gold" Movie, Video Game [Reuters]

As John Woo's Stranglehold is the videogame sequel to the 1992 gun play Hong Kong classic, it should give gamers who haven't seen Hard Boiled some background on the game's protagonist, Tequila. Both are played by actor Chow Yun-Fat, an actor Woo has tapped many times for lead roles.

The collector's edition adheres to next-gen pricing, coming in at $70. Yeah, it still hurts, but it's better than a metal tin. Michael McWhertor

Simply film your two-minute long, slow motion, dual-wielding-Berettas while diving through a cloud of doves in a hospital masterpiece and send it in to be judged by June 25th for a chance to win $25,000, a trip to Chicago to meet the developers of the game, a copy of said game, a movie poster (woo) signed by John Woo (<—), an Amp'd mobile phone, and a chance to appear on Spike TV and Gamehead.

That leaves just weeks for you perfect your shooting while leaping technique, not to mention determining how to keep a gun sideways whie spinning through the air. They'll take off points if you screw that up. Michael Fahey

Midway Announces Stranglehold 's True to John Woo Short Film Contest on MySpace

$25,000 Grand Prize Winner to be Selected by Acclaimed Director John Woo and Planned to Premiere on Spike TV This Summer

CHICAGO—(BUSINESS WIRE)—Midway Games Inc. (NYSE: MWY), a leading interactive entertainment publisher and developer today announced a groundbreaking video submission contest in association with John Woo and his video game production company, Tiger Hill Entertainment, Spike TV and Fox Interactive Media: Stranglehold's True to John Woo Short Film Contest. Hosted exclusively on MySpace (http://www.myspace.com/strangleholdgame), and promoted across other Fox Interactive Media properties including IGN Entertainment (http://ign.com/stranglehold), this unique contest is scheduled to launch April 30th and encourages contestants to create the most authentic John Woo-style short film. Contest ends June 25, 2007. No purchase necessary.

The grand prize winner will receive $25,000, a trip for two to Midway's Chicago studios to meet developers and tape an interview for Spike TV, the chance to personally premiere the short film on Spike TV, an authentic "Hard Boiled" movie poster autographed by John Woo, an Amp'd mobile phone with six months' service, and a copy of Stranglehold.(a)

"Stranglehold's cinematic action is directly inspired by John Woo's acclaimed action films and their unique style," said Mona Hamilton, vice president of marketing, Midway Amusement Games, LLC. "We've created a premier collaboration with Spike TV and Fox Interactive Media's MySpace and IGN Entertainment sites that gives fans the opportunity to put their creativity to the test with a short film judged by John Woo himself."

"Young filmmakers need encouragement to grow; it is an aspect of my profession which I cherish deeply," said action director John Woo. "I know the Stranglehold Short Film Contest will find new talent and with it, new possibilities."

In addition to the premiere on Spike TV expected this summer, both the game release and short film winner will be a featured segment on "Game Head," Spike TV's weekly series dedicated to everything that is happening in the world of video games, giving viewers an uncompromised look at the culture of video games.

Additionally, the films of ten finalists are expected to be posted on MySpace, with user voting determining a second "audience choice" winner, who will receive prizes including $1000, an Amp'd mobile phone with six months' service, an authentic "Hard Boiled" movie poster autographed by John Woo and a copy of Stranglehold.(a) Fans will also be able to learn more about the game, the contest and the art of John Woo's filmmaking by visiting both the Stranglehold contest profile on MySpace, and an exclusive IGN micro site dedicated to the game (http://www.ign.com/stranglehold).

Entries to Stranglehold's short film contest must be no longer than two minutes and thirty seconds in length and will be judged using three specific criteria:

* Overall Quality - 40% - includes cinematography, editing, sound, image quality and technical production
* Strength of John Woo Homage - 40% - includes extent of homage, quality of homage and use of Woo signature techniques
* Creativity - 20% - includes screenplay, acting and overall impression

For more about Stranglehold's short film contest, including official rules and regulations visit: http://www.myspace.com/strangleholdgame

(a) Stranglehold's True to John Woo Video Contest prizes are subject to change.

So here's the appetizer equivalent of a Kotaku gallery, showcasing the PLAYSTATION 3 and Xbox 360 game in all its well-lit glory. Michael McWhertor

The only thing worse than a PR hack trying to sound excited about a bad game is a PR rep who isn't excited about a good game. I do not envy either position.

Midway held a press preview event today in Manhattan, showing off several games, most of which will be released in the first half of the year. Most games were approaching completion , but don't mistake my off-the-cuff impressions for a final review.

BlackSite: Area 51
There is absolutely nothing new in BlackSite to differentiate it from any other first person shooter. It is a pastiche of two of the three default FPS backdrops, near-future infrantryman meeting slight-less-near robo-alien.

That is not to say that BlackSite is going to be a turd to play. Its controls seem logical, the Unreal Engine ever-capable, and the shootouts just up to snuff. And the art direction, while a kissin' cousin thematically to F.E.A.R. and Crysis, is attractive. The whipping chrome spines of the robo-alien walkers filled me with industry-standard dread. (There is no bot more terrible than the ISO 9000.)

