Tim Langdell and EDGE: Part Two

By: Derek Yu

On: June 9th, 2009

Tim Langdell

Now that Classics Week and E3 are over, I’d like to come back to Tim Langdell for a moment, because I personally consider it to be not only a fascinating topic, but also an important one that raises a lot of issues important to the community, including intellectual property and the role of the IGDA. A lot has come up since my last post, and unfortunately, it’s spread relatively thinly across a number of interesting discussions. I’m going to do my best to summarize and provide links to source material so that people can have a better understanding of what’s going on. I make no pretensions about my personal feelings on the matter, but please consider that anything that I say for which I do not explicitly provide a source are my own opinions. I will try to make it as clear as possible when they are.

Also, apologies to the readers who come here looking for news on new games to play and are uninterested in this story. There will be some very soon, and I’ll hide the rest of the post under a jump so that you can easily and quickly move on.

A Quick Recap:

Edge

1. Fingergaming posts an article revealing that the popular, award-winning iPhone game Edge has been removed due to a legal issue with Langdell. Mobigame’s David Papazian suggests that Langdell was also responsible for Namco’s Soul Edge being renamed to Soul Blade and then Soul Calibur in the United States. (Source)

2. Simon Carless posts an article on GameSetWatch in which he suggests that Langdell has a habit of engaging in lawsuits over his trademark on the word “Edge.” Carless also notes that Langdell’s Wikipedia entry, which is oddly detailed, has been mostly edited by a single user, Cheridavis, who may or may not be Cheri Langdell, Tim’s wife. Cheridavis had denied being related to Langdell, and had insisted that she (he?) was writing an unnamed book on the game industry and was posting information she discovered through her research of the book. Carless mentions at the end of his article that because of Langdell’s history of trademark abuse it’s unfortunate that he has recently been accepted to the board of directors for the IGDA.

3. Simon’s article is removed, for unknown reasons, but has been quoted on various other websites and forums. (Source)

4. Thanks to a tip from mklee, I read Simon’s article, follow his links, and decide to make a post about it myself here on TIGSource.

5. Langdell’s Wikipedia page is cleaned up and is now under neutrality and notability disputes.

6. Both the IGDA and the “Game Attorney,” Tom Buscaglia, respond, with Tom responding on his own behalf. The IGDA claims that it cannot take any action with Langdell regarding the legal dispute. Buscaglia calls Simon’s article a “hatchet job” and implies that Carless has reason to take down Langdell because of a rivalry between Game Developer Magazine and Edge Magazine. He suggests that, in order to keep his trademark, Langdell must actively protect it by pursuing legal action against Mobigame.

(Note: Buscaglia has since apologized for his “snide” remarks about Carless and insists that his implication of a rivalry was intended as a joke. He has also edited his post to remove the latter. In this author’s opinion, there was no indication of a joke in the original post.)

Tim Langdell and David Papazian Speak

Gamasutra

Probably the most important thing that has happened the past week is that Langdell and Papazian have both spoken up regarding the controversy, in the comments section of Stephen Jacobs’s Gamasutra blog. Jacobs has been involved with the IGDA for at least 4 years and once worked with Langdell to try and establish an organization for game educators and researchers.

It’s probably best if you read the entire discussion, starting with Jacobs’s article. But here are the basic claims by both sides:

1. Langdell claims that EDGE Games informed Apple of the trademark violation, whereupon Apple sent a standardized notice to Mobigame. At that point, Langdell claims that Mobigame pulled the app voluntarily.

2. Langdell claims that it is, in fact, Mobigame that is bullying EDGE Games over the trademark. He also asserts that Mobigame started the “flame war” with the intention of causing him embarrassment.

3. Langdell claims that he has never sued anyone over EDGE trademarks, or ever started any litigation over the trademarks. Furthermore, he claims that “EDGE has never engaged in anything other than entirely legitimate practices to protect its trademarks.”

4. Langdell asserts that he has personally produced all of the several hundred games EDGE Games has developed or produced since 1979, and that every other statement he has made regarding his own accomplishments are entirely true.

