Edge's Langdell returns with Edgebobby2

By Robert Purchese Published 4 July, 2011

Trademark hound resorting to game making?

Notorious Edge video game trademark troll Tim Langdell appears to have returned.

His company Edge Games (is it a one-man operation?) released a new game on iPhone on 30th June called Edgebobby2.

Edgebobby2 is billed as a sequel to the "highly popular" Bobby Bearing and costs £0.59/€0.79/$0.99 to download.

Bobby Bearing was released by Langdell in 1986 on Spectrum, Amstrad and C64.

Edgebobby2 is a 3D puzzle game that involves rolling balls around platforms. There's a free version that offers one level called Edgebobby2Free.

Tim Langdell earned notoriety by suing any video game-related product that used the word edge in its name. UK magazine Edge even came under fire.

Most recently Langdell attacked French independent developer Mobigame regarding puzzle game Edge. All hell broke lose when correspondences between the two parties were documented online.

The final straw came when Langdell took on mega-publisher EA regarding Mirror's Edge. The result of a long courtroom showdown was Langdell being stripped of his most prized possessions: the edge trademarks - hence the name Edgebobby2.

Langdell was also unceremoniously shoved from the Independent Game Developer Association for "lack of integrity" and "unethical behaviour".

Picture of Robert.

About Robert Purchese

Bertie is Eurogamer's Senior Staff Writer. When he's not hunting down news stories he's often found playing with his kids or gabbling about fantasy games and strange online worlds. @Clert on Twitter.

Read more articles from Robert by visiting the Robert Purchese archive page.

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Comments (71) Latest comment 11 months ago

Comments for this article are now closed, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • udat #1 11 months ago

    Looks fantastic.

  • geeza2020 #2 11 months ago

    torrent link anyone? :-P

  • Vyper68 #3 11 months ago

    I wouldn't want to do anything that put's cash in this guy's back pocket so i won't buy it.

  • Rev.StuartCampbell #4 11 months ago

    As alert viewers will have noticed yesterday, more detail can be found here:

    http://wosblog.podgamer.com/2011/07/03/g...

  • Rev.StuartCampbell #5 11 months ago

    Also, the free version actually gives you one world, with eight stages, rather than "one level".

  • cowell #6 11 months ago

    "Edgebobby2" What a catchy name for a game! No crowbar used there to include egde in the title

    It's soooo obviously a sequel to Bobby Bearing that the fans won't fail to find it.

    /sarcasm

  • Psiloc #7 11 months ago

    Download the free version so you can delete it and rate it one star.

  • Vortex808 #8 11 months ago

    So this Bobby Bearing looks pretty much a rip off of marble madness then? It doesn't appear like he was so worried about trademarks, borrwing ideas etc back then.

    Edit: Or has my memory/chronology got hazy with the mists of time?
    Edited by Vortex808 at 04/07/11 @ 10:56

  • Lexx87 #9 11 months ago

    I bought it as an experiment, just to see what it was like (this apparently means I hate the games industry).

    It's quite fun for a 59p game.

    I realise this won't be a popular post, but I just wanted to see what on earth he could have come up with.

  • cowell #10 11 months ago

    1st customer review


    Edge, hm?
    by Matt Wheeler
    Somebody get this man into a prison cell.
    .

  • jstar #11 11 months ago

    @Lexx87

    This is a man who has made the lives of many honest workers in the games industry a living hell. A man who has hounded and harassed honest developers in a wide range of ways. A man who has made all his money from effectively extorting people. A man who now, knowing that his name is well known within the community, has started to try and cash in on the fact that he is not just a cunt, but a well known one. And you saw fit, a moderator on a specialist gaming website, to validate this man's strategy.

    You are a twat sir. If you want to try the game pirate the fucker.
    Edited by jstar at 04/07/11 @ 11:09

  • fizzyfish #12 11 months ago

    If he lost the 'edge' trademark, why is he still shoehorning the word in? Just call it Bobby Bearing 2, damnit.

  • The-Bodybuilder #13 11 months ago

    @Lexx87
    I think you bought it just so you could be "different" and a rebel, and you just couldn't wait to come here and tell everyone you bought it.
    You rebel rascal, you.

