After worse than expected quarterly financial results, and poor market reception to its original intellectual property (IP) such as Dead Space, Mirror’s Edge and Brütal Legend, EA has revealed their future strategic plans, and it doesn’t look good for original, innovative content.

In the wake of the announcement that EA is to cut 1500 jobs across all of it studios, and the revelation that nearly a dozen, unannounced titles currently in development at the publisher had been cancelled, EA CEO John Riccitiello has pointed the way forward for the company:

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Late last year EA announced that Mirror’s Edge fans could look forward to an exclusive PS3 map in late January. Yesterday the game’s producer Tom Farrer announced that the exclusive PS3 Time Trial Map would be available for free today.

Farrer also confirmed that the full Pure Time Trial Map pack will follow in February.

In a post on SCEA’s PlayStation blog, Farrer explained some of the thinking behind the map: “Each map is quite different in style and had different inspirations. The look of the Sony-exclusive map ‘Synethesia’ (that will be released separately and for free tomorrow, January 29th) was actually inspired by balloons of all things. However, we did decide to settle on an overriding theme — If Faith was having a dream, what would she be dreaming about? As it turns out, she apparently dreams about enormous abstract sculptures floating above an endless sea!”

Head over to the PlayStation blog for the rest of the discussion and a video.

EA has announced that downloadable content for Mirror’s Edge for the PS3, Xbox 360 and PC will be available in late January.

In addition EA revealed that PS3 gamers can look forward to exclusive DLC for the first person action adventure title. EA also confirmed that the PC version of the game will be available across North America on the 13th of January and worldwide on the 16th of January.

Time Trial is a popular mode in the game that sees players attempting to find the fastest route across different maps. Players can share their best time on the leaderboards or even compete against a friend’s ghost run.

Developer DICE will release Time Trial Maps in late January. The Time Trial Map will challenge players to “achieve the fastest times possible on nine races across seven all new and totally redesigned Time Trial maps.” The DLC promises to be challenging with “no guns, no cops, and no city: this is true aesthetics, agility and flow that will challenge any runner.”

The Time Trial Maps will cost $10 or 800 Microsoft points. PS3 owners will also be able to download an additional map for free. Head over to SCEA’s PlayStation Blog for a video.

“The freedom of movement and control in first person has been the most popular aspect of Mirror’s Edge so we decided to distil these down to their purest form for this map pack,” says Owen O’Brien, Senior Producer, DICE. “We deliberately chose a more abstract aesthetic that is still within our distinctive art style and then focused on flow and gameplay to create an experience and challenge very different from the main game.”

Need some more convincing to look into Mirror’s Edge, the parkour-inspired first-person running game from EA and DICE? Look no further than the launch trailer below, featuring the iconic coloured environments and some stylish running and jumping!

It was also recently announced that Mirror’s Edge has gone gold… which you would think is necessary for the imminent release on November 11th in the US and November 14th in the UK and Europe. It will be available on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, with no news on the PC version.

While they may seem like a disparate bunch, all aiming to add something new to their respective genres, Wii Music, Prince of Persia and Mirror’s Edge all have something in common… they all have confirmed release dates! To a fashion…

North American gamers can expect to get their hands on Wii Music, Nintendo’s latest attempt to infiltrate your home, on the 20th of October. No other release date has been announced, but Europeans should expect to be able to play music with their Wiimote and Nunchuck not long after.

Ubisoft’s next entry into the Prince of Persia franchise, aptly named Prince of Persia, can be expected on the 5th of December in the UK, while Europe gets it the day before. This time, no specific US release date has been confirmed, but it will probably be sometime before if not on the same day, releasing on the PC, Xbox 360 and PS3.

Lastly, DICE’s new first-person runner (FPR?), Mirror’s Edge, has been given a November 11th release date for the US, while the UK and Europe will be running, jumping and sliding through a multi-coloured city on November 14th, available on Xbox 360 and PS3, with a PC release scheduled a little after the consoles. This is all adding up to a full calender…

EA and DC Comics’ WildStorm imprint are teaming up to create a Mirror’s Edge comic book.

The comic book will be based on the upcoming Mirror’s Edge video game and will serve as a prequel. The comic book will be penned by writer and story designer Rhianna Pratchett, who was also in charge of the game’s script, and features the art of Matthew Don Smith.

The comic book series will consist of six parts and will introduce Faith and her ‘Runners,’ acrobatic couriers who deliver packages undetected using networks of rooftops and aerial skyways. The first issue will be available at the Comic-Con International convention in San Diego this week.

Mirror’s Edge is currently in development at Stockholm-based EA DICE for the PS3 and Xbox 360. This first-person shooter action-adventure game is expected to be released this winter.

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