Tim Langdell: The EDGE of Insanity?

By: Derek Yu

On: May 29th, 2009

Mobigame’s award-winning iPhone game Edge has been removed from the App Store, pending a legal battle with Tim Langdell (pictured at right) over the trademark “Edge.” What’s troubling is that, according to a GameSetWatch article by Simon Carless, Langdell, who founded and owns the company Edge Games, has had a history of using his trademark to cause creators grief and to link himself with various high-profile media projects, including, but not limited to, games.

â€œWe have legal issues with a man named Tim Langdell,â€ says Mobigameâ€™s David Papazian. â€œIf you already asked why Soul Edge (the Namco game) was called Soul Blade and later Soulcalibur in the US, you have your answer.â€ (via Fingergaming)

If you look on Tim’s Wikipedia page, you’ll notice that he is associated with Edge Magazine, a Malibu Comics character named Edge, and also the movie The Edge, starring Anthony Hopkins and Alec Baldwin. What Tim actually did on any of these projects is questionable, but my guess would be that it’s about as much work as he will do for Edge, the iPhone game, once all the dust settles. Namely, he threatened to sue the living fuck out of anyone in his path (mind you, this is conjecture).

Anonymous Ninja

You may also notice that the Wikipedia entry is oddly detailed and poorly cited for a man who no one has really given a shit about until now… it’s also under a neutrality dispute. And no wonder – the entire page is almost single-handedly the creation of user Cheridavis, who, very coincidentally, shares the name of Tim’s wife, Cheri Davis Langdell. When pressed on the issue of neutrality, Cheridavis wrote: “You are mistaken. I am writing a book on founding members of the game industry and noticed that Tim Langdell was one of the only people missing from Wikipedia. The article I created is based on my research, not on being Tim Langdell or knowing him personally.” That would be Tim Langdell, the husband of Cheri Davis Langdell, the founder of the game industry, the producer of such notable titles as Fairlight and Snoopy: The Case of the Missing Blanket, and the man who participated in these three roundtables at GDC this year:

– Who Controls a Game’s IP and Who Reaps the Financial Benefit?

– How to Design Your Game So That its IP is More Valuable to Hollywood

– How to Sell Your IP to Hollywood (Without Selling Your Soul)

If you’re wondering where Simon’s article for GSW went, it is, for whatever reason (heh), not available anymore. Unless you go to NeoGAF or any of the other places the article has been reposted. And if, after reading this, you’re wondering, like I was, about Mirror’s Edge, you’ll be happy to note that Mr. Langdell’s EDGE Games is currently working on a new game called “Mirrors a game from Edge,” which I’m sure will not conflict in any way with the popular parkour-inspired FPS.

Jokes aside, the most frightening thing about this entire debacle is not how greedy and disingenuous human beings can be (you should be used to it by now), but that Mr. Greedyguts himself is a board member on the IGDA, a non-profit organization created to empower game developers and advocate on their behalf. Which is, in this author’s distinct opinion and should in no way be construed as a fact, somewhat like having Joseph Mengele on the board of the Red Cross. It’s absolutely fucking ridiculous and brings the credibility of the organization to serious question. How does this happen and what are they going to do about it?

Thanks to mklee for pointing this out, via TIGForums. Thanks to John Nesky for pointing out the GDC roundtables.

Update: The IGDA has responded, and so has Tom Buscaglia, the “Game Attorney” (and also an IGDA board member).

Update 2: The follow-up to this article can be found here.

Posted in Business, Community, Developers | Tags: Edge, EdgeGames, Mobigame, TimLangdell

Lurk

The community is not reacting to the legality of the matter, its reacting to the human side of it. That is, a well established, wealthy veteran of the industry gunning down an emerging independent developer. It’s his legal right I guess, but it’s just disgusting.
Greg

What “Not me guv” said.

This issue, alone, could be seen as someone being maybe a bit heavy handed in enforcing and defending their trademark.

However, the thing that really gets people burning up is that when you look at Tim’s website, when you look at the poor quality (did you see Galactic Edge Spacelines, Tom) of his work, and in fact, the sheer lack of any documented work what-so-ever, combined with his history of being extremely touchy and deceptive with regards to his “Edge” trademark, not to mention the Wikipedia editing done by wife Cheri Davis Langdell, glorifying his achievements in the gaming community.

I could understand if Tim was actively using his trademark, if Edge was actually pumping out quality games and merchandise. The single game they have an advertisement was supposed to come out in 2004, and it doesn’t even have more than 10 screenshots that I managed to dig up, and they look like modified Diablo II screens!

Look at it from a consumer standpoint Tom. On one hand, you have Mobi, who have created an original, well recieved iPhone/iTouch game that stood out from the drivel that invades the App Store, and on the other, you have Tim L and Edge, enforcing a trademark that, by all views from the consumer’s eye, may just as well not exist.