(Note: Langdell, even when asked directly, has seemingly made no attempt to verify any of this, or even provide a simple list of games he has produced. Update: But if you go to the EDGE Games website and click “Videogames” at the top, you can see a list.)

5. Papazian responds to Langdell by saying that he has not made any comments regarding the dispute since the Fingergaming article and has no prior connection to either Simon Carless or Owen Good (who penned a Kotaku article about Langdell). He regards Langdell’s accusation that Mobigame is trying to cause Langdell embarrassment as a lie.

6. Papazian corroborates Langdell’s claim that Edge was voluntarily pulled.

7. Papazian claims that Mobigame offered to change the name to “EDGY” whereupon Langdell refused the offer and proceeded to register the trademark “EDGY”. Papazian also asserts that Langdell holds the trademarks “MIRROR’S SPORE” and “SOUL SPORE,” suggesting a connection to EA’s games Mirror’s Edge and Spore, and Namco’s Soul Edge.

(Note: Edge Games does indeed own those trademarks. You can look them up yourself here [EDGY] and here [MIRROR’S SPORE AND SOULSPORE].)

8. Papazian claims that Langdell has never given proof of his connection to Edge Magazine, or any proof that he has actively used the mark in recent years. He claims that the only person he has spoken to from EDGE Games has been Langdell.

On Langdell

Mirrors

Although I make no claims about the legality of anything that Langdell has done, it’s obvious to me that there is something very underhanded with the way that he operates. At best, he bends the truth. For one thing, there’s no reason not to believe what David Papazian has said, and, in fact, there is a lot of evidence to corroborate his claims (e.g. the trademarks Langdell has registered and the fact that there really is no evidence of Papazian or his colleagues commenting on the issue between the Fingergaming article and the Gamasutra blog post).

There are also many unproven, yet eyebrow-raising, reasons to be skeptical of what Langdell is saying. For one thing, there’s the whole dispute over his Wikipedia entry and whether he was personally involved. There’s also the “Mirrors a game from Edge” advertisement on the EDGE Games website, which seems purposefully misleading. In fact, if you use the Wayback Machine to look at previous incarnations of Langdell’s site, you’ll see that he’s pulled similar stunts throughout the years. My favorite is the EDGE Games jacket, which has a photo of a jacket with “EDGE Games” written on it in a red font. (Thanks to raiten for pointing this out.)

Plus, as the story has been spread, more personal anecdotes from people who have worked with Langdell have popped up, and they are terrible. Read this, this, and this, if you’re interested. It’s gruesome stuff.

Is anyone defending Langdell? Aside from Buscaglia, there appears to be a single anonymous person calling themselves either “Joe” or “mopius” who claims to be friends with Tim and is posting gems such as this on various blogs and forums:

Not only is Tim an “indie” from the 80’s, but he’s the real deal. He’s not some punk who just made a game in some “Easy Instant Game Maker 2000 Pro Edition” in two minutes and decided to call himself a professional game developer. No, he has actual experience in the field and has more games (actual games, things sold at retail) credited to him than you’ve had hot dinners.

Because of the Wikipedia dispute, there is suspicion that “Joe” is Langdell himself, but this is unfounded.

Plus, this. Seriously.

To date, Langdell has tenuous associations with and/or has claimed creative ownership of the following brands:

1. Edge Magazine
2. Soul Edge
3. Edge (iPhone game)
4. Mirror’s Edge
5. Edge of Extinction (Cybernet Systems v. Edge Games)
6. Edge Computers
7. EdgeGamers (game community)
8. The Edge (movie)
9. Edge (Malibu Comics character)
10. Koala Lumpur: Journey to the Edge

But it’s not obvious (to me, anyway) what Tim Langdell has actually created, aside from trouble for the various people who have had the misfortune of dealing with him and his trademark during its 30-odd years of existence. My hope is that, by helping to bring out the story, real creators can avoid him (and others like him) in the future. I don’t believe Langdell is a smart man, because a lot of his stunts are poorly managed and straight-up bald-faced – the only way he can succeed is if people are not knowledgeable.

