• by Nina Lentini  @Nina_Lentini, September 5, 2007

Midway, a Chicago-based interactive entertainment publisher and developer, is out with a multimillion-dollar, marketing campaign for the award-winning "Stranglehold," a third-person shooter game--and Midway's biggest release this year--that is expected to be released in North America for the Xbox 360 today.

PC and PlayStation 3 versions will follow on Sept. 18 and 25, respectively.

The effort is anchored by an integrated campaign by Fox Interactive Media, which includes the "True to John Woo Short Film Contest" and a special, limited collector's edition on the PS3 that features the game and a full-length version of John Woo's critically acclaimed action film "Hard Boiled" on a PS3 Blu-Ray disc.

TV ads kicked off Aug. 18 with a sneak peak at "Stranglehold" and the debut of the winning short film of the "True to John Woo Short Film Contest" during the "Saturdasian Invasion Film Marathon" on Spike TV. Ads are also appearing on broadcast and cable channels such as ESPN, MTV, USA Networks, Comedy Central and Cartoon Network.

Out-of-home ads on billboards, bus shelters, trolley cars and wallscapes are appearing in top markets, including New York, San Francisco and Los Angeles.

The online effort includes MySpace, IGN, Team Xbox, IMDB, GameSpot, GamesRadar, and Rotten Tomatoes. Demonstrations are taking place on Xbox Live!, Marketplace, PlayStation Store and PC. Established sites include strangleholdgame.com, http://strangleholdcentral.ign.com and myspace.com/strangleholdgame.

Pre-orders at select retailers come with "Stranglehold"-branded items such as shot glasses, Xbox faceplate skins and a special-edition John Woo comic book.

Sweepstakes include partnerships with Play! Magazine, GamesRadar.com and IGN.com. Cross-promotion is being done with Genius Products in conjunction with its Dragon Dynasty DVD collection, including the recent release of "Hard Boiled."

Sponsorships include U.S. Asian film festivals in Los Angeles and New York.