That BlackSite does so little to distinguish itself was made squirmingly evident by my PR attendant, who talked blithely of how Midway Studios Austin had "really wanted to do something different" while a platoon of genetically-modified zombie soldiers began flanking my character. Nice-looking soldiers, mind you, with seemingly adequate duck-and-cover routines, but borne of sadly timid imaginations.

For a title based on a tepid arcade light gun franchise, BlackSite is a hell of a lot better than it has any right to
be. It played like a champ on the 360 (PS3 and PC versions are also coming), looked sharp (although not Gears of War sharp, no matter how many times they mentioned it), and would not be a game I would be upset to be assigned to review.

Unlike...

Hour of Victory
Yes, I nodded to the PR man showing me the first-person shooter Hour of Victory, I understand that games set in World War II continue to be popular. Who is buying them? Jim Louderback, Editor-in-Chief for PC Magazine, for one, exclaiming his love for the genre a few minutes later when getting the same apologetic spiel.

Developed by New Jersey-based nFusion, described to me as having a history of "budget" WWII titles, Hour of Victory could use some more time in the oven.

The aiming assist is a necessary evil in console-based FPS, but Hour of Victory would often allow me to spray bullets in the general direction of an enemy and score a kill, as if the fright of a passing bullet was enough to cause one of the identical beanpole krauts to get eternal vapors. nFusion should and almost certainly will
fix this before launch.

What they may not have time to fix is their ability to wring a good-looking game out of the Unreal Engine. Characters, specifically their textures, looked like melted plastic. Higher resolutions would swap in with a pop. I spent 30 seconds in front of a particular carpet hung from the side of a North African building stepping in and back to try to determine exactly what about it made my testicles torque.

Hour of Victory's claim to obscurity are opportunities to switch character classes between levels, allowing you to approach each map as a scout, say, picking locks into secret cubbies, or as a commando. Despite claims to the contrary, this isn't the first time a game—let alone an FPS—has allowed a player to do that. (System Shock is one of many examples.) Nor is the ability to drive vehicles like tanks a new feature, although Hour of Victory's implementation is more Battlefield than, say, Half-Life 2; you can drive vehicles pretty much whenever, no special mission required.

I was over WWII FPS right around the time that I saw an ad for Call of Duty 3, turned around to pull my copy off my shelf, and realized I was reaching for Call of Duty 2, still in its cellophane. I realize the inherent genre limitations to the FPS—the "S" specifically—but for Ike's sake, let's keep it socked away only for special occasions, like fine china, or actual World War II veterans.

Oh, and the name? I'll let Rob Beschizza's Ode to Banality in Flash address that one. (See his other projects hereabouts.

Hotbrain
Soulless "brain teaser" title for the PSP with boring puzzles, insipid FMV backgrounds, and the yet-to-be-added voice talents of Fred Willard. Wha happan?

Also, fuck you freestyle, "Rhyme Game," if you think that "steam" rhymes with "scene" but not with "scheme."

Lord of the Rings: Online
Abbreviated "Low-tro" by Turbine's Adam Mersky, Lord of the Rings: Online, being an MMO, is hardly the sort of thing that can be judged in a half-hour preview session. But that won't stop me.

Rather than playing one of the existing level-50 characters available, I decided to take a few minutes to play around with the character creation process.

LOTRO may end up being too austere for its own good, at least if the choice to make the label for humans, in the "Race Selection" screen, "Race of Men." Yes, I get that it's a Tolkien reference, but come on.

Soon Lady "Omg" the hobbit minstrel—complete with special healing music-playing move, including mid-battle lute strumming—was prancing past Nazgoueaauraral or whatever. Turns out the Dark Riders don't mind hobbits after all, happily turning a blind eye even when attacked by lute. But wood spiders on the other hand...

Gosh, who knows about this one. Dungeons & Dragons: Online, a Turbine MMO I had even higher hopes for, ended up plinking off World of Warcraft unnoticed. LOTRO is clearly their mainstream play, unabashedly modeled after Blizzard's frost giant, along with the requisite tweaks and upgrades.

There are about a hojillion ways to get into the closed beta next month, so if you're interested—and I still am, mind you—let me just leave you with these two thoughts: the ability to play actual player-created music with crafted instruments in the game will be awesome, but I am claiming dibs on the story about ASCAP royalty claims in an MMO; saturated as I am with Peter Jackson's vision of Lord of the Rings, I am actually looking forward to
playing in someone else's interpretation.

Mortal Kombat: Armageddon
I accidentally insulted one of the developers of this game by saying I was familiar with the previous, non-Wii versions, but did not actually own it—a subtle dig I am not capable of doing consciously and on demand, sadly.

It looks fine. It's Mortal Kombat. It's on the Wii, which even the developer acknowledges encouraged them to make it easier to execute special moves, because Nintendo consoles are for kids and retards. (Love mine.)

