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New Project in the works; Edge (TM) The Game
News posted 8th June, 2009 by Rob Rule  
Those of you who follow the indie gaming scene will perhaps have read about the controversial case of Tim Langdell and his various trademarks, specifically the word 'edge'. His claim to this common word saw Mobigame's indie Apple App Store hit game Edge pulled from the service.

After initial outcry across many gaming communities, TIGsource's memberbase responded by running a developing competition to create a game with the word 'Edge' featuring prominently in the title, with Mr Langdell himself in a starring role. The project page linked to below is our very own Johnny Look's (who's helping to organise the compo) entry for this 'spread the word' competition.



Click here to visit the project page for Edge The Game




Posted by Rob Rule 8th June, 2009

The compo thread in question:
http://forums.tigsource.com/index.php?topic=6580.0

And the story itself:
http://tigsource.com/articles/2009/05/29/tim-langdell-the-edge-of-insanity
 
Posted by Dr. James MD 8th June, 2009

Tigsource isn't loading up for me, is there a quick tl;dr summary?
 
Posted by Rob Rule 8th June, 2009

Well... I could write a quick one out if you'd like, but I'm afraid it'd all be a hilarious lie.

(TIG's being really slow for me too.)
 
Posted by OMC 8th June, 2009

Pardon me, that was a rude comment.
Comment edited by OldManClayton on 6/8/2009
 
Posted by Johnny Look 8th June, 2009

Thanks a lot for the mention of both the game and the compo, it will surely help spread the word about the story.

btw here's the story told in a few sentences:

"In short, some asshole called Tim Langdell threatened and tried to extort money from indie game developers Mobigame,as their game Edge supposedly infringe his trademark The Edge. The whole thing grew to epic proportions and thanks to some people's investigations, it was found that the man's company tried to tie itself to some reputable entities like the Edge Magazine, a hollywood movie and much more thanks to it's trademark "The Edge". Also shocking is that the guy is member of the IGDA, and guess what, they are trying to stay away from the whole thing, even if IGDA's reputation is at stake (and seriously threatened imo)."


Also worth mentioning is the fact his company used to be located in London, but they ran away to the us to escape a UK court verdict after not having paid several programmers working for them.

Comment edited by Johnny Look on 6/8/2009
 
Posted by OMC 8th June, 2009

I incidentally just saw a gameplay trailer for that game. It looked fun and should have stayed on the market.
 
Posted by MrPineapple 8th June, 2009

christ on a bike thats on fire a bit! i just read through that entire page of comments! it doesnt do many favours for my lacklustre faith in man kind.
 
Posted by Dr. James MD 8th June, 2009

Well it decided to load up after a shower and some OSX updates.

But what I find funniest is that one of the big indie people, and apparently respected too, tried to get me to credit him because his (quietly released) games name or concept or something was similar to something me and a friend made one afternoon. Even though his game was actually vastly different.

In summary people suck.
 
Posted by Johnny Look 8th June, 2009

yup definitevly.
 
Posted by OMC 8th June, 2009

People do tend to "suck," but I can almost see treading on people's toes accidentally because you're afraid your ideas and chance in the industry will be squashed/stolen in one moment. I don't necessarily agree with it, but I understand it. (Not referring to Mr. Langdell, his case is downright ludicrous)
 
Posted by lembi2001 9th June, 2009

I have created a petition demanding that this douchebag resign from the IGDA. Please sign it and pass it on to all Indie Developers:

http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/getlangdellout

we need as many "signatures" as possible.
 
Posted by Rob Rule 9th June, 2009

Are there many examples of online petitions being effective? There are a lot out there but I don't recall any cases where they were particularly successful. I've probably just missed the news.
 
Posted by lembi2001 9th June, 2009

Not sure if they work or not but where is the harm in trying??? can someone pass this on to those at tigsource??
 
Posted by Johnny Look 9th June, 2009

omc: true that

lembi: signed, and I'll post this at tigsource.
 
Posted by Muz 9th June, 2009

Online petitions may not be effective, but I've seen a lot of angry online mobs have an effect. Heh, I've seen this kind of thing happen too much to not want to get involved.
 
Posted by SoftWarewolf 9th June, 2009

seems the source of the problem here is the legal system who allows someone copyright on a damn 4 letter dictionary word.. why not just petition to terminate the copyright?
 
Posted by W3R3W00F 9th June, 2009

I'd sign the petition, but I really don't want just anybody knowing my email.
 
Posted by Dr. James MD 9th June, 2009

I'd fight but my political powers are being absorbed by my attempts to bring down the BNP.
 
Posted by OMC 9th June, 2009

W3R3W00F, that's what spam accounts are for.
 
Posted by MrPineapple 9th June, 2009

so it was you who threw those eggs then james?
 
Posted by W3R3W00F 9th June, 2009

OMC, not my thing.
 
Posted by OMC 10th June, 2009

O_o What's not? Having a separate email address for using when you are unsure of the legitimacy of a website? The petition signature would still be from you.
 
Posted by Ski 10th June, 2009

Reminds me of a Tofu Kubrick

http://funkyzilla.co.uk/acatalog/Tofu-series-7_hr.jpg
 
Posted by lembi2001 10th June, 2009

Just a quick update. the petition is now at 116 signatures!! Werewoof, just type any email address in at all. and untick the keep me informed.... box. i haven't received anything from them and i set the petition up
 
Posted by Johnny Look 10th June, 2009

I posted your petition over tigs and derek posted a new article about this whole langdell and edge thing and he included a link to your petition.
 
Posted by W3R3W00F 19th June, 2009

Just signed! I'm the 400th to sign the petition!
 


 
Author Info

Rob Rule
Rusten Crating

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