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General discussionWho owns the rights to Stranglehold?(13 posts)(13 posts)
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This is my favourite topic
Posted June 24, 2015
I'm kinda curious about that one. Judging by the company logos at the start of the game, the following companies were involved at the time: Tiger Hill and Midway.

As far as I know, Tiger Hill is John Woo's production company. Midway went bankrupt and is now owned by Warner.

Warner/Midway is present on gog, so is there any chance for this ever hitting the gog shelves? And if all else fails: Does anyone know of a DRM-free retail release? The German budget rerelease IS DRM-free, but unfortunately, it's heavily censored.


edit: Edited my opening post to remove all references to THQ, which I got mixed up as being this game's publisher.
Post edited June 24, 2015 by fronzelneekburm
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Posted June 24, 2015
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fronzelneekburm: ...
I was very hopeful Warner would bring that here so I could finally play it (along with The Suffering 1 & 2) as I assumed they got that when they bought Midway's IP, but I don't know for sure. (I was also hopeful GOG would buy Blade Runner from EA and then negotiate with WB for a re-release, but that's far less likely I think.)
Posted June 24, 2015
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fronzelneekburm: I'm kinda curious about that one. Judging by the company logos at the start of the game, the following companies were involved at the time: THQ, Tiger Hill and Midway.

As far as I know, THQ was bought up by Nordic and Tiger Hill is John Woo's production company. Midway went bankrupt and is now owned by Warner.

Both Warner/Midway and Nordic are present on gog, so is there any chance for this ever hitting the gog shelves? And if all else fails: Does anyone know of a DRM-free retail release? The German budget rerelease IS DRM-free, but unfortunately, it's heavily censored.
Is that the Tequila game?
Posted June 24, 2015
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fronzelneekburm: Both Warner/Midway and Nordic are present on gog, so is there any chance for this ever hitting the gog shelves? And if all else fails: Does anyone know of a DRM-free retail release? The German budget rerelease IS DRM-free, but unfortunately, it's heavily censored.
Wondering the same thing. I found a physical copy in Germany several years ago, only after buying it I remembered the censorship, ended up not even installing it. It's funny how forgotten this game is considering the huge hype before release. It was a pretty good Max Payne clone, not great but I sure as hell enjoyed it more than Max Payne 3.
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tfishell: I was very hopeful Warner would bring that here so I could finally play it (along with The Suffering 1 & 2) as I assumed they got that when they bought Midway's IP, but I don't know for sure.
I'm afraid The Suffering ended up with another party, not necessarily a game publisher. It's been a while since I've read that, though, and I'm not sure that information was correct. But yeah, a GOG release of these games would be awesome. The first one was fantastic (and my Polish version was actually DRM free), the second one wasn't only worse, it used Starforce and I didn't play it for a year or two after buying it because the copy protection kept me from launching my legit copy. I believe I only managed to fire it up after disconnecting all my optical drives (my crappy mainboard didn't allow turning them off) and using a fixed image. :P
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XYCat: Is that the Tequila game?
That's the one.
Post edited June 24, 2015 by F4LL0UT
Posted June 24, 2015
Yeah, that looks like a cool game! Here is the wishlist.
Posted June 24, 2015
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tfishell: I was also hopeful GOG would buy Blade Runner from EA and then negotiate with WB for a re-release, but that's far less likely I think.
I'd wager a guess that Blade Runner might be one of the most complicated cases out there, especially since the infamous "Blade Runner Partnership" would probably be involved.
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F4LL0UT: I found a physical copy in Germany several years ago, only after buying it I remembered the censorship, ended up not even installing it.
Not trying to defend the censorship, but since you already bought it, you might as well give it a shot. I ended up installing the censored version because I wanted to confirm it being DRM-free and was surprised by how little the censorship actually affected the game. It doesn't have that same over-the-top level of stupid that German censorship usually has, so no green blood and no fighting robots instead of humans.
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F4LL0UT: It's funny how forgotten this game is considering the huge hype before release.
This had any hype before release?! I only remember retail stores selling pre-order copies that included a behind the scenes DVD and a DVD-copy of Hard-Boiled, which, appropriately enough, was cut by 30 minutes (speaking of over-the-top censorship...)
Posted June 24, 2015
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fronzelneekburm: This had any hype before release?! I only remember retail stores selling pre-order copies that included a behind the scenes DVD and a DVD-copy of Hard-Boiled, which, appropriately enough, was cut by 30 minutes (speaking of over-the-top censorship...)
Stranglehold was quite a high-profile release back then and got lots of hype and coverage in gaming magazines.