So know your legal rights! As far as I know, trademark strength is not dependent on who “calls it” first, but on how you use it. I would love to hear a lawyer (who is not Buscaglia) comment on this matter.

Regarding the IGDA

IGDA

The IGDA has taken the stance of “this is none of our business.” I disagree that it’s none of their business, and I strongly disapprove of their impotence regarding this issue. They are enabling people like Langdell when they should be helping to protect developers from them. Game developer/blogger Craig Stern sums up the situation very well. You can also see that the IGDA does have some rules regarding ethical behavior on the board and what they can do about it (scroll down).

You can sign a petition asking for Langdell to be expelled from the IGDA here.

Update: I’ve collected information regarding Tim Langdell and Edge Games here for easy reference.

  • http://www.glaielgames.com Glaiel Gamer

    I signed the petition, but looking at the comments I wish people would take the high road and act a little more mature about it, such as not saying “I wish I could take a shit above his head and watch my big warm fecal matter enter his mouth.”

  • http://www.stegersaurus.com/ Stegersaurus

    “and you thought it was over, you thought there was no more to say, but you were WRONG!”

    Tim Langdell is back in Langdell: The Edgier

    Tom’s original post definitely didn’t sound “in jest”. The one statement was a sarcastic jab not meant in the literal sense, but the tone of the article overall made his “joke” just sound angry.

    It’s silly for people at the Gamasutra article continue asking Langdell about his claims and for proof, because no matter what his response it’s clear that the community itself won’t accept it. They will either mark his statements as ambiguous or just false. Which, given his history seems understandable. It was probably a bad idea for him to respond to the thread to try and defend himself.

  • Jay

    I think the next tigsource game competition should be edge-themed. All games should have the word ‘edge’ in the title. It should help expose Langdell for his trademark abuse if he goes after a bunch of harmless enthusiasts who don’t plan on making money from their edge games anyway. And everyone should make sure to put their names in big bold letters on their title screens so everyone knows exactly where the game came from!

  • Captain Beefheart

    I wish I could take a shit above his head and watch my big warm fecal matter enter his mouth.

  • Craig Stern

    Thanks for the link, Derek. :)

  • psx

    Very informative post!

  • http://www.mile222.com aeiowu

    @Jay

    hit the forums! there’s already an EDGE compo going on.

    ps. nice post Derek, It’s really pretty obvious when it’s all laid out on the table so clear-cut like this. Also, to those who tl;dr, definitely check out Craig’s post on his gama blog (last link of Derek’s post).

  • http://www.stegersaurus.com/ Stegersaurus

    Jay, there is an unofficial compo going on if you check the stickies at the top of the compo forum.

    http://forums.tigsource.com/index.php?topic=6580.0

  • http://www.mile222.com aeiowu

    @Jay hit the forums! there’s already an EDGE compo going on.

    ps. nice post Derek, It’s really pretty obvious when it’s all laid out on the table so clear-cut like this. Also, to those who tl;dr, definitely check out Craig’s post on his gama blog (last link of Derek’s post).

  • http://www.oefun.com Ian Dunlop

    As much as the practices going on here sound dodgy I’m willing to give the guy the benefit of doubt here.

    However you did touch upon something that is, for me at least, a more interesting point – IGDA’s impotence.

    About a year ago, frustrated with the state of censhorship in the video games industry, I contacted IGDA (I was a member at that time) and tried my best to pressure them into to taking a stand on the issue – something that was at that time clearly listed in their charter.

    They seem unable to act on topics that should be extremely important to them.

    IGDA = Impotent.

    I like that.

  • http://www.mile222.com aeiowu

    @Jay hit the forums! there’s already an EDGE compo going on.

    ps. nice post Derek, It’s really pretty obvious when it’s all laid out on the table so clear-cut like this. Also, to those who tl;dr, definitely check out Craig’s post on his gama blog (last link of Derek’s post).

  • Flamebait

    “Papizian claims that Mobigame offered to change the name to “EDGY” whereupon Langdell refused the offer and proceeded to register the trademark “EDGY”.”

