Midway back on board Asian Filmfest

[Emarian]

Earlier this week, the New York Asian Filmfest found itself without a primary sponsor, as organizers said Midway Games had backed out of their commitment to the event with no warning and little explanation. Both Midway and the NYAFF have confirmed the publisher is back on board now, although it is no longer the event's primary sponsor.

Midway originally signed on to the festival as a way of promoting its upcoming Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC game Stranglehold, a pseudosequel to Chow Yun-Fat and John Woo's seminal Hong Kong action flick Hard Boiled. However, when Midway representatives no-showed at an appointment with NYAFF organizers to measure a theater lobby for Stranglehold demo kiosks, confusion arose.

The NYAFF told its fan base that Midway reneged on its financial commitment to the show and was no longer involved in any way, shape, or form. When asked about the incident, a Midway representative said the company had to drop out of main sponsor slot because "Stranglehold's development schedule did not allow time to attend," but added that the publisher still planned to be a sponsor. At the time, a NYAFF organizer told GameSpot he knew nothing about those plans.

The confusion appears to be resolved now, as a NYAFF representative today told GameSpot that the organization was "thrilled" to have Midway back on board as a contributing sponsor. However, Midway did lose its slot as the presenting sponsor to Asian film distributor Dragon Dynasty, which picked up the slack when Midway originally dropped out of the event.

As for the rest of Midway's participation, the originally planned demo kiosks for Stranglehold have been scrapped, but the one-night-only 15th anniversary screening of Hard Boiled is still planned. The New York Asian Film Festival runs from June 22 through July 8. For more on the show, visit the official Web site.