Haze 360 & PC no more! Stranglehold Gold For 360!

[ThaMaskedGamer]

Little bit of odd release news. Looks like Ubisoft is dropping Haze for the 360 and PC. I wonder what the reasons are? I figure its 1 of 2 things. Either the game is VERY good on the PS3 and they feel it is going to do really well on that system or either the game is bad or average and they don't want to waste the $$ on PC and 360 versions that won't due well commercially.

In other news Stranglehold is GOLD for the 360. Here is the article from GamesIndustry.biz:
<b>Midway Games announced that Stranglehold has gone to gold master for the Xbox 360.

A collaboration with action film director John Woo's Tiger Hill Entertainment, Stranglehold allows players to take the role of the Inspector Tequila character from Woo's "Hard Boiled" film.

As previously reported, Midway has invested USD 30 million in the game.

Developed by the team behind Psi-Ops: The Mindgate Conspiracy, Stranglehold is currently scheduled to ship in North America on September 5th for Xbox 360.

The PC version is scheduled to ship on September 18th.

The PS3 version, which also contains the entire Hard Boiled movie on the same Blu-Ray disk, is scheduled to ship on September 25th.

Stranglehold is currently slated to ship in Europe on September 14th for the Xbox 360, on September 21st for the PC and in October for the PS3.</b>

I was under the impression this was a PS3 lead, but its coming to 360 first. I predict this game will not do to well on 360, but I guess this is probably the best time to release it, after Bioshock and before Halo3.

I cannot believe they invested $30 Million USD!! On this game!! OMG some people are gonna be BROKE no way this game recoups that!

[Cuddly Knife]

30 mil, huh? I'm guessing a nice chunk of that went to using Fats(?) face in the game. Looks like adecent enough game. Better gunplay than Tomb Raider(isn't hard to do), and nice environmental damage make this a possible suprise hit. The only thing I'm unsure of is the variety in levels and over lasting-power in what seems to be a shallow shooter. But who am I to judge, I still play lots of Crackdown.

PS3 finally got one with Haze, huh? Another reason(fanboy time) that they could've taken it off the 360 is because they know a 3rd party shooter doesn't stand a chance against first-party H3.

[ilnadmy]

Ubisoft has told GameSpot that First Radical's sci-fi first-person shooter Haze is now being planned solely for Sony's PlayStation 3 platform.

Originally, Haze was slated as a multiplatform release for the PC, Xbox 360, and PS3 this spring. However, in May, Ubisoft announced that the PS3 had become the "lead platform" for the title and that the game would be released in November only for the PS3. At that time, Ubisoft noted that "no exclusivity for any platform has been officially announced."

Today, Ubisoft amended its statement, saying that currently only the PS3 version of Free Radical's shooter is in development. The France-based publisher also noted that it was still leaving the door open in the future for "new partnerships," but currently the game is indeed only planned for the PS3. A spokesperson said, "The official statement on PC and Xbox 360 is that these platforms are not confirmed."

The Web sites of both Free Radical and the official Haze site now only list the PS3 version of the game.

Funny they refer to "First Radical" in the first line of the story, rather than Free Radical.

And if they thought they wouldn't do too well against Halo 3, it wouldn't make sense to drop the PC version too, since there's no Halo 3 on that platform (thank the lord). No, I think it has something to do with the entire package of Bioshock + Call of Duty 4 + Crysis (on PC) + Halo 3 (on 360) + a helluva lot of other top-notch games coming out this year. The PS3 has the least amount of competition, so it makes sense to focus their money on that system and not spend money on releasing the game on platforms that already have crowded release schedules, and which may thus not sell too well.

[Mochan]

Wow, unprecedented. I never in my wildest dreams thought that the PS3 would get an exclusive from what was once a multiplat. That freaking sucks I was actually looking forward to playing Haze.