    I want confirmation on this. Because if it’s true, it’s the smoking gun; no further info on his character is necessary.

    The IGDA is full of it. Every organization is obliged to at least try and maintain legitimate personnel. If he’s a detriment to the industry he has no place in that organization- it only diminishes *their* legitimacy.

  • ross

    I truly appreciate this summary. I was wondering if anything had happened since I read your first post on the subject. Thank you

  • RockSteady

    I wish I could take a shit above his head and watch my big warm fecal matter enter his mouth.

  • Bebop

    I wish I could take a shit above his head and watch my big warm fecal matter enter his mouth.

  • Jovrick

    I just want to buy a copy of Edge, but I can’t because this guy is raising a dispute over his trademark of an extremely commonly used English word.

    One of Edge Games upcoming games is called “Racers.” That’s the whole title. Did they trademark that one too? There’s plenty of games out there with the word “racers” in their title!

  • sinoth

    I was about to suggest an EDGE compo, but looks like I’m already late to the party!

  • Cait Reid

    Flamebait, check the comments of Stephen’s blog. There’s links to proof of the EDGY trademark being registered in the US on May 16th, as well as “MIRROR’S SPORE” and “SOULSPORE” being registered in the UK at some point as well.

  • J

    Tim Langdell has also claimed creative ownership of Sledgehammer by Peter Gabriel and the motion picture Cliffhanger for “involving cliffs.”

  • plvhx

    thanks derek, light in the darkness =)

    the petition is well and good, lagdell and the igda should be adressed. more importantly though, everyone should go and check out mobigame’s stuff and do what you can to support them once this mess gets cleaned up. edge is (in my opinion) the best iphone game yet released. in the mean time, grab the soundtrack. it’s great.

  • Rorror

    He also tried to register a trademark for a game he claimed was titled “World of”.

  • Beau Blyth

    Wow. Just, wow.

  • Undertech

    I wish I could take a s…

    nope he’s registered that too. Cut it out guys. I don’t want to see you get in legal brown water!

  • Mk

    Wha? i’m so confused. what is all this? Seriously what ever happpened to a good old ass beating.

  • josh g.

    FYI, yes, trademarks are only protected as long as you are actually selling something under that trademark.

    In fact this is part of the reason why companies like Pepsi will sell random knicknacks with their trademark on it. Trademarks are limited both to *what* you’re selling, and *where* you’re selling it. So if PepsiCo didn’t sell playing cards with their trademark on it, it’s (technically) possible that someone else could get away with it.

    From the sounds of it, what this guy is doing would fall apart the moment it hit an actual court.

    (I am not a lawyer, just educated.)

  • Flamebait

    @Stegersaurus:
    Langdell single-handedly created the game industry before you were even a twitch in your father’s nutsack, maybe you should give him some respect.

    @Erin Gardien:
    Thank you for the direction, good sir. I can confirm that Edge filed for the trademark “Edgy”. For the curious, go here ( http://www.uspto.gov/main/trademarks.htm ), go on “search” on the right panel, and just look for “edgy” (you’ll find it, among others… doubt Langdell could actually protect that one). Filed May 16 by “Edge Games Inc CORPORATION CALIFORNIA…” Other blatant Edge misdeeds are also there.

    @Ian Dunlop:
    See above.

  • James Tan

    It is possible to use a common English word as your trade mark, as long as you can prove it. After all, consider the words; “Doom”, “Quake”, “Unreal”, “Civilization”

    We all know and these titles and they are trademarks too. I mean, you can’t call your game Quake, or Quaked or Quaker and so forth because the real possibility of confusion is there.

    However, in the case of Edge and Langdell, I just haven’t seen any indisputable proof of actual usage within the last decade.

  • SteveO

    I’m surprised nobody else has mentioned that in his list of 756 games created, the games are actually duplicated once for each language and platform converted to.

    I don’t know how other people feel about this, but in my mind, all those duplicates count for only a single game to me.

    One of the games the company I work for is creating is on multiple platforms and potentially multiple languages, but there is only one game, not 30!

    Id be highly interested in getting a count without duplicates in. In fact I might give it a go now.

