N'Gai talks with Midway about Stranglehold and Hard Boiled
by Colin Torretta 
{ Aug 1st 2007 at 5:00PM }
As we've mentioned before, the Collector's Edition of Stranglehold on the PS3 will ship with a remastered 1080p version of Hard Boiled on the same disc. While having the first ever HD version of Hard Boiled is a fantastic addition to an already hot looking game, it's easy to overlook the real significance of this addition. No game has ever come packaged with the movie it was based on, let alone putting them both on the same disk. To find out Midway's reasoning behind this precedent setting move - Newsweek's videogame guru N'Gai sat down to chat with Midway's vice-president of marketing, Steve Allison.
During the interview, Steve said that the Weinstein Brothers (one of the few HD-DVD exclusive companies) were willing to agree to let the movie come out for the PS3 because they're not currently releasing an HD version of it and the movie can only be played on the PS3 -- not a standalone Blu-ray player. This helps protect the Weinstein Brothers from cannibalizing their own normal DVD release that just came out last week (which is also why the X360 version will not come with a DVD version of the movie). Midway and the Weinsteins are also doing cross promotions for the DVD on the X360 version, and for Strangehold on the just released DVD of Hard Boiled, creating a business deal that allows them to offer a full HD version of the movie on the PS3 for only 10 dollars more. It's a win-win-win all around.
Also, during the interview he really emphasized the freedom that Blu-ray gives to developers and publishers when it comes to including additional content. He explained that, "It's really the storage capacity of Blu-Ray that makes this pairing possible, and it's still a compelling product." Hopefully more companies will follow Midway's example of really utilizing the storage of Blu-ray discs, since right now it's rare for people to even use 50% of the available capacity. Bring on more HD-movie packins!
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Stef Geiger @ Aug 1st 2007 5:11PM
Still no word on what the video transfer actually looks like? I'm not expecting quite the same clarity of a Blu-ray disc, despite the alleged 1080p status. I'm betting it'll be pretty heavily compressed.
Unless it's actually a 50 gig disc. If it is, wouldn't it be the first dual-layer PS3 game?
Andy @ Aug 1st 2007 5:18PM
I think it should fit on a single layer disc. The game cannot be more than 9GB(any guess why) and 16 GB should be enough to hold a 2 hour movie.
I might have to rent this game(I just hope Blockbuster doesn't charge double because its a movie and game)
Andy @ Aug 1st 2007 5:26PM
Could this game be this first multiplatform game to sell better on the PS3?
The collectors edition will, not so sure about the reg edition.
stubbymonkey @ Aug 1st 2007 5:35PM
Street Fighter 2 collection had the movie on the same disk.
Strike Man @ Aug 1st 2007 5:51PM
Since stubbymonkey beat me to the punch, I guess you could almost count Shenmue II coming with Shenmue I "The Movie" when it was released on the XBOX (after the DC version was shelved).
Pajama Party! @ Aug 1st 2007 6:02PM
Megaman: Maverick Hunter X came with that 30 minute anime produced specifically for inclusion with the game. Some of the better fanservice I've seen from a game company.
Shinnok @ Aug 1st 2007 6:57PM
Uhm... so no word about the region lock feature? It's not a good thing for a console that has to be region free... ok, i can close an eye on the limited version.. but why the normal one??? Bad, bad, bad move.... many ppl from Europe bought a japanese PS3 and they want to play a game with their languages... but they can't now... so?
zenprism @ Aug 1st 2007 8:14PM
I wonder if both the game and the movie would fit on the disc if they did day and night versions of both.
:)
Whubbsie @ Aug 1st 2007 8:19PM
I think they should do more movie/game combos... I Know I'd be more likely to buy movie based games if they included the movie.
John @ Aug 1st 2007 9:09PM
I love this cover art.
It has a certain amount of cheese, but it's tempered by comfortable amount of flair and even, restraint.
Love that it's mostly black and white, love the lighting from above, his pose is awesome (almost Saturday Night-Feverish-- as if he's merely DANCING-- that's sublime, and we'll be dancing, too, won't we?)
Love the shells, the mottled checkerboard pattern, and the way the only color is his face, golden, and the golden shells.
I was going to say there should be a touch of red, but it's in the Midway and Hardboiled icons.
Sweet. Wonder if the artist gets their name on the box?
John @ Aug 1st 2007 9:14PM
Oh, and at Whubbsie: HECK YES!
I don't expect it, but how sweet would that be?
Of course, we can see where this will go...
Resistance Fall of Man TWO! Including straight-to-video movie of the game!
If this works, people can start making movies, JUST TO RELEASE WITH THE VIDEO GAME.
But better: have FANS make movies, just home movies, funny, dramatic, mysterious, anime, whatever.
Using Resistance2 as an example again,
You basically say the game is releasing in 6 months roughly, put together a film about it.
This could be tricky, even if we beta-test it.
It would be safer to say, make a film about the first Resistance. RFOM2 is coming out in a year, submit your stuff in the next 3 months.
Then they come out with a re-issue RFOM complete with user videos...
No, too anti-climactic.
I know, put all the user videos for RFOM1 on the RFOM2 disc, that way, we have a multi-pallete introduction to the new game, based on the adventures of the old game.
Brill!
never$$hort @ Aug 2nd 2007 5:16PM
I'll get the special edition only if Hard Boiled has good picture quality, otherwise I'll just get the game itself, if its good...
upupdowndown @ Aug 6th 2007 1:01AM
@12
I too care heavily about the PQ of Hard Boiled. The way I look at it though is at worst it will be DVD quality and you know it won't be that bad not even close to that bad of a quality. They said remastered for 1080P. So for 10 bucks extra for an HD version of the movie, it's worth it knowing that it will be at least a step up from the DVD version.