The UK's Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has their undergarments in a wad over a Stranglehold commercial that has been shown in the UK. So wadded, they dropped their banhammer on it.
According to the ASA, the Stranglehold commercial promotes guns, violence and is far too graphic for UK television. They especially had a hangup with the commercial's voice-over which says "Honor is his code. Vengeance is his mission. Violence is his only option", which they feel further promotes the "violence is good kids" message they are so against. Midway tried to convince the ASA that the Stranglehold TV spot wasn't promoting violence, doesn't show blood or gore and is far too stylized to be graphic. But, in the end, the ASA continues to enforce its Stranglehold ban while at the same time giving the game some much needed viral publicity. Which we're sure Midway doesn't mind.
Oh, for the curious fanboys of the world, you can take a look after the break as we've embedded the banned Stranglehold commercial for your viewing pleasure. To us, it's pretty tame.
We just came across new Strangehold DLC on the Marketplace today (it was announced last month) and ouch does it cost a lot. The Stranglehold Map Pack adds ten new multiplayer maps, twenty-one new characters, ten new achievements and 250 Gamerscore for ... 1200 Microsoft points. Run that through your MS points conversion calculator and that equals $15 US. An extra $15 DLC pack for a game that about two dozen people play online at any given moment. Yes, we're sympathetic to the fact that making ten new multiplayer maps, new achievements and a boatload of new characters was development intensive, but really. It's a bit late and a bit too expensive for a game nobody really plays anyway. An extra 250 Gamerscore would be a perfect draw to get people back into the Stranglehold swing of things and maybe, just maybe people would have been willing to pay 400 points for all the additional content. But 1200 though. 1200 points is a huge commitment and we're sorry to say Midway, too big of a commitment for 98.8% of gamers. We feel strangled.
Today, Midway revealed that John Woo's Stranglehold will be getting brand new multiplayer content and achievements sometime soon. The Stranglehold DLC will feature ten new multiplayer maps including Kowloon Market, Wong's Estate Grounds and Rooftops of Chicago as well as twenty-one new character skins. The new content will also usher in ten new achievements worth a total of 250 gamerscore. A firm release date or pricing details have not been revealed yet, but one factoid we are sure of is that the new DLC will only be released to North American Xbox Live members. But maybe that's a typo. Actually, now that we think about it, is anyone even playing Stranglehold multiplayer anymore to care about this DLC anyway? (evil grin)
After last week's glut of new games, the offerings have slimmed down once again. Last week was short on shooters though, so we're sure action fans will be pleased with this week's lineup. This week we (finally) get a crack at Stranglehold and Medal of Honor: Airborne. So, which will it be: John Woo Hong Kong action or World War II paratrooping combat action. Of course, there is the possibility of an even bolder choice: none of the above. But where's the fun in that?
It's that time again when we open up the Sunday newspaper, gather up all the retail ads and painstakingly look for the best gaming deals this week has to offer. So, enough setup already ... let's get to it.
One of this week's best new release deals is at Circuit City where they're offering Stranglehold for only $47.99. That's a $12 savings which is quite the deal. We couldn't find any other software deals, but ran across Circuit City's 2-day Labor Day special (Sunday and Monday only) on a Premium 360 where they'll throw in a copy of Rockstar's Table Tennis and a wireless controller for free. Nothing amazing, but it's something. Finally, for those of you who want to be guaranteed a HDMI connection on your 360, Best Buy is advertising the "new" Xbox 360 Premium w/HDMI SKU. It's a very nice gesture that prevents online orderers from getting an old, HDMI-less 360.
That's all the noteworthy deals we could find in this week's Sunday ads, but we're sure you've come across other deals online so feel free to share with your fellow fanboys. You know, because sharing is the right thing to do.
Filled to the brim with all the slow motion diving, double-guns blazing action you can stand, Midway has announced that Stranglehold has officially gone gold. The game has gone off to the printers, as it were, and will be making its debut on Xbox 360 on September 5th. By the way, if you absolutely can't wait to get your Stranglehold on, the 360 is your only shot, as the PC version ships on September 18th and the PS3 in "October." If by some coincidence you haven't heard of Stranglehold, it's essentially Max Payne with John Woo flair. It's also decent fun. Don't take our word for it though. Go download the demo and try it for yourself.
You know, with a badass like inspector Tequila on the case, we imagine that the Hong Kong thugs are thanking their lucky stars that Stranglehold has been delayed. Xbox 360 gamers, on the other hand, probably not so pleased. Before you collectively turn your local game shop into a pile of debris that John Woo would be proud of, you should know that the game has only been delayed by just over a week. Originally promised for August 27th, GameStop is now informing customers that the game has been pushed to September 5th. See, that's not so bad, is it? You can take that, right? Just promise us you won't go all slo-mo and shoot up the place, m'kay?