Gamers are a fickle crowd, if a company doesn’t release SOMETHING of note, we think “What’s the point of this company existing?”. Edge may have been the proverbial shit back in the early 90’s, but this is almost 2010, and that kind of stuff doesn’t fly in this day and age.

Gamers want games, not litigation.
The Doctor

Who the hell is Tim Langdell? Seriously. Who the hell is Tim Langdell?

Am I supposed to know who this guy is because right now it looks like he’s just another has-been who’s using the (worthless) American legal system to make the money his games fail to.

I tried to look at his website but the early ’90’s site design coupled with unnecessary use of flash kind of makes it impossible to actually figure out what’s the big deal.

Okay. After looking a little harder it looks like he designed six hundred computer games including Wizardry and some other stuff that moved by too fast on the flash intro and mobygames says h did something with God of War.

I’m still puzzled about who this guy is though.
O

This isn’t a matter of the legal system failing so much as people confusing the rightful care they should take with copyright with the much more common-sense trademark law, and one huge cunt who takes advantage of that.
Derek

I just wanted to point out a mistake I made in my post. The three “lectures” that Tim Langdell gave were actually roundtables. Thanks to Chris Hecker for pointing this out, and apologies for the confusion.
Greg

Yes, on his website it says that he is recognized as one of the top 5 leading industry experts on game design.

Miyamoto
Kojima
Molyneux
Wright
Meier

Yeah no.
http://shinji16.110mb.com Shinji16

Hm, my second comment didn’t post.

Just wanted to say I rawkfist at the idea of an EDGE competition. Bonus points if it’s surreal text-adventure games only. Cuz that’d be edgy. Or some other lousy pun on this whole debacle.
Paul Eres

that top 5 list gives me an idea for a fighting game — a fighting game of famous game designers! it’d also include some indies, like cactus and increpare. they’d battle it out sf2 style.
Paul Eres

oh, and langdell etc. would be the joke characters / dan hibiki’s
Not me guv, honest.

Greg, in fairness, it doesn’t say who he’s recognised by! It could be his mum for all its worth.

The Edge had a couple of pretty neat breakout hits in the UK during the Eighties. Compared to the powerhouses like US Gold, Codemasters, Ultimate/RARE and Ocean – heck, even Mastertronic, they were mere blips in the grand pantheon of gaming. That’s of course, before we start accounting for international stuff too.

Naturally, I’d hope folks would remember the talent behind the games over the publishing house regardless. Mr Jangeborg, Mr Glaister et al.

The ironic thing is that as Softek, Mr Langdell was more than happy to indulge in fairly blatant riffs on other folks IP with the games he published. Fair do’s it was the eighties and pretty much de rigour at the time, but still…
Eric

I think I might’ve actually voted for this guy. I read his IGDA bio, believing they were fact checked by IGDA. Well, my mistake.

I won’t be renewing my IGDA membership. There’s so many problems, which can’t be easily fixed when the org is being used as a footstool for businessmen and fake developers.
shinygerbil

@Paul Eres: Don’t underestimate the power of the Dan. In the right hands he is perfectly capable. :D
http://www.dyson-game.com Alex May

I know tons of people who won’t be renewing IGDA membership after this and that other dickhead Mike Capps. Fuck the IGDA, honestly.

And Tom Buscaglia should be ashamed backing this guy up after he’s gone after so many indies. Fuck you Tom, offering to help out indies in the IGF – now you’ve shown your true colours. Indies stick together.
O

Yeah, I was disappointed to read Buscaglia’s blog post, which starts off with something like “Langdell’s older than you so shut the fuck up”.

Mengele was a qualified physician long before I was old enough to masturbate — apparently Tom’s benchmark for whether someone deserves my respect.
Paul Eres

Yeah, Tom B’s “So, although no one is more committed to independent developers than I am” was hilarious.

I understand that if you don’t protect a trademark it can be used against you — the way the law works, if you aren’t actively protecting your trademark, anyone can use that as a legal excuse to use it. However, calling a game edge when another game company that hasn’t published a game in decades is also named edge isn’t trademark infringement, especially when it’s such a common word. it’d be like introversion suing someone for calling a game “introversion” (perhaps a social sim a la kudos?).
chutup

Thanks for your response, Tom Buscaglia, but it’s kind of obvious that you just copied and pasted it from your blog. It’s heartwarming to see that you respect Tigsource enough to remove section that refers to Langdell as “someone who has been making games since before you old enough to choke your chicken”.
Tyrone

“Alex May said: I think Iâ€™ll not be checking out that IGF Finalist Kit you emailed me Tom. Thanks anyway.”

I’m going to have to agree with you Alex.
O

Paul Eres: Bad example. Introversion’s case would be massively stronger. It took me a moment to remember that introversion means something besides Introversion, such is the strength of their brand.