It's possible that Haze is being dropped from 360 and PC because of the incredibly stiff competition on those platforms in the coming months. Halo 3 and Bioshock alone on the 360 is murder, this game possibly wouldn't even see the light of day and PS3 version would suffer from splash damage of reviews saying it is "mediocre" compared to those 2 heavyweights. On the PC it also has to contend with the darkhorse juggernaut Bioshock.

Ubisoft will wait for the PS3 to get some good reviews and have it billed as a "killer app" then port it to the PC and 360 later on once it manages to establish a name for itself. *If* it establishes a name for itself.

EDIT: I agree with what you said on this ilnadmy looks like we had the same idea.

Now I'm waiting for Stranglehold for the PC. Sept 18!!!!!

[DrunkenThumbmaster]

Haze apparently didn't show to well at Leipzeg it got pretty much a whatever response at GC even though it's exlusive this holiday. They state that they are leaving the door open so It's coming.

Strangle was fun but god the Enemy A.I. (Demo version) absolutely brain dead they continously run into the line of fire. Well that's pretty accurate if they're going for a chow yun fat movie!

[Mochan]

Like you said, I don't see anything wrong with enemy AI running into the line of fire it's that kind of game. This isn't SWAT 4 or Rainbow Six.

In Thief and even Splinter Cell enemy AI won't see you even if you're just crouchng in front of them with a freaking backlit celphone flashing on your back and they walk away I don't fault it for being bad AI it's just that kind of game.

[Rogue Bounty Hunter]

While I enjoyed the demo, I never had a feeling that the full version of Stranglehold would have enough substance for me to pick up. I felt like I've done just about everything in the game just from playing the demo.

I would have gone for the PS3 version, too, so I could get the Hard Boiled Blu-Ray movie (never seen it).

[ilnadmy]

Yeah I've never seen Hard Boiled either.

[Mochan]

I haven't seen it either, and I don't really feel the need to. I just want to shoot things.

[T.Tashi]

Yeah I've never seen Hard Boiled either.

Hardboiled has some of the best action sequences in the history of cinema. It's influenced everything from Hollywood to Max Payne to anime The Matrix, Diehards, Lethal Weapons, Ah'nuld's gamit of great action movies in the 80s and 90s, nothing really comes close. But you're gonna have to read subtitles or sit through a crappy English dub. Woo was always a master at blurring the line between the good and bad guys and Hardboiled is probably the epitome of this.

[Mochan]

I bet the Blueray of it will at least have decent subs. :)

[DrunkenThumbmaster]

Supposedly Hardboiled is going to be limited to the special editions that are preordered.

[Cuddly Knife]

Stranglehold scored an 8.1 from IGN. That's a good score in a sea of good and hopeful next-gen shooters.

360 version

[Glockstar]

If you're thinking about getting it, Circuit City's going to have it on sale when it comes out next Tuesday/Wednesday: $47.99. :wink5:

[Rogue Bounty Hunter]

I saw Stranglehold (360) in my local Circuit City today (9/1). They were so unprepared for its release, they had to handwrite the price on stickers.

[Tappy_Tibbons]

Stranglehold is a horrible game...Haze looks ok but I need to see some reviews. Looks very generic to me.

[Mochan]

I agree Haze does feel a bit generic, it's just a shooter I'm looking forward to playing since I haven't been playing too many shooters lately. That just changed though I just started playing GRAW2 and Bioshock. So who knows now that Haze has disappeared from my platform of choice it's a good thing I have other things to play first.

[Rogue Bounty Hunter]

While I enjoyed the demo, I never had a feeling that the full version of Stranglehold would have enough substance for me to pick up. I felt like I've done just about everything in the game just from playing the demo.

I would have gone for the PS3 version, too, so I could get the Hard Boiled Blu-Ray movie (never seen it).

I definitely would have gone for the PS3 version, if it wasn't for a good sale price for the 360 version and a good ole price match at Best Buy.

I still don't know if the full version will have enough substance. Luckily, it's around the time of year when I can have a rotation of games instead of just one or two interesting ones (or old ones that are being replayed).