I actually have a theory regarding the ridiculous censorship of the FSK 16 version of Hard-Boiled: Back in the VHS days, the German distributor released an edited version of the film that was "only" about ten minutes shorter, because the uncut one was yanked pretty quickly, obviously. It was already missing pretty much every instance of bloodshed or graphic violence.
They were probably shooting for an FSK 16 rating, but they ended up with an FSK 18 instead. Hilariously, that version was then put on the index as well.
Then, the distributor was likely just trying to ensure that they would get the rating they wanted and edited everything out that could be construed as "violent", including scenes where guns are loaded. Thus, the 90 minute cut of Hard-Boiled was born
Posted June 24, 2015
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fronzelneekburm: I'm kinda curious about that one. Judging by the company logos at the start of the game, the following companies were involved at the time: THQ, Tiger Hill and Midway.

As far as I know, THQ was bought up by Nordic and Tiger Hill is John Woo's production company. Midway went bankrupt and is now owned by Warner.

Both Warner/Midway and Nordic are present on gog, so is there any chance for this ever hitting the gog shelves? And if all else fails: Does anyone know of a DRM-free retail release? The German budget rerelease IS DRM-free, but unfortunately, it's heavily censored.
I see no indication that THQ had anything to do with the development/publishing of the game. In fact, it seems to be all Tiger Hill and Midway ( and [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stranglehold_(video_game)]Wikipedia sources). Considering that Midway has shut down (effectively transforming into Netherealm Studios), I doubt that the rights for the game actually went to Warner Bros, especially when you consider that the game is a sequel to Hard-Boiled (thus a licensed title) and that John Woo was actually one of the producers. If anything else, I believe that the rights to the game might actually belong to John Woo, himself.

As for a DRM-Free release, I think this one fits the bill.
Posted June 24, 2015
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fronzelneekburm: Not trying to defend the censorship, but since you already bought it, you might as well give it a shot.
I have a firm "uncut or GTFO" policy. :P The exception are cases where the censorship is arguably a at least partially a creative decision. And I already played the uncut version back in the day, so it's not like I've completely missed out on the game over this. If I really wanted to play the game I'd download an uncut version with a clear conscience anyway, or at least an uncut patch if I managed to find one (that may be rather tough since Dede1's shutdown, though).
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fronzelneekburm: This had any hype before release?!
Absolutely. It had massive press coverage and advertising, not to mention the "John Woo" name that implied his endorsement or even creative input. It was one of the highest profile releases at the time.
Post edited June 24, 2015 by F4LL0UT
Posted June 24, 2015
According to the California business database, Tiger Hill Entertainment is still an active company. Their trademark for the name Stranglehold has expired, however.
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Posted June 24, 2015
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Grargar: I see no indication that THQ had anything to do with the development/publishing of the game. In fact, it seems to be all Tiger Hill and Midway ( and [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stranglehold_(video_game)]Wikipedia sources). Considering that Midway has shut down (effectively transforming into Netherealm Studios), I doubt that the rights for the game actually went to Warner Bros, especially when you consider that the game is a sequel to Hard-Boiled (thus a licensed title) and that John Woo was actually one of the producers. If anything else, I believe that the rights to the game might actually belong to John Woo, himself.
Thanks for pointing that out! I have no clue how the hell I got THQ mixed up in this...

I'll edit the opening post accordingly.

And if Woo himself owns the rights, then so much the better! The guy who made "Bullet In The Head" can take my money any time!
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Grargar: As for a DRM-Free release, I think this one fits the bill.
Thanks, I'll check it out!
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F4LL0UT: I have a firm "uncut or GTFO" policy.
A most commendable stance. Normally I wouldn't buy a censored version either, but in this case, it came in a nice big cardboard box and I'm a sucker for those. Plus, I collect pretty much everything related to Woo's 1986-1992 output (hell, I own over 30 different versions of Bullet In The Head). So the big box Stranglehold was a must for me.
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F4LL0UT: It was one of the highest profile releases at the time.
The thing I remember most about this release that it came out right around the time when online activation for retail games became a big thing. The industry didn't really get into that until 7 years after the release of HL2. Then along came Bioshock and everything went to shit. I was just happy this one didn't have online activation.
Post edited June 24, 2015 by fronzelneekburm
Posted May 29, 2016
Sorry for the necro, but...
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Grargar: As for a DRM-Free release, I think this one fits the bill.
Thanks for the tip! I ordered this version and it worked like a charm! No DVD needed after the initial install, this is as DRM-free as DRM-free can get. Thanks again! :)
Posted May 29, 2016
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fronzelneekburm: Sorry for the necro, but...
Thanks for the tip! I ordered this version and it worked like a charm! No DVD needed after the initial install, this is as DRM-free as DRM-free can get. Thanks again! :)
You're welcome.
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General discussionWho owns the rights to Stranglehold?(13 posts)(13 posts)
(13 posts)