    Edit: You were probably hoping it lead to a debate too, so you could argue why Langdell has the right to start again and blah blah blah. Looks like you'll get it too.
    Edited by The-Bodybuilder at 04/07/11 @ 11:18

  • schnide #14 11 months ago

    @Psiloc

    I don't have an iPhone but I would encourage everyone to follow your suggestion. If you can leave comments like you can on the Android store too, then please do highlight how disreputable Langdell is and all the suffering he's tried to cause over the past few years. It's now been proven in court so there are legal facts to be referred to rather than just innuendo and suggestion, too.

  • Lexx87 #15 11 months ago

    Lexx87 is evil incarnate

  • Coughthulu #16 11 months ago

    So, this *isn't* an attempt at him shoving out something out that he can point to as a 'real life' product for future court cases.

    Right?

  • CaptainTrips #17 11 months ago

    Would love to see Edge magazine sue him for including their magazing name in his game title.

  • Rev.StuartCampbell #18 11 months ago

    "I think you bought it just so you could be "different" and a rebel, and you just couldn't wait to come here and tell everyone you bought it.
    You rebel rascal, you.

    Edit: You were probably hoping it lead to a debate too, so you could argue why Langdell has the right to start again and blah blah blah. Looks like you'll get it too. "

    Or, it's in fact a fairly interesting news piece which ought to be covered, and ideally should be discussed by people with some sort of idea what they're talking about.

    But wow, the brainess hypocrisy of EG commenters is quite something. Just a day after everyone (with some justification) leapt down Rob Fahey's throat complaining of "churnalism", here you all are demanding that a genuine actual news story, not rewritten from a press release and covered with plenty of editorial comment, shouldn't have been published.

    (And for good measure, suddenly deciding that piracy IS okay - indeed, is commendable - if it's practiced against someone you don't like. I think Langdell's as big a prick as everyone else does, but then I don't come here screaming the odds about piracy being evil the rest of the time.)
    Edited by Rev.StuartCampbell at 04/07/11 @ 11:35

  • Rev.StuartCampbell #19 11 months ago

    "So this Bobby Bearing looks pretty much a rip off of marble madness then?"

    Bobby Bearing was nothing like Marble Madness, except in so far as the hero was spherical.

  • The-Bodybuilder #20 11 months ago

    @Lexx87, you've got what you wanted, all attention is on you now.

  • The-Bodybuilder #21 11 months ago

    "here you all are demanding that a genuine actual news story, not rewritten from a press release and covered with plenty of editorial comment, shouldn't have been published. "

    Hmmm just had another read of the comments. Nope, no such thing from anyone, no one proclaiming it shouldn't be published.
    I guess people will see what they want to see when they're looking for an internet-fight. :/

  • darleysam #22 11 months ago

    Edgebobby2? Sounds like a username.

  • Vortex808 #23 11 months ago

    Rev. Stuart Campbell - Both Bobby Bearing & Marble Madness both look mostly about guiding a ball around an isometric maze/obstacle course without falling off/getting hit by hazards to me.

    Pretty sure I played them both and some other game with a gyroscope you had to navigate around an isometric course too. Spindizzy? I never liked them much as I was pretty miserable at this type of game, yet kept trying them anyway.

  • RobotRocker #24 11 months ago

    But wow, the brainess hypocrisy of EG commenters is quite something. Just a day after everyone (with some justification) leapt down Rob Fahey's throat complaining of "churnalism", here you all are demanding that a genuine actual news story, not rewritten from a press release and covered with plenty of editorial comment, shouldn't have been published.

    Thing is, EG readers and especially the commenters are increasingly looking for news stories that suit them rather than just news. The LulzSec/Anonymous malarky in particular being an interesting subject that EG was covering and shock, horror *Lightning crashes, Toccata and Fugue in D minor beings playing*, was publishing actual journalism but the commenters leapt down their throat for "Giving publicity to them" and demanding that Rob P stop publishing these articles forthwith (With a couple of threats against him too on top of that).

    No one will be ever happy or satisfied here unless EG are just posting happy news that conforms to what they want to hear all the time.

  • Nanocrystal #25 11 months ago

    Got the free version, it really is dreadful. Gave it a (well-deserved) one star review and deleted it.