This past week had all three of Penny Arcade's comic had to do with 360 titles, namely Stranglehold's demo, BioShock's demo and street date breakery. Soft Targets gives insight into the Precision Tequila Bomb, and Gabe's definition of "headshot," and the Achievement that should be awarded for proficiency therein. Our Continuing Series is a public service announcement to parents and the dangers of their kids splicing with plasmids. Finally, A Dark Recipe goes to show the lengths at which Tycho would go to secure a copy of Bioshock before the street date, obviously he didn't hear about our contest.
Read: Soft Targets
Read: Our Continuing Series
Read: A Dark Recipe
Right now, available on the Xbox Live Marketplace to all countries except Germany, is an action packed demo for John Woo's upcoming game Stranglehold. The Stranglehold demo weighs in at a rather hefty 1.28GB and features a taste of the campaign's Hong Kong marketplace gameplay as well as some intense combat and shooting fun. We advise giving the the demo a try to see if the "cinematic firefights" are something that are worth dropping your jaw over or if you can live up to John Woo's badass'icity. Go ahead, make Mr. Woo's day.
Stranglehold, that John Woo epic tale of killing, shooting and breaking things real good has officially committed to a release date. Midway announced that Stranglehold will arrive on the Xbox 360 and PC August 27th with the PS3 version releasing September 17th (hehe). Midway also announced that a demo for the game will be released sometime in August too.
And don't worry guys, we're just adding to our ever expanding 2007 release schedule, so get back to work and earn some cash to fuel your gaming addiction.
According to the official Stranglehold blog on IGN, a demo should be arriving on Xbox Live Marketplace soon. The demo is finished and has been sent off to Microsoft for approval. In other words, we should see it by early next year. We kid, we kid! The demo is reportedly packed with content including lots of interactive objects and more combat than you can shake a dove at. The demo also contains some "hidden" content and gags as well. We're not sure what that means exactly, but we can't wait to find out.
If you haven't already, we suggest you check out Joystiq's recent hands-on session with the game.
It's time for the first (of possibly many) E3 updates in the form of a visually pleasing trailer/video recap. Yes, developers are an impatient bunch and sometimes release trailers and videos prior to the official start of E3. So, we figured what better way to show off some of the Xbox 360 related pre-E3 trailers than by recapping them in one tightly wrapped post. Embedded after the break are pre-E3 trailers from games like Skate, Stranglehold, Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, All-Pro Football 2K8, Legendary: The Box, Need for Speed: ProStreet and NHL 08. We're sure more trailers will trickle in by the hour, but for now we advise popping some popcorn, sitting back and pressing play.
It seems like every game available has to have a collector's edition these days. Some of them wow us with dizzying arrays of extras, while others underwhelm us with a pittance of extras that fail to excite. Stranglehold, sadly, falls into the latter camp. Included with the Stranglehold Collector's Edition edition are 5 DVD-style features about the creation of the game. That's it. For an extra $10 you get some behind-the-scenes fluff. Considering the PS3 version comes with an entire movie, we would have liked a little something more. Granted, extras featuring John Woo's input might be interesting, but there is no reason these couldn't have been included with the regular edition. Hell, they would have made great unlockables.
Then again, if Midway had done that, then they wouldn't have been able to charge an extra 10 bucks for fluff.
By way of Fraggerock, we bring you this video of Stranglehold from the Games Convention in Leipzig. The game, naturally, is wall to wall action. The video shows off the game's many weapons, stylish moves, and some very destructible environments. Players are rewarded for playing stylishly. Play well enough and you'll earn death dealing special moves, or, as I call them, "Instant Doves." If you weren't excited about this game before, this video just might convert you.
The UK's Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has their undergarments in a wad over a Stranglehold commercial that has been shown in the UK. So wadded, they dropped their banhammer on it.
Today, Midway revealed that John Woo's Stranglehold will be getting brand new multiplayer content and achievements sometime soon. The Stranglehold DLC will feature ten new multiplayer maps including Kowloon Market, Wong's Estate Grounds and Rooftops of Chicago as well as twenty-one new character skins. The new content will also usher in ten new achievements worth a total of 250 gamerscore. A firm release date or pricing details have not been revealed yet, but one factoid we are sure of is that the new DLC will only be released to North American Xbox Live members. But maybe that's a typo. Actually, now that we think about it, is anyone even playing Stranglehold multiplayer anymore to care about this DLC anyway? (evil grin)
It's that time again when we open up the Sunday newspaper, gather up all the retail ads and painstakingly look for the best gaming deals this week has to offer. So, enough setup already ... let's get to it.
It's time for the first (of possibly many) E3 updates in the form of a visually pleasing trailer/video recap. Yes, developers are an impatient bunch and sometimes release trailers and videos prior to the official start of E3. So, we figured what better way to show off some of the Xbox 360 related pre-E3 trailers than by recapping them in one tightly wrapped post. Embedded after the break are pre-E3 trailers from games like Skate, Stranglehold, Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, All-Pro Football 2K8, Legendary: The Box, Need for Speed: ProStreet and NHL 08. We're sure more trailers will trickle in by the hour, but for now we advise popping some popcorn, sitting back and pressing play.
