Sony sparking Trash Panic for PS3

In the real world, it might be considered foolhardy to cram 12 gallons of trash into a 10-gallon bag, but that's just the sort of waste-management plan Sony is advocating with its upcoming PlayStation 3 puzzler, Trash Panic. The North American and European branches of Sony Computer Entertainment confirmed today that Trash Panic would be arriving in both territories this spring.

Previously announced in Japan as Gomibako, Trash Panic calls on players to use a combination of spatial reasoning skills and power-ups to fill up a junkyard crate with as much trash as possible. Beyond shuffling and twisting trash around to fit better, players will be able to smash objects into much more manageable debris by dropping them from heights or crushing them underneath heavier items. Additionally, biodegradable refuse can be paired together for quicker rotting, and a flaming sword power-up will help incinerate particularly pesky items.

SCEA announced the Trash Panic news in conjunction with a charitable Earth Day promotion. On Earth Day (Wednesday, April 22), Sony will donate $1 to the Conservation International charity for each of the first 10,000 paid PlayStation Network downloads of movies and TV shows.

For more on Trash Panic, check out GameSpot's hands-on impressions of the game from the 2008 Tokyo Game Show.