  • Penguinzoot #26 11 months ago

    Aaah, Spindizzy .... I loved that!

  • Stompy #27 11 months ago

    Post deleted at 23:13:35 17-04-2012

  • glaeken #28 11 months ago

    I would be suspicious that it still had Edge in the name when it has no need to be there. I am sure with Langdell the reason it has Edge in the name for no apparent reason won't be innocent.

  • darleysam #29 11 months ago

    Somebody sign up to forums with the name 'Edgebobby3' then accuse him of defamation when he tries to use it as the name for his next game.

  • kangarootoo #30 11 months ago

    "We should appraise either activity on its own merits"

    If we truly did that, there wouldn't be an article would there? The headline would be "man releases maze game on iPhone", and nobody would give a shit.

    It might at the very least make the download roundup, though given the other items in this week's are interesting or original in their own right, I doubt even that.

    So what is it to be? Complain about the fact that Tim Langdell hasn't fallen asleep at the wheel yet, or ignore his game entirely with an even and fair hand?

  • jstar #31 11 months ago

    Well done for entirely missing the point Stompy.

    The only reason we are even talking about this is because Timothy Langdon is (in)famous for being a cunt. He is now cashing in on that infamy. Buying his game is rewarding him for being a cunt. This is why there are cunts in the world. Because unfortunately being a cunt has it's own reward. I don't really want to live in a world were cuntdom is both sought and rewarded. I just don't.

    You seem not to care about this. I find this somewhat depressing.

  • Rev.StuartCampbell #32 11 months ago

    "Rev. Stuart Campbell - Both Bobby Bearing & Marble Madness both look mostly about guiding a ball around an isometric maze/obstacle course without falling off/getting hit by hazards to me."

    Well, for one thing it's not possible to fall off the edges of the maze in Bobby Bearing, whereas not falling off the edges is almost the entire gameplay of Marble Madness. But really, there are almost no similarities other than featuring a ball. I'm not sure that judging otherwise based on looking at a couple of screenshots is a very useful activity.

  • Rev.StuartCampbell #33 11 months ago

    "The only reason we are even talking about this is because Timothy Langdon is (in)famous for being a cunt. He is now cashing in on that infamy. Buying his game is rewarding him for being a cunt."

    Bollocks all round, I'm afraid. Plenty of people would be interested in a sequel to Bobby Bearing, which was enormously popular in its day. And while he's batshit mental, I'm certain Langdell didn't do all his batshit mental stuff in order to create a reputation and then cash in on it with a 59p iPhone game. Rather more likely is that it's a desperate measure to try to shore up his collapsing legal position, but in reality it's MUCH too late for that.

    At the end of the day, though, your argument is ridiculous. If you don't want to give him any money, don't. Personally, I think he's going to have such a crippling bill for compensation that every penny he makes from BB2 will go straight into the pockets of people like Mobigames, and therefore it'd actually be a good thing if he sold a few, because otherwise they'll get nothing. But either way, the mere fact that someone's written about the game doesn't mean you have to buy it.

  • Rack #34 11 months ago

    Is he resorting to selling games or is this just a masterplan to sue anyone using the name "Bobby". And if he successfully sues Bobby Kotick will that make him a hero?

  • Vortex808 #35 11 months ago

    Rev. Stu. despite your quote "I'm not sure that judging otherwise based on looking at a couple of screenshots is a very useful activity", I did mention in my post that I have played both of them and spindizzy.

    All of which are (IMO) a similar type of game, where you are basically charged with guiding a ball or gyroscope round an isometric arena. Whether it falls off the edge or not does not make it a wildly different game type to me.

  • kangarootoo #36 11 months ago

    "Well, for one thing it's not possible to fall off the edges of the maze in Bobby Bearing"

    Well thank CHRIST we have homed in on the most important issue in this whole discussion.

  • Rev.StuartCampbell #37 11 months ago

    "All of which are (IMO) a similar type of game, where you are basically charged with guiding a ball or gyroscope round an isometric arena. Whether it falls off the edge or not does not make it a wildly different game type to me."

