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If you were wondering what the world of Mirror's Edge would look like from a side-scrolling, out-of-body perspective, your answer can be found in the above trailer for the platformer's iPhone port. Though the handheld obviously lacks the processing power of the 360 and PS3, the game still manages to retain the first installment's crisp visual aesthetic. Also, there's a lot of roof-jumping, which we remember being pretty prevalent in the home console version of the game.

However, the video still doesn't clarify how the original game's fairly complex control scheme will port over to the iPhone. "See, to scale this wall, you do a quick tap, then a tappity-tap, and then half a tap, and then you shake your iPhone violently. No, no, half a tap. How are you not getting this?"

EA CEO John Riccitiello told IndustryGamers that the company has no intention of reducing its reliance on new IP. "Does this mean EA is backing away from investing in quality and innovation?" Riccitiello asked. "Absolutely not. It's religion for me; I believe quality and innovation is what works."

EA faces a difficult task now: finding room in EA's now-reduced slate for the new content Riccitiello promises and the sequels the company must produce. But it's a task Riccitiello seems to believe is worth undertaking. "I believe there are publishers out there that are milking franchises at their peril," he said. "I do think you can sort of stop innovating and do well while you coast for a couple of editions before a product starts to fall apart or a sector starts to fall apart."

The juggle involves sequels like Mirror's Edge 2, perhaps. "There are some things we learned about that [first] game," Riccitiello told Kotaku. "It was, I think, a massively innovative product. To be honest with you, I think it's a game that deserves to come back." The CEO said he's "had several very lively debates" with the dev team about the design of a future game. "And they are working on it."

So, hypothetical situation. You're perched on the roof of a skyscraper, peering across a lengthy chasm to the adjacent building, where your destination lies. You're suddenly overcome with doubt and uncertainty! If only you had some sort of portable parkour training manual which could show you the proper timing and form for such a jump. Fortunately, your hypothetical needs are being tended to. According to a recent EA press release, the high-flying, first-person adventure, Mirror's Edge, will soon land on iPhones and iPod Touches.

A few screenshots for the title (which is due out in January) show that while it will be in 3D, we'll be operating from a side-scrolling perspective rather than being stuck within Faith's head.

Digital distribution service Direct2Drive is celebrating the 24 days leading up to Christmas by discounting a select PC title each day from now until December 25. As the math whizzes have no doubt already divined, that's 24 discounted games! Today's game is DICE's parkour-em-up, Mirror's Edge. At the ridiculously low asking price of $4.95, it'd be a crime for PC gamers to disregard this most excellent (and very much deserving of a sequel, EA!) game from 2008.

We can personally vouch for its high levels of quality, actually. In terms of fun-to-cents ratio, you're looking at about 16 gazillion wows of entertainment value. Trust us, we did the math.

[Thanks, Jordan]

Oscar Carlén, a lighting artist at EA's DICE studio, lists two "2009-present" projects in his portfolio: Battlefield 3 and Mirror's Edge 2. Not only do those games possibly exist, you'll be able to see what's going on in them.

Battlefield 3 was first mentioned in June at a conference by EA COO John Pleasants. At that time, Pleasants also revealed a Criterion-developed Need for Speed game, which was announced again during EA's latest financial conference call -- so Battlefield 3 is somewhat of an expected property, lending credence to the existence of Mirror's Edge 2 by association. The last we heard about a follow-up to Mirror's Edge was that a "small team" was working on something back in June. Carlén could be part of that small team.

It's possible, given EA's recent layoffs and turn toward more surefire franchises, that Mirror's Edge 2 did exist but no longer does. We're checking with EA to verify the information found on this portfolio and to determine the current state of the franchise.

[Thanks, Tim]

With Rhianna Pratchett's most recent projects -- a trio of Overlord titles -- complete, the game scribe took some time out to discuss what it was like to write for three games at once, what she's looking forward to in the future, and why Faith in Mirror's Edge wasn't quite as talkative as originally planned:

Did you have any difficulties writing for three different platforms? What are the differences and limitations of writing for one platform over another?

It was mainly a question of age ratings. I'm sorry it's not more of an exciting answer. The Wii and DS, Dark Legend and Minions, were aiming for a lower rating than Overlord II, so there were certain things that I couldn't talk about in the scripts -- mainly to do with excessive violence and debauchery. You know, all the really fun stuff.

You can certainly get away with more by taking a comedic angle, but games ratings are actually pretty stringent. I don't think it impacted too much on the Overlord feel, although it was a shame to lose things like drunken minions and mistresses. Okay, in Dark Legend the lead character is only 16, so a harem might have been rather wishful thinking.

There was a definite need for economy of language when it came to the DS, which was a little more restrictive. Condensing a loquacious character like Gnarl was quite a challenge. Other than that it was really just trying to capture the right Overlord tone.

We love our Mirror's Edge as much as the next group of guys, but we don't really know what to make of this one. Unseen64 reports that Backbone Entertainment was asked by EA to make a demo for the game on Wii, DS and PSP, though the status of it is currently unknown.

