The live action Dead Space movie still exists and will happen, its director has insisted.

"We're working on the story," director D.J. Caruso (I Am Number Four, Disturbia) told AreaGames (via Joystiq).

"We had one attempt of trying to do a prequel, but the story didn't quite work out as well as we wanted it to. But if we can capture how - I don't want to say, I guess, how scary or horrifying it would be to play that game because it's really, really fantastic - it'd be fun to make that into a movie."

The Dead Space movie is a collaboration between EA and Twilight producers Marty Bowen and Wyck Godfrey.

In January Dead Space developer Visceral Games insisted the live action movie will not be "just a cheap cash-in", but "something really worthwhile".

A number of animated films, books and comics are already available, extending the Dead Space universe beyond the games.

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Sales of Dead Space 2 have been double those of the original, but it won't be until the release of Dead Space 3 that the series will really take off, EA said.

Guess that means Dead Space 3 will probably happen, then.

Speaking during the Goldman Sachs Technology and Internet Conference, CEO John Riccitiello said: "Right now we've got strong, growing franchises including Madden, FIFA, Need for Speed, Medal of Honor and Battlefield.

And "Mass Effect, Dragon Age and the one that's sort of not proven that's coming later in our fiscal year, Star Wars [The Old Republic]".

"That excludes Dead Space because I think it will probably take Dead Space 3 before we get into that five million unit cadence versus say three, four."

He added: "It's the best IP portfolio in the industry and the history of our company."

Visceral's Dead Space 2 launched last month to critical and commercial success. EA chief operating office John Schappert said Dead Space 2 was outpacing sales of its predecessor by a factor of two to one.

Following comments from EA exec Frank Gibeau last year that the original game "didn't hit expectations" at retail there was a sense that this was Visceral's last chance to get the franchise to stick.

Developer Visceral, however, is sure to answer the call should it come. Last year executive producer Steve Papoutsis told Eurogamer he hoped Dead Space 2 would be successful enough for EA to ask for a third game.

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Mirror's Edge, EA's 2008 parkour-flavoured FPS, "fell short" of the publisher's expectations.

EA Games boss Frank Gibeau told Develop, "First-person parkour across buildings is fun, but to be blunt, Mirror's Edge's' execution fell short."

"What I learned from Mirror's Edge is that you have to execute, you have to spend more time on a game to ensure it's polished, and you need to have the depth and persistence of an online game," he explained.

"There were issues with the learning curve, the difficulty, the narrative, and then there was no multiplayer either."

"The key learning from us was that if you're going to be bold with that kind of concept, you need to take it as far as it can go in development."

We'd say Gibeau needs to easy up on the DICE-developed title. Sure, it wasn't perfect, but it was certainly one of the more interesting new IPs of the last few years.

Eurogamer's Christian Donlan gave it 8/10, saying, "For those who can shrug off the contradictions and the limitations, ignore the tearing cityscape and lingering qualms about value for money, this will shove you so deeply into the experience of being in someone else's body, and taking it on a terrifying, breakneck joyride, that nothing else will matter."

Gibeau didn't stop at Mirror's Edge though – Visceral Games' largely excellent Dead Space also came in for a bit of a pasting.

"It made money for us, but didn't hit expectations. We felt like we had an IP that struck a chord, and one that hit quality, but again it missed multiplayer modes.

"So when we re-worked Dead Space [for the upcoming sequel], we looked at how to make it a better idea, how do we make the story more engrossing, how do we build Isaac as a character, how do we make this game a success online."

Dead Space 2 is out on 25th January on PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, but what of a Mirror's Edge sequel? "One thing I will say is that we won't give up on those IPs," promised Gibeau. "A new idea obviously has a lot of risk attached to it, but if you get it all right it can be huge."

A new Dead Space game for the iPad will launch in December, EA has revealed.

The publisher announced the game at a press event in Tokyo's Apple Store, according to TouchArcade.

The game will bridge the story gap between the first two Dead Space titles and feature motion-based dismemberment, letting you lop of necromorph limbs with the swipe of a finger.

A slideshow presentation at the event promised, "Third person shooter - no rails, no mode switching."

The slide made no mention of an iPhone version.

Hopefully the game will fare better than EA's other recent spin-off, Dead Space Ignition. Eurogamer's Chris Schilling deemed the PlayStation Network and Xbox Live Arcade download only worthy of 3/10.

EA also showed off a number of other games in the works for Apple's device at the event, including Reckless Racing, Monopoly, NBA Elite 11, EA Sports Active and Pictureka!

EA's mobile division has been very busy of late. It recently unveiled its first slate of titles for Microsoft's new Windows Phone 7 OS, including versions of Need For Speed: Underground, Tetris and The Sims 3.

Dead Space 2 launches on PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 on 25th January 2010.,

Development on a sequel to Dante's Inferno is not underway, developer Visceral Games has revealed, and there are no immediate plans to get started.

Joystiq asked Visceral's Zach Mumbach whether we'd be seeing adaptations of the remaining sections of Dante's Divine Comedy.

"I'm sure that if enough people are like, 'I got 60 dollars for Purgatory or Paradiso,' then we would make that game. But I don't know. I don't get to make those decisions."

Visceral's God of War competitor sliced its way onto PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 last year. Eurogamer's Ellie Gibson was relatively unimpressed, awarding it 6/10.

Mumbach went on to reveal that the studio was under no pressure from publisher EA to release annual Dead Space titles.

"I think they do a real good job. I've never felt like, 'We should be doing this, but EA is making us do that.' Especially since JR's [CEO John Riccitiello] come on board . JR's like 'Make good games. I need good games, give me good games.'"

Dead Space 2 arrives on PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 on 25th January 2011. A downloadable 'midquel', Dead Space Ignition, is available on PlayStation Network and Xbox Live Arcade tomorrow.