  • http://www.adamatomic.com/ Adam Atomic

    Total games that Tim claimed to have worked on: 400+
    Total games listed on the EDGE website: 756
    Actual number of games listed: 107
    Number of games in list not yet released: 4 (+ 1 game that is just invented – “Racers”)
    Number of actual games listed: 102
    Average number of actual games per website claims: 0.135
    Average number of actual games versus Tim’s claims: 0.255 or less
    Number of games released on hardware that debuted later than 1986: 6
    Quantity of post 1986-hardware games that are for mobile phones only: 5

  • SteveO

    Ok, this list is going to be slightly innaccurate as I’ve just manually copied out the unique titles. I personally count 105 unique titles, nowhere near the 756 claim (depending how you look at it).

    3D Mazenture
    5 Stones of Anadon
    ACE
    ACE2
    Activator
    Almazz
    Alien Syndrome
    All Stars
    Archeron’s Rage
    BattlePods
    Bobby Bearing
    Bongo
    Brian Bloodaxe
    Bug Squad
    Chess3D
    Classix 1
    Colony
    Cosmic Swarm
    Cybotron
    Darius+
    Devon Aire in the Hidden Diamond Caper
    Dracula’s Revenge
    Dragon’s Lair
    Earthedge
    European Five Aside
    Eye of Zolton
    Fairlight
    Fairlight II
    Fairlight The Legend
    Firebirds
    Firequest
    Galactians
    Garfield: Big Fat Hairy Deal
    Garfield: Winters Tail
    Ice Giant
    Jeepers Creepers
    Joust
    Jump Jet
    Kick Off
    Koala Lumpur Journey to the Edge
    Kong 64
    KRIS
    Magic Edge
    Master Key
    Mazenture
    Megapede
    Meteoroids
    Microbot
    Millipede
    Mindstone
    Mirrors
    Monsters
    Monsters in Hell
    Moon Buggy
    Mr Payback
    Mythora
    Mythora 2
    Ostron
    Out on a Limb
    PageMaker
    Pengu
    Pirates of the Barbary Coast
    PsiChess
    Punisher, The
    Quak Attack
    Quo Vadis
    Racers
    Repulsar
    Revelation
    R.I.S.K.
    Robotron
    Shadow Skimmer
    Shao Lin’s Road
    Skyrunner
    Slap Shot
    Snoopy: The Case of the Missing Blanket
    Softaid
    Softek FP Compiler (is this actually a game??!)
    Sofkit1
    Sofkit2
    Sofmon
    Soldier of Light
    Spectral Winter
    Starball
    Starbike
    StarBlitz
    Super Meteors
    Sword of Sodan
    Tangent
    Teenage Wasteland
    Thai Boxing
    That’s the Spirit
    The Artist
    The Artist II
    The Writer
    Tonic Tile
    Ugh!
    Ultrapede
    Warlock
    Wizardry
    Xecutor
    Xeno II
    Zaga Mission
    Zoids
    Zolan Adventure, The

  • SteveO

    Finally, I have looked through and only around 4 games appear to have been released on platforms created within the last decade. There are a few more modern titles, but they are marked as “Coming Soon”.

    Was Tim just hoping someone would not actually look at the list of games and work this all out?

  • TMR

    As far as the list of games on the Edge website goes, at least one of them doesn’t exist; the C64 conversion of Darius+ was never released.

    At least one coder pitched to do the conversion, but whoever he dealt with at The Edge was going on about wanting the game scrolling into the side borders and even the demo coders hadn’t quite got that sussed.

    More here: http://gtw64.retro-net.de/Pages/d/Review_Darius.php

  • 7point83hertz

    [7. Papazian claims that Mobigame offered to change the name to “EDGY” whereupon Langdell refused the offer and proceeded to register the trademark “EDGY”.]

    omg someone throw pixel at him until he cries like the bitch he is.

  • RobF

    To add to Adam’s stats.