I could really give a flying, spinning, spine-dislodging fuck about fighting games these days; The entire genre has either fallen into its navel or is Mortal Kombat. At least Mortal Kombat doesn't have any illusions of grandeur.

John Woo's Stranglehold
I can't pinpoint the first time I realized Crecente was an idiot, but I do recall being reminded of it when he almost blew the butterfly collars off his shirt with excitement over this game at E3.

Everything about this game that is a back-of-box bullet point is misleading. The "destructible environments" don't really matter to the gameplay in any appreciable way (although the A.I. will try to take cover behind fallen furniture and other set pieces); I can model a few extra pieces to blow off of the model in Maya, too, but if those explod-o-bits don't affect the gameplay, it's all chrome. (I want to build my throne of skulls, damn it.)

That's what Stranglehold is all about at its core: the chrome. It tries to give you the feeling of being a Hong Kong badass, but dilutes it across a collection of set pieces, somehow doing the same thing Max Payne did years ago, but with less personality.

Movie special effects are cheap to reproduce in a game world, but that doesn't make them good gameplay.

I don't know, it's okay. I feel like I'm writing a review here, which isn't fair. I just played one level. But I just wasn't feeling it.

Unreal Tournament 3
I'm old enough to remember the first Unreal Tournament. Before it was released, many of us thought of it as an also-ran to iD's Quake series. How quickly that changed! UT was a better deathmatch game than Quake 3, at least for the casual player like myself.

Unreal Tournament 3 looks fantastic, or will, once we all have computers powerful enough to fully pump it out. (Although Epic Vice-Honcho Mark Rein mentioned—between complaints about how Microsoft was screwing over developers with the new Games for Windows Live by requiring that features like voice chat be disabled in games that were going to be part of the platform—that the 360 version of UT3 looked damn-near as nice as the PC version, to even his surprise.)

The test machines were quad-core Intel boxes with SLI'd Nvidia 7900s—nobody knew the exact model numbers—driving 1,920 by 1,200 pixel LCDs. I mention all that to note that while the game played with nary a hitch or stutter, the graphics were aliased to all get-out. It was disconcerting. I was at once marveling at the art
design and engine capabilities while wondering why everything looked so smooshy. (Tech term. Ask your father.)

I don't know how to describe it, exactly. It looked like everything had been rendered at a lower resolution and upscaled, but without any smoothing.

Anyway, whatever. It's Epic and it's Unreal Tournament—it'll be fine. The art direction was really nice,
though, if a typical mash of disparate influences, from the Far and Near East, to writhing insectoid parasites. (Revenge of the Writhing Chrome Spine, yes, but oh! what a chrome spine!)

There is a walking tank vehicle—one of 22—that actually uses tentacles to amble, which is even cooler when you realize it can walk up the sides of rocks and other irregular environment—they're actually animating its flappy legs slapping down on the rocks.

Each player now has a built-in hoverboard as well, adding a little bit of a Tribes feel, although even a single point of damage will send you flying off your board leaving you momentarily stunned. It helps you get to the action quickly, though, even if there are no vehicles around. And hoverboarding away with the flag is a gratifying,
if risky thrill.

The weapons have been slightly upgraded, although most of the old favorites remain. I'm not enough of a hardcore UT player to tell you if the spray patterns are ever-so-slightly different or if the goop gun has a 0.4 range increase—I just know they old favorites are there and they are still kill-enabled. Player movement is less floaty than previous versions, too, feeling more like UT of old.

One to watch, for sure, and I don't particularly give a rip about deathmatch games anymore, having graduated to more refined multiplayer experiences like Battlefield: Unchecked Expansion and Puzzle Quest: Don't Let My Girlfriend Know I'm Still Playing.

Midway's John Woo bang-bang title Stranglehold was supposed to be out early this year, but has gotten pushed back to summer. You know, so they can sprinkle magic dust on it. In a recent interview, the game's director Brian Eddy described a handful of in-game moves for the cross platform title:

• Precision Aim — Lets players go first person and take out enemies with one shot
• Barrage — Spray a "flurry of bullets at high speed" towards bad guys
• Spin Attack — Medium range 360 degree spin attack that clears out goons surrounding you

What's more, Midway's even including Woo's trademark Mexican stand-off as a mini-game! The game will feature loads of achievements for the 360 version and possibly take advantage of the SIXAXIS for the PLAYSTATION 3 incarnation. But, what do filmmaker John Woo and star Chow Yun-Fat think of Stranglehold? Says Eddy:

Chow Yun-Fat and John Woo are not big gamers, so they don't play games themselves very often, but they do review Stranglehold regularly and give very good comments on how to take the cinematics to the next level and help make the overall look and feel of the game true to the movies it is styled on.

Not big gamers, maybe, but experts on blowing shit up and making it look cool, definitely. Brian Ashcraft

Stranglehold Interview [VGB]

I'm a little concerned by the way Chow Yun Fat is so cavalierly blowing away that priceless dinosaur fossil in this clip of gameplay from Stranglehold. I mean, are there, you know, guys hiding in that brontosaurus skull? Florian Eckhardt