Ultimately, the purpose of trademark protection is to prevent consumers by preventing brand confusion.
Introversion has a legitimate and active brand to protect, all-caps Edge does not. There’s no chance of me buying Edge because I thought it was EDGE because EDGE doesn’t have any products that aren’t fucking imaginary.
O

Oops, I meant “protect” consumers. “Preventing consumers” is this Langdell fuckhead’s game.
http://shinji16.110mb.com Shinji16

@Tom B – tl;dr at the bottom if you’re in a hurry.

Hi! Common sense here, thought I’d check in and say a few words.

When you’re trying to name your brand or company a single, very common word, obviously mix ups or accidental associations can happen.

So, let’s say your company is Focus, with that word being the core mentality of your company’s mindset, etc… and a game comes out called Focus. The company making the game Focus is clearing showing it’s from their group, and in no way is showing similarity to yours. No similar fonts, logos, music, style…

Would the best course of action to be to jump right to litigation? Or maybe an email, or less hostile form of communications be a better route first?

The fact that Langdell jumped straight to sue or using legal force (I’ve yet to find any evidence contrary) is what is making him the villain here. I agree he can defend his company’s trademark name, I’m very closely involved with the Bemani game community, and familiar with Konami’s legal team going after smaller music game spin offs, but the manner in which you defend your property is key. Tim’s history of “sue sue sue!” isn’t helping his image, nor his case in trying to keep whatever good standing he has left.

tl;dr
Langdell is going about this very poorly, and the fact you can’t see that and acknowledge it is… just baffling to me.

tl;dr part 2
Tim is being a lawyer happy douchebag, and you agreeing with him stating you’re “The Game Attorney” isn’t helping, and only damning the IDGA by proxy. Way to go!
http://www.dyson-game.com Alex May

Yep – bad reps being fed here all round I think.
Paul Eres

I think introversion’s case may be stronger, but I don’t think it’d be sufficiently legally strong to win. Introversion is a common word. But you’re right that the example isn’t perfect.

How about a game called “Steam”? Or a game called “Blizzard”? Or a game called “Id”? Or a game called “Rare”? Or a game called “Square”? I think those would be confusing, but they’re common enough words that I don’t think any games with those names should be sued, especially if they were by indie developers.
avoidobject

The IGDA’s response is a complete red herring. What should be addressed is the credibility of the organization and how this guy completely contradicts what they stand for. Instead they decide to selectively talk about the game having to change its name and saying we’re all lunatics for even thinking they can do something about it, when we never even suggested that in the first place.
anddy

so, what would happen if all the IGDs left the IGDA?

Apparently it’s run by at least one, if not a few, people who don’t have the best interest in Independent Game Developers.

What strikes me is the response from IGDA, if that is how they see and react to this, then I’m more liable to group the rest of the board members in with Tim–which is a person who makes money off of games but does not actually contribute anything to (independent) games, and reminds me of the GDC IGF Mega64 video.
fucrate

Yeah! We could start the Independent Game Developer Association! Wait…
http://mile222.com aeiowu

Alex, you’re dead on.

Just because it’s within his legal rights doesn’t make it ethical. Have a fucking heart.

ps. Edge’s shitiness is directly correlated with the ferocity with which they go after these crumbs. They suck as a developer/business, so they resort to exploiting talented people by leveraging their only decent asset: a common word. By definition he is a bottomfeeder.
http://fingergaming.com/2009/05/28/update-edge-pulled-over-alledged-trademark-infringement/ cactus

â€œWe have the trademark EDGE in Europe (where the game is still available),â€ Papazian tells FingerGaming. â€œAnd we are trying to register it in the US.â€

This sounds pretty weird though. Wouldn’t that basically be forcing Langdell to take action if he wants to keep his trademark?
fucrate

Ooh, or we could call it the Entertainment Developers Group of Earth. Indie devs unite!
The Doctor

Why hasn’t Tim sued EA. Mirror’s Edge(!) is an OBVIOUS attempt by these nobodies to use his companies good name to their own benefit.

As Tom Buscaglia said:
“First, it is a totally punkassed remark about someone who has been making games since before you old enough to choke your chicken! Maybe you think that everyone in the industry over 40 should just walk out onto he ice flowsâ€¦I mean really. Totally cheap shot there Max! At least he has game credits. So perhaps you should back off on and snide remarks.”

You could take these guys on, Tim! They might look tough but it’s all beach muscles, so what if they’ve killed off more companies then you’ve ever worked for?
Joe

You’re all nutty in the head. You guys oughta be in the loony bin, not on the internet acting like you know a thing or two about making games. This site is a joke. You’re the same kinds of people who would rather have it so there are no such thing as copyright, or even laws for that matter. Anarchist nutbags. I bet you all pirate all your games too and try to justify it by saying it’s the right thing to do. What a bunch of kooks.