    And yet, they ARE utterly different. Spindizzy is more or less halfway between the two, because it's a speed game (like Marble Madness) and a "stay on the course" game (like Marble Madness), but it's also about finding your way through a maze (like Bobby Bearing) and based on single-screen areas with fixed exits rather than omni-directional scrolling where you can go pretty much anywhere you want (like Bobby Bearing).

    The perspective of the graphics has precisely nothing to do with whether they're similar games. Because otherwise you're saying Marble Madness isn't "wildly different" to Zaxxon or Highway Encounter or Knight Lore, and that'd be pretty fucking stupid, wouldn't it?

  • geeza2020 #38 11 months ago

    "Plenty of people would be interested in a sequel to Bobby Bearing, which was enormously popular in its day."

    lol

  • Stompy #39 11 months ago

    Post deleted at 23:13:35 17-04-2012

  • Ror1984 #40 11 months ago

    Edgebobby2, huh? Didn't Mobigames win the trademark to the word 'Edge' in games? I don't agree with that at all, but couldn't they now sue Langdell for use of it in this game? Perhaps that's the point..? Taunt them into litigation as a defence to his previous position ("See? They're doing exactly what I got done for!";), and try and get their trademark scrubbed out as some form of payback?

  • Dr_Wadd #41 11 months ago

    Edgebobby2 would be a fine title for a game that involves denying a man called Robert a masturbatory orgasm for as long as possible. Perfectly suited for motion control.

  • scoop #42 11 months ago

    langdell is a nob-end, and edgebobby2 looks like it was made using clip-art.

    fail x2

  • orpheus #43 11 months ago

    Can't help but see this as a desperate, faggy attempt to reclaim some of his trademark bullshittery (by actually having a game out with 'EDGE' in the name) so he can go back to his usual shenanigans.

    Tosser.

  • Rev.StuartCampbell #44 11 months ago

    ""Plenty of people would be interested in a sequel to Bobby Bearing, which was enormously popular in its day."

    lol "

    Sorry, you've lost me - which part of that is the funny bit? Bobby Bearing WAS enormously popular in its day, and people ARE interested in retro stuff.

  • Kami #45 11 months ago

    Oh dear... easy Kami... eggshells... be careful...

    Okay. Let's get one thing out of the way first. Tim Langdell is one of the biggest and most gigantic bellends of the industry - an industry, let us be fair here - full of over-important bell-ends. He may be an aggressive little trademark troll, but he isn't alone in that either - and truth is, the US legal system was what let him get away with it so long. If anyone is to blame, it's the USOPT for their complete and utter lack of respect and regard for the rules. As long as they made money, stamp stamp. Now a lot of that is starting to unravel for them as well as for Mr Langdell. So - he only got away with it because the system let him get away with it for so long. They could have shut his little scheme down a decade or more ago - they they didn't is a stain on their reputation, especially some of the stuff he filed to keep his trademarks. If they'd have looked at them for ten seconds they'd have kicked his ass to the curb.

    Right. Secondly, he's released what is ostensibly Bobby Bearing 2. And why not? He actually did help make some solid games back in the day, and we forget that amidst his cockish behaviour. Hell, if he can actually still make games, I'd say this is a step in the right direction to redeeming himself to the gaming community - it'll be a sodding long bit of community service mind you, but he deserves to at least give it a shot if he so wants to. We forget EA had an awful reputation once upon a time, a really REALLY bad reputation, much like the one Activision has now, and they have over many years paid their dues and worked off that debt to the gaming community. If he can make good games - even if they are indie/iPhone ones - I'd say give him a chance.

    Yes, the man is a bellend. But we're a fickle lot too. And yes, he has done truly awful things in his time. But if we can't support him when he's trying legitimately to make money, then we're telling him that there's no money in making games - encouraging him to dream up some new and nasty plot to make the gaming industry hurt all over again.

    No-one can really win here - just hope he gets enough good feedback from this game for him to realise there is a future in making games. And again, I'd much rather he was doing this than being a trademark troll - isn't that 'maybe' something worth supporting?