    15 are reissues from other companies.
    1 is a bit of a fib (Soft Aid *contains* an Edge title but was the brainchild of Quicksilva)
    1 is quite possibly “spawned” in the Tim sense of the word ;)
    3 are compilations

  • Jasper

    Minus another 1 from the game list, R.I.S.K and K.R.I.S are the same game, the name was changed after Parker brothers took Edge to court about using the name of its board game Risk, slightly ironic.

  • raiten

    Glad to see everything we dug up re-posted, so it’s not just lying unnoticed at page 17 of a 35-page long forum thread.

    If you’re interested in “throwing pixels” at Langdell and you want to take part in the compo without making an entire game, there’s always a collab you can take part in. All you need to do is three drawings, you don’t eve need to code or anything.

  • RobF

    Awesome, good spot Jasper.

  • Nino

    Someone should try and find all the names of the people credited on the games listed in his 756 games list (programmers, designers, etc.). Then try and reach those people one by one if they’re still reachable somewhere, and ask them for a comment on how it was working for Tim Langdell.

    I’m sure a least a little more awesomeness would “spawn” from this.

  • SEH

    If you search IMDB for “Langdell”, you see one item he was credited for as an executive producer (along with other executive produecers). It’s a 1994 game awards show.

    [Sincere apologies if this gets 2x posted — I have trouble submitting posts with a URL.]

  • http://www.sophiehoulden.com/blog GirlFlash

    a game has been pulled and the IGDA wont step in?

    what are they for then?
    consider any confidence I had in them severly knocked.

  • http://0xdeadc0de.org Eclipse

    ok Derek, let’s talk about Langdell again… but STOP POSTING THAT FREAKING PHOTO >_<

  • Derek

    I added the comic book character Edge and Koala Lumpur: Journey to the Edge to the list of Tim’s “licensees.”

  • Synnah

    I had a look through his list of games, also; if I had a bit more time, I could cross-reference them against sites like Lemon64, but the one game that I did check, Zoids, features no reference at all to Langdell or Edge: http://www.lemon64.com/games/details.php?ID=2947

  • Synnah

    I had a look through the list of games on Edge’s site; if I had more time, I’d cross-reference them against sites like Lemon64. The one I did check, however, Zoids, seemed to have no reference to either Edge or Langdell, either in the cover, advertising or manual.

  • TMR

    Zoids struck me as odd as well… claiming any kind of creative input into the budget re-releases is really pushing it since they would have arrived pretty much ready to go barring specific packaging.

    i also noticed that Fairlight: The Legend and Fairlight 2 are listed on the C64 but neither was released, only the original Fairlight: A Prelude came out.

  • Rebecca Clements

    What a fucking embarrassment this man is.

  • Paul Eres

    “@Erin Gardien: Thank you for the direction, good sir.”

    isn’t erin usually a female name? not everyone here is a sir

    anyway, i agree with tyler’s first comment. just cause someone is a terrible person doesn’t mean you have to degrade yourself by the way you insult him. it really hurts more than it helps, since it gives langdell fuel for the idea that we’re just out to embarrass him as a person instead of objecting to his specific behavior

  • WhoIs

    EDGE Games
    530 South Lake Avenue, # 171
    Pasadena, CA91101
    US
    Phone: (626) 449-4334

  • Chris Edgerton

    Dear Tim,

    Here are some other generic English words you might consider trademarking:

    – windows
    – apple
    – blizzard
    – valve
    – steam

    I would recommend trademarking and enforcing these asap. There are already shmucks out there infringing on YOUR rights, Tim. This cannot stand.

    Sincerely,
    Chris Edgerton

  • Cackhole

    Hmm… What if Dave Evans, “The Edge” or just Edge, (the REAL Edge) from U2 was as big an asshole as Tim Langdell? He could sue Langdell over the using his nickname or even a part of his nickname, (I’m sure there’s a loop-hole in there somewhere where he COULD sue Langdell) because America is the land of Sue-rs so I’m sure some shifty American lawyer could find a way to put Langdell on the spot and even get The Edge a retro-active pay day considering how long Langdell has been raping the word.

    Go Dave Evans! Rip this fucker a new asshole please!!!

    In all seriousness though, wouldn’t that be cool? Payback is a bitch!