Judging by the couple of pieces of concept art Unseen64 is sporting, the project looks suspiciously third-person, which is puzzling at best. But who knows? Maybe we're just old men set in our crotchety ways. Maybe it could have been awesome. But with less-than-stellar sales numbers for the flagship, we're doubtful EA will be willing to spend the cash to let Faith leap onto other boxes.

Mirror's Edge fans are going to have to wait for the sequel before experiencing any new leaps of Faith. EA has told ThatVideoGameBlog that there are no "immediate plans" for more DLC. A downloadable map pack was made available this past February.

Although not a runaway smash, Mirror's Edge did find success and some awards -- even from our little corner of the internet. Hopefully a sequel will address the multitude of frustrating gameplay issues found in the original -- like the combat system. We have fai... ahem, we believe DICE will do right next time.

All of you Europeans who enjoy a bit of the parkour-inspired gameplay of Mirror's Edge now and again, we've got a treat for you. PSN now has all of the Mirror's Edge DLC content available at the low, low cost of free. The news comes courtesy of TheSixthAxis, and we've logged on ourselves to confirm that, yes, you can now nab all of the game's content with no need to spend anything. If you don't own Mirror's Edge, it's got to be on sale somewhere around you -- and honestly, there is no suitable excuse for not owning it.

Oh, and before you US residents go rushing to turn on your PS3, know that we already checked PSN for this and the content is still priced as usual.

[Thanks, Josh!]

Joy be thine, as EA has confirmed Joystiq GOTY Mirror's Edge won't be the last we see of Faith. In speaking with Videogamer back at E3, EA's senior VP of EA Games Europe, Patrick Soderlund, stated, "You will see another Mirror's Edge for sure. It's just a matter of when that time is and what we do with it. We have a small team on it and I'm excited about what we do."

Of course, one mustn't jump to conclusions and automatically label this as a sequel. Soderlund could've meant anything based on that comment. EA could be working on a full-fledged sequel (something we desperately need), sure, or could be adapting a port for some other system. Or, the company could be making a spiffy new Flash game for all we know. Only time will tell, but the important thing is that no matter what this project turns out to be, we all have more parkour-based gameplay to look forward to down the line. And that's a very good thing.

[Via VG247]

Savage Land Pictures have revealed a gorgeous photo set inspired by the 2008 Electronic Arts action title, Mirror's Edge. The shoot, which Savage Land Pictures notes took months to plan, includes sixteen images of a model dressed as Faith traversing rooftops and interacting with armor-clad enemies. The set isn't completely realistic however, as "Faith" is shown holding a pistol and the image doesn't completely break... like the game did when she picked up a weapon. Just kidding, kinda.

[Via SlicedLime Twitter]

Fans of the first-person parkour simulator Mirror's Edge are bound to enjoy this video discovered by the BBPS (embedded after the break). In the video, you'll see a very talented man perform all kinds of parkour antics, all shot from a first-person viewpoint. He even managed to find some surprisingly colorful surroundings to make it feel more like the game. It's all very impressive until around 2:05 into the video, at which point we realized it was filmed by a wizard.

To think such a powerful man would waste his time making silly videos.

[Via The BBPS]

EA's perpetual joke -- on you -- comes to an ironic end on April Fools' Day with the release of de-authorization tools for each of its 19 PC games with SecuROM copy protection (full list and download links after the break). If you've been working on that class action lawsuit against EA for bundling SecuROM with The Sims 2: IKEA Home Stuff, you can drop it now -- your flat-pack furniture can finally be moved to a new machine.

In the spirit of generosity, EA's giving you two options for managing your authorizations:

• Option 1: Download and install yet another "tool" in order to scan your computer for EA's SecuROM games and find out how many computer authorizations you have (or don't have) left for each title.
• Option 2: Cut to the chase and download the game-specific de-authorization tool you need.

Nordic Game 2009 is fast approaching and, like you, we're gearing up by listening to loads of ABBA, driving Volvos and wearing nothing but H&M clothing. That's all they do over there, right? Anyway, with the conference comes the obligatory awards show, though this one comes with a uniquely nordic theme. While über nordic games like LasseMajas and Englekræsj show up on the list, EA DICE-developed Mirror's Edge and Funcom-developed Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures are duking it out for two major awards: Artistic Achievement and Best Nordic Game.

We can't speak to the ... ahem ... games we've never heard of running against Mirror's Edge and Age of Conan, but retro remake Bionic Commando: Rearmed is also competing for the Best Nordic Game award, while Watchmen: The End is Nigh takes on the two for Artistic Achievement. The awards are set to be a veritable smörgåsbord of gaming, if you will. (Those are Swedish, right?)

[Via Edge]

"The world is dark enough, especially at the moment. Overlord, I think, was successful because it made people smile, it made people laugh. That seems to have resonated so much that I say 'Make people smile, don't make people cry.'" It's no secret that we are suckers for the lolz around here, so we're rather inclined to agree with Ms. Pratchett. In the eight minute interview with the Guardian (found after the break), Pratchett also touches on the importance of getting game writers into the development process early enough, calling shoehorned stories in gaming the result of "Weekend at Bernie's" processes, where a plot that doesn't really exist is "made up" to look like an actual plot. Rather than naming culprits, we'll leave the finger pointing to you fine folks -- and we're willing to bet you can name more than a few, no?