    I know, it's devils advocate and all. But it's an interesting thought... and I know I'd rather he was making money legitimately and fairly than by being a cock...
    Edited by Kami at 04/07/11 @ 15:32

  • Marshall2008 #46 11 months ago

    Lucky for this cunt that Apple stopped people posting reviews and ratings on games they haven't bought or it would be at a solid 1 star.

    update: as noted above, you can get the free version and post a review and rating on that.
    Edited by Marshall2008 at 04/07/11 @ 15:49

  • swede #47 11 months ago

    I hope you're joking Kami.

    You can't excuse the misery this guy must have caused to Mobigame.

    If he wants a word of his own, let him have the word 'cunt'.

    I'm sure nobody else would encroach on his trademark and 'Cunt Games' has a nice ring to it.

  • Kami #48 11 months ago

    @Swede; I'm playing Devil's Advocate because I think there is a point to be made.

    I don't excuse for a second what Langdell did to Mobigame or anyone else. He has very much earned the hate and disrespect he has. That said, the man clearly can make games - he's smart enough to do so. If the net result is he makes games, isn't that maybe something we should encourage?

    It's this awful situation where we need to encourage the puppy to stop pooping in the house... but unless we open the door, the best we can hope for is him pooping by the door, right? Same deal here. We said "Why doesn't he just make games?" and when he does, "He doesn't DESERVE my custom!".

    I dunno. I just find that odd is all, and worth playing Devil's Advocate to uncover it. That said, I do wish he'd simply just go away... I think he should spend at least two years away from the gaming community. Think about what he's done. I think the problem with Edgebobby2 is simply - the wounds are still far too fresh.

    As bright as he is, he's clearly not very sensitive... that may still be his downfall.
    Edited by Kami at 04/07/11 @ 16:23

  • monkfishjoe #49 11 months ago

    What a cock

  • glaeken #50 11 months ago

    His best chance if he really is serious about making games again would actually be to come up with a new company name and don't have his name attached to it anywhere so no-one knows who made the game. If I knew a game as made by him I would boycott it and I normally think boycotting games is a fairly silly thing to do. As it is I think the latest release is just some attempt to get his trademarks back by demonstrating Edge game does have a real game released.

    After all if he really did want to make a living through making games why has he not done this before in the last 20 years? He is just trying to get back into his trade mark troll ways. The guy is a grade A cunt.

  • Stompy #51 11 months ago

    Post deleted at 23:13:35 17-04-2012

  • smelly #52 11 months ago

    Whatever you do DONT BUY THIS GAME!

    The worst that could happen now is this sells really well and legitimises his "business" so he can go back to trolling again.

    Dont buy it - even out of curiosity!

    Get the free version if you REALLY must... And laugh at how crap it looks.

  • Rev.StuartCampbell #53 11 months ago

    "I suggest you scrutinise the credits of every single game you buy, then - even going to the extent of phoning up the dev's office to check for names left off the credits unfairly - and asking for a detailed police report for each one. You don't want your money to be going to a convicted rapist, do you?"

    I never usually bother with the silly post-rating buttons, but I wish there was a +10 one for comments like this.

  • glaeken #54 11 months ago

    The guy was an out and out con man who has not made a real game in 20 years up until now. That is slightly different to an actual developer who might have a shady record on something.

  • Makeem95 #55 11 months ago

    I still don't get why he called his new game Edgebobby 2 and not Bobby Bearing 2. What's he trying to achieve?

  • Nikanoru #56 11 months ago

    Hahaha wow, who the hell are these clowns defending Tim Langdell of all people? Holy shit. Great trolling, 9/10.

  • acehotshot #57 11 months ago

    @Makeem95

    Probably because he doesn't own the rights to Bobby Bearing any more. I think the lads who made the original own the copyright.

  • Rev.StuartCampbell #58 11 months ago

    "Hahaha wow, who the hell are these clowns defending Tim Langdell of all people?"

    Er, absolutely nobody. There seems unanimous consensus that he's a total wanker.

  • Stompy #59 11 months ago

    Post deleted at 23:13:35 17-04-2012

  • SG #60 11 months ago

    Um... doesn't his game being similar to the Edge game released by Mobi mean that he is infringing upon their trademark?

  • RM2KMaster #61 11 months ago

    The guy's a cunt of the highest order and I really would like somebody to stab him in the fucking heart and video it for all to see. You don't just try make a living by ruining the lives of indie devs. Cunt, deserves to be fucking kneecapped.