How about instead of trying to bring down a guy who has actually done something in his life (while you on the other hand just pretend to be game developers, and role play as that on this nutty website), you actually finish college or get a degree in something useful, hell even something related to game design for that matter? Bunch of basement nutbags coming on the internet acting like they’re big shot game developers. What a joke. You think you can make a difference in the IGDA? You think opinions from people who are completely nutty in the head have any weight on what the IGDA does? Seriously, get a clue and get a life, you schmucks.
Kobel

Super post, Joe. The terms ‘quaint’ and ‘troll’ so rarely intersect.
Joe

And by the way, I’ve known Tim for several years and I can’t think of anyone else I would rather have as a board member of the IGDA. That’s more than I can say about any of you guys, you no talent hacks who think making a thing or two in flash makes you a game developer. Give me a break.
ARelativelyHotGirl

Joe has wandered out of the retirement castle and isn’t sure where he is.
Joe

And by the way, I’ve known Tim for several years and I can’t think of anyone else I would rather have as a board member of the IGDA. That’s more than I can say about any of you guys, you no talent hacks who think making a thing or two in flash makes you a game developer. Give me a break.
fucrate

I actually am a no talent hack who’s only made a couple things in flash. That cuts deep Joe, that cuts deep…
KingRabbit

Hey Joe Mangas, aka Mopius, aka Cheri Davis, aka Tim Langdell is here, what a chance!
Tyrone

Joe said 3 days later:

And by the way, Iâ€™ve known Tim for several years and I canâ€™t think of anyone else I would rather have as a board member of the IGDA. Thatâ€™s more than I can say about any of you guys, you no talent hacks who think making a thing or two in flash makes you a game developer. Give me a break.

Actually, Joe/Tim/Whoeveryouare: I’ve been in the game industry for over 15 years, but I don’t go lording it around. I’m working on Cave Story and Night Game for WiiWare at the moment. What are YOU doing?
http://b-mcc.com// BMcC

Don’t worry about Joe, Tyrone — all his posts are from different IPs, not to mention probably a joke.
http://mile222.com aeiowu

Joe, what you said to fucrate was out of line. I work with him. Please take it back.

He just left the office shouting “Fuck this world! I don’t belong!” I think he’s on the roof. Joe. Please. I’m begging you. You can save a life, just apologize!
avoidobject

Wow, the IGDA are a bunch of douchebags.
Not Me, Honest Guv

And so, the world passed Joe by.

Things changed. The shape of gaming evolved. And there he was, stuck watching the world going by as the revolution happened without him.

Bless. Look at him, all shouting at the world. Calling other people crazy.

Aww, it’d be sweet if it wasn’t the actions of a total tool.
avoidobject

fucrate no need to repeat yourself, i think the IGDA and their supporters can read your first post just fine
Joe

You think I’d give away my real IP to a bunch of lunatic nutjobs like you? I don’t even use my real IP while editing Wikipedia, why should I use it here?

Not to mention, some of you are threatening my good friend Tim Langdell here with violence, saying things like you want to kill him a chainsaw. Yeah, that’s real classy. I’m glad you’re logging IPs, you’re going to need them when the FBI is looking for you crazed loonies.
avoidobject

Wikipedia? Who said anything about Wikipedia?
fucrate

Hehe, good one Joe. You should start a blog, it’ll be a laugh riot. Call it “Old man shouting at kids to get off his internet.” You could have an old lawn chair as the logo. It should have red and white stripes.
avoidobject

Joe, more like Tim, am I right?
fucrate

High five.
http://shinji16.110mb.com Shinji16

1) Don’t reply to Joe. You’re just feeding the troll.
2) Get back on topic.

What can we do, realistically, as a group of upset people on the net, some with industry cred, some with out, etc… to try and take action against all this BS?
Joe

“some with industry cred”

Ha ha ha, yeah right. Keep dreaming kid.

As far as what you can do? You and bitch and moan and demand the IGDA to do things that are just simply nutty and give us all something to laugh about. You guys are completely out of your mind and out of your league. Keep fantasizing about things that will never happen. I’m sure you’ll change a lot of things that way.
fucrate

What we can do is the same thing we can always do, tell the industry groups to collectively fuck themselves pray that this shit doesn’t happen to us.

The bottom line is the US civil court is royally fucked, the only way to win is to have more money than the other guy, which is why EA put out Mirrors Edge without a problem. EA has more money than Tim L.

We will never win these cases if they go to court and the system isn’t gonna change any time soon. Mobigames should just change the name of the game and be done with it, which totally sucks if they’ve already sold a lot of copies.

We could try to form an advocacy group like the IGDA, only less useless, but the bottom line is money. I almost have enough cash to cover rent, I could probably chip in $10-20. Is that gonna be enough to win some court cases?