EA Signs Up Talent Agency To Bring Franchises To Movies, TV

The United Talent Agency and Electronic Arts have announced an agreement to help bring internally developed EA franchises to other entertainment media, including movies, animation, comic books and television. UTA, EA's "partner in crime", will represent the developer-publisher as it moves its IP into the "realm of large-budget motion pictures and television series." Let's hope that doesn't mean Madden: The Movie.

The EA-UTA deal is said to "significantly ramp up EA’s film and television slate" which currently consists of a "feature version" of The Sims, a MySims animated series and a Dead Space animated, direct-to-DVD feature. In other words, pretend to be surprised when the Army Of Two movie script leaks later this year.

Hit the jump for the full press release. We'll have additional details on all of EA's Comic-Con related announcements through the week.

Playing to Perfection in Mirror's Edge

As with Ashcraft, watching Mirror's Edge has great potential to make me motion sick. In fact I was so worried about it I told the design team that I thought playing it would spur an instant need to run to a bathroom. But they insisted I wouldn't feel any queasiness when actually playing, and they were right.

What first struck me about the game was just how pretty it is. Mirror's Edge using the Unreal Engine but it does so to create something so unfamiliar, a first-person perspective in a bright, crisp world. Matching the simple aesthetic, the games controls are very straight forward. Granted I only had a chance to run and interact with the environment, so I'm not sure how combat will hold up.

Mirror's Edge looks great. And the first-person-running-jumping-sliding-kicking-shooting gameplay is certainly novel and different. This morning, I checked out the E3 build, which looked, well, great. But...while watching the dev show off the game, I seriously started to feel ill. Really, really ill. I've never gotten motion sick from a game, and I got it pretty bad while checking out Mirror's Edge. Like to the point of breaking out in a cold sweat and feeling rather green. Actually playing the game didn't make me as sick as watching — and playing it was fun. The controls are intuitive and tight, and the overall design is polished.

I was talking with McWhertor why the game made me motion sick. He pointed out that the game does leave out certain colors in the color platte and that maybe, just maybe that's the reason. That, or the jet lag or the lack of sleep.

It's taken from a demonstration, so excuse the slightly grainy quality, but its a credit to the game's artists that its blue skies shine brightly regardless. This player demo of Mirror's Edge may seem familiar at first, but later gets into all-new territory, including combat and the disarming of opponents, a tactic so ingrained within the game that it's possible to complete the game without "having fired a single shot". Exciting stuff.

EA's E3 Line Up - We're Going To Need A Bigger Website

Don't expect me to sum up Electronic Arts' E3 2008 presence in a couple of paragraphs. It's far too huge for just a quick rundown, so I'll just give you the pertinent points. The line up includes soemwhere around 38 games, including four games for the iPhone, three for the iPod, and four mobile games - including the upcoming Wolfenstein RPG.

They got a demo room filled with top-notch titles like Dead Space, Warhammer Online, Mirror's Edge, Mercenaries 2, and Madden 09, as well as the EA Software Showcase booth, which will be showing off even more games - The Lord of the Rings: Conquest, Crysis Warhead, and Command and Conquer: Red Alert 3 to name a few. Throw in partner games like Rock Band 2 at the MTV booth and Valve's Left 4 Dead and you've got a whole lot of real estate for the gaming press to cover in a very short time. Hit the jump for the full monty, including listings of which games are up for coveted E3 awards.

Mirror's Edge Impressions, New Screens and Trailer

This Is Your Mirror's Edge Writer

Developer DICE and Electronic Arts bring word that writer and story designer Rhianna Pratchett will be writing and story designin' the upcoming Mirror's Edge. Prachette previously worked on Heavenly Sword and Overlord — her website also points out that she has even written some short stories. DICE's Mirror's Edge follows main character Faith in a highly monitored urban cityscape as her sister is framed for a murder she did not commit. Says Pratchett:

It was a great experience working with the team at DICE to help breathe life into Faith; her world, relationships and backstory. My heroines and heroes have always been the ones who were ordinary, but through the events of a story, became extraordinary. Faith is skilled, but she's certainly not a superhero. She has her flaws, like all of us. In short: she's real. That's her appeal.

Mirror's Edge drops this winter. Full press release after the jump.

In case you're just joining us this afternoon, today saw a whole slew of news coming out of the UK from the Sony PlayStation Day London '08 event. From the delay of Killzone 2 to early 2009 to the PlayStation 3 outselling the Xbox 360 in Europe, here's a rundown of the stories from Sony Computer Entertainment Europe's big event.

SCEE: LittleBigPlanet Delayed, Not Coming Until October
Killzone 2 Dated for 2009
Resistance 2 will Feature Eight-Player Co-Op, 60-player Multiplayer
Motorstorm 2 Gets Named, Detailed
Gran Turismo Racing Academy Announced
Sony Gamers Day UK Info Dump: Resistance 2 to SOCOM Confrontation
Men In Black Becomes First International BD-Live Title
Episodic Siren Blood Curse Hits PS3 This Summer
Sony Brings Indie Music to PSN via Movement
Europe Getting MGS4 Bundle After All
SCEE Plays Up Social Gaming At Gamer's Day 08
PlayStation 3 Outsells 360 In Europe
Mirror's Edge In Motion

Mirror's Edge In Motion

Free Running Through Popular Culture

In an article over at Gamasutra, Andy Robertson takes a look at the use of popular culture in video games, specifically Parkour (or Free Running). He takes an in-depth look at some of the games that have used Parkour, namely Crackdown and Assassin's Creed, and discusses what they did really well, and what leaves much to be desired for free-running fans.

The biggest difference between the two games is that Assassin's Creed allows the users to do just about anything, moving up and over the whole sandbox environment using Parkour-style moves, but doesn't reward players for the fluidity and beauty that authentic Parkour demands. On the other side, Crackdown has specific Xbox Achievements that encourage players to be more fluid and artistic with their movements, but permits fewer grab points and forces the player into a more linear, less free and experimental path. What Robertson doesn't refer to is the upcoming game Mirror's Edge, based solely around the art of Parkour. If these two elements are married in Mirror's Edge, it could be a big Free Running hit. Then again, if it's only those elements, I can't imagine long-term play possibilities for the game.

Game Culture Vultures: Parkour

Let me get something straight. I'm excited about EA's upcoming title Mirror's Edge, but I'm a little embarrassed to say that. Because this is a game that wants you to know that it's Important. From the Epic Score to the Dramatic Monologues, Mirror's Edge is not a game to be taken Lightly. It stinks of that heavy-handedness you see from Hollywood when the studio starts thinking "Oscar." But the fact of the matter is, in the dark recesses of a movie theater or the lonely recesses of your living room, nobody has to know that you are celebrating the melodrama.

DICE Working On New IP "Mirror's Edge"