Guy with two guns epic Stranglehold is still struggling to get a grip on the PS3 and PC, with both versions facing delays just as the Xbox 360 version sees completion. Inspector Tequila's seething vendetta against neatly stacked grocery stands begins on the Xbox 360 September 5th (September 14th in Europe), with the PC version now following on September 18th in the US and the 21st in Europe.

Shacknews reports that the PS3 version of the bullet bonanza is now scheduled for release on September 25th, which translates to an imprecise "October" for Europe.

Midway has confirmed to Joystiq that guy with two guns epic, Stranglehold, has been delayed past its initial August 27th release date on Xbox 360 and PC. John Woo's thoughtful study into the nature of exploding watermelons will now release on September 5th, with the PlayStation 3 version still following on September 17th. If you're clueless about Stranglehold or just have an urge to crush goons beneath suspiciously tethered neon signs, we'd recommend you have a look at the demo currently on the Xbox Live Marketplace.

[Thanks, Kyleia and Justin]

Director John Woo, who is currently collaborating on the game Stranglehold, will see his current film project Battle of the Red Cliff become an MMO in China, according to the press release. The title will be developed by Beijing-based Perfect World.

Red Cliff is based on the Three Kingdoms in ancient China, and specifically on the famed Battle of Red Cliffs where warlord Cao Cao was successfully blocked from conquering southern regions by warlords Liu Bei and Sun Quan. If any of these names sound familiar to non-history buffs, the events have been previously portrayed in games such as Dynasty Warriors and Romance of the Three Kingdoms, whose sheer number of iterations rival that of EA Sports franchises.

The MMO is coming out in the fourth quarter of this year. No word on whether the MMO is being planned for other territories. John Woo's Red Cliff will be released as two films, with the first reportedly coming out before the Summer 2008 Olympics and the second by the end of that year.

[Via Eurogamer]

Update: Alright, that's enough of this "delay" rubbish. Though still due out August 27 for Xbox 360 and PC, and on September 17 for PlayStation 3 in the US, some confusion has arisen regarding the European version of John Woo's Stranglehold. Dutch site PS3 Only obtained a statement from Midway that didn't feature a release date but noted (translation via N4G) that the game is "definitely [coming] out this year." That's the news -- the misinterpretation implied a delay to the European PS3 release.

1UP confirms that Stranglehold for the PlayStation 3 has not been delayed and will retain its September 17 release date. The lack of a release date in the European Midway statement was simply due to human error (those humans are always messing things up). Our sincerest apologies for the confusion -- we've been tasked with cleaning the repeatedly destroyed fruit stalls in your favorite action film.

[Via PS3 Fanboy]

There's a demo for Stranglehold, the video game sequel to John Woo's Hard Boiled, now on Xbox Live, and we couldn't be more excited. And it's not just that its cinematic gun battles are a little bit of fresh air after being locked in the hot station wagon that is the summer game release schedule. We're also really excited, if only for a few moments, to get to be Chow Yun-Fat, uncanny valley be damned.

And honestly, if you're going to be Chow Yun-Fat, Hard Boiled Chow Yun-Fat is the one to be, though Better Tomorrow Chow Yun-Fat would have also been acceptable. Can you imaging having to play as Anna and the King Chow Yun-Fat? Or even The Postmodern Life of My Aunt Chow Yun-Fat? We probably wouldn't even download the demo for that. ... Oh, who are we kidding? It's summer, we'll play anything.

Guy plus two guns news now, with Gamespot conveying the long-awaited release date for Midway's bullet-time bonanza, Stranglehold. The destructive action title, labeled as the interactive sequel to John Woo's classic Hong Kong film, Hard Boiled, starts its commercial shootout on Xbox 360 and PC on August 27th. Slow-mo effects seem to be a little more pronounced in the PlayStation 3 version, however, as it's scheduled to arrive three weeks later on September 17th.

