First and foremost, I know that topic already has a few threads about it, but I have to create my own to fully express my anger, and disgust.
Having Dish Network, I recorded G4 tv's E3 '08 live. Having just recently gone back to watch it, I see the demo for Mirrors Edge. Initialy I was excited to hear about the video game that was based off of Parkour/Freerunning, however... As soon as they gave a close up of the demo I was utterly disgusted.
The first thing that I noticed that should have given me an indicator the whole thing was horribly wrong, was the fact that anytime they mentioned Parkour or freerunning, which they rarely did anyways, that they would use the terms interchangabley, completley so. Normally not a major mistake, easy to correct someone on, but it didn't stop there. Not by a long shot.
Secondly: Within the first few seconds of the demo it became painfully clear that this was a game and just that. It is NOT A Freerunning/Parkour simulator. Instead it is basically a game where you run around, jump buildings, run away from and sometimes fight the police.
Which brings me to the most disgusting observation about this demo. Within 5 minutes, it displayed EVERYTHING that you shouldn't do as Traceur or Freerunner. Jumping in-between buildings, busting in doors, running from the police, and, if it wasn't bad enough, fighting the police.
What really disgusted me was the fact that even though this is SUPPOSED to be a Freerunning sim, that there was no Freerunning or Parkour involved. Instead, she simply climbs up onto things, runs, jumps, and every now and again, when you push the six axis controller forward, she rolls. All of this can be found in standard platformers. Furthermore until I am proven wrong, I will make the statement that they are simply using the names of serious physical disciplines which are fairly widely known to promote a game that is at its heart the standard platformer.