  • Nikanoru #62 11 months ago

    Blah blah blah.

    This is funny. Even funnier when I'm looking at the erratic up/downvoting behaviour in this thread.

    I didn't think poor Langdell had the money anymore to pay for internet shills.

  • Stompy #63 11 months ago

    Post deleted at 23:13:35 17-04-2012

  • LEDgar #64 11 months ago

    Stompy: "Be careful there RM2KMaster, the Daily Mail may use you as the poster-child for the effects of gaming on aggression"

    To be fair, that stabbing comment was a bit much.

  • JoeBlade #65 11 months ago

    Quite the heated debate going on here. You all seem a bit... wait for it... on edge.

  • digitalash #66 11 months ago

    I've downloaded the free version. The controls are shit - thank god you can't fall off the edge (no pun intended) like Marble Madness. It looks really, really ugly. And after completing the tutorial level, a bug prevented me from going to the next level and I had to restart.

    Enough said. Don't buy it.

  • Kami #67 11 months ago

    Ba-dum-TISH!

    It's not that I like Langdell - apart from the amount of laughter he's generated from his antics the last few years for me - I just think... what else is there for him to do? He knows how to make games. Perhaps it's time he really did give it another go - the iPhone market is a good place for him to start. If it goes somewhere - nice. If it doesn't - meh, no skin off our nose.

    I think we should at least be open to the idea. If he can make games - he's not trademark trolling. It'll be good to see him busy making stuff. Who knows. He may actually be really, really good at it. We haven't really seen anything in two decades apart from this that shows off his work, right?

    As for calling him a c**t... well. He's one in an industry overrun with them. It's a bit like that whole boycotting China idea before the Olympics. It's the whole "Shit... umm... they make everything!". He may be a big bellend... but in this industry at least, he can sleep like a baby...

    All he has to do at night is tell himself, "I'm not Bobby Kotick... mmm... zzzzzzzz..."
    Edited by Kami at 05/07/11 @ 00:42

  • PlugMonkey #68 11 months ago

    I suggest you scrutinise the credits of every single game you buy, then - even going to the extent of phoning up the dev's office to check for names left off the credits unfairly - and asking for a detailed police report for each one.

    You don't want your money to be going to a convicted rapist, do you? Committing such a crime is even marginally worse than taking part in our roistering culture of libel tourism! And, hell, if you buy a game by Sega you are going to hell.

    @ Stompy

    That's not really the point.

    People are asking why Langdell's disreputable activity should give him such a clear advantage over any of the other 1000s of iPhone games released this week. You haven't heard of any of them, and you have heard of EdgeBobby2, and it's all because of Langdell's colourful legal history.

    The only reason we are talking about this game right now really IS because Langdell is (in)famous for being a cunt. How many innocuous Iphone apps have been released by non-cunts, that we haven't even noticed? For what other reason are we aware of this games existence?

  • geeza2020 #69 11 months ago

    I cant believe anyone would even contemplate buying a game from this guy, let alone encouraging him to make more. As far I'm concernced the guy should go rot in shitty admin office job or start flipping burgers for McDonalds, he's had his shot and making a legitimate business in games 20 years ago, and he blew it, so fuck him.

  • glaeken #70 11 months ago

    Bobby Kotick is a business man. Yes he is not well liked and makes choices a lot of gamers dislike but its nothing like the situation with Langdell who is really just a criminal. Langdell does not make contravertial choices about games he tries to steal the earnings of people who make games for a living.

  • Rev.StuartCampbell #71 11 months ago

    "People are asking why Langdell's disreputable activity should give him such a clear advantage over any of the other 1000s of iPhone games released this week. You haven't heard of any of them, and you have heard of EdgeBobby2, and it's all because of Langdell's colourful legal history."

    Don't talk such a load of arse. You think Langdell's reputation is an ADVANTAGE? All it's got him is dozens of 1-star reviews. His reputation is a massive obstacle for the game to overcome, not a leg-up for it. Would you, as an unsuspecting App Store customer, rather take a risk on a game nobody knew anything about, or one that had been mercilessly kicked into the ground?