One might speculate that Stranglehold is yet another title to be sucked into the increasingly epic Unreal situation, though a three-week delay is certainly preferable to indefinite postponement (and help is on the way!). PS3 owners can take solace in the fact that an HD version of Hard Boiled awaits them on that special edition Blu-ray disc -- well, except for the ones that actually had to click on that IMDB link.

So, you know how developers say things like, "Oh yes, Steven Spielberg was very involved in the development of this game" when what they actually mean is "Yeah, we sent a fax to his office and showed him a picture." We've been wondering if that's how involved John Woo and Chow Yun-Fat were with Midway's Stranglehold.

Here's video evidence to quell our fears that John Woo's involvement was simply sending a smiley-face emoticon to the development team when they asked him for feedback. Plus, seeing Chow (Mr. Yun-Fat? Fat? CYF?) recording lines for the game and sitting in meetings warms the slow-motion, dove-filled cockles of our hearts.

The latest post in the development blog for John Woo's Stranglehold explains the action game's cover system with a rather ingenious analogy: Space Invaders.

More specifically, Senior designer Patrick Curry is describing medium-sized objects (e.g. couches, concrete columns) that you can use for cover and are destructible. "As your cover shrinks Tequila will automatically crouch down to use whatever cover's left," he said, "but in Stranglehold no cover lasts forever." It was lead designer Neill Glancy who came up with the analogy, which explains how gunfire will slowly whittle down cover that either you or your opponents may be using.

We know what you're thinking: will you have the cojones to blast through your own cover, just like in Space Invaders? Real-world application of retro gaming skills embedded after the break.

John Woo will direct and produce the film-half of Ninja Gold, a multiformat project co-created with celebrated game creator Warren Spector. According to Woo's production partner Terrence Chang, the concept is based on ongoing factual accounts of the Yakuza and Russian mob stealing gold from South Africa. "The idea actually started with John Woo," Spector told Reuters, "He wanted to do something involving traditional ninjas in a modern-day setting, and the idea just resonated with me."

The two components, the game and film, will be developed somewhat independently, while retaining similar elements that will provide a narrative link. In a departure from the norm, neither will be entirely based on the other -- think: convergence, like, totally. Though Spector has been credited as an executive producer of the film, he implied that Woo will be commanding the movie with little help from the game developers. Chang added that the film will be more reality-based (so no signature-Woo bullet ballets?), borrowing lightly from the fantastic elements of the game. Chang hopes that a script can be completed soon, so that production can begin next year. No timetable has been given for the game's development.

As for Woo's other game-related project, Stranglehold, Chang suggested that a film adaptation was a strong possibility. "We would definitely bring Stranglehold to the big screen," Chang said. "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."

Waiting for John Woo's Stranglehold to hit store shelves is a bit like watching one of his movies; there's a lot of slow-motion, and plenty of bullets and destruction during the wait. We got our hands on the latest build at Sony's recent Gamers Day, and fired thousands of rounds in an effort to see how we were at controlling Chow Yun Fat.

Now, if you haven't seen a John Woo film, you need to rush out and rent one right now. Since Hard Boiled, which is the prequel to this game, comes on the Blu-ray disc, we'd recommend The Killer. Both of 'em star Chow Yun Fat, tons of guns, and a lot of over-the-top action. Hong Kong action cinema at it's finest.

Fans of slow-motion, doves, and people diving through the air whilst firing two guns will be excited to know that Midway is offering you a chance to make your own John Woo-esque Stranglehold short film, in exchange for a shot at fortune and glory.

The contest opens up on April 30th and runs until June 25th, and the winning film will be hand-chosen by John Woo himself. The winner will get $25,000, have their film shown on Spike TV, a John Woo signed Hard Boiled movie poster, and have bragging rights in future geek trivia contests.

Check out the details here so you can start storyboarding your short. Bonus points if you happen to know Chow Yun Fat and can get him to star in your flick.