The Edge Interactive Media

Company Type	Developer
Founded	1979
Status	Bankrupt - 1997
Head Quarters	Pasadena California, USA
Website	www.edgegames.com

3DO Overview

The Edge Interactive Media appeared on the original Developer list in 1993, but did not publish or develop any 3DO games.

Overview

The Edge Interactive Media, later called Edge Games, Inc. is an American video game developer and publisher headquartered in Pasadena, California, best known for the practices of its founder and chief executive officer, Tim Langdell, in enforcing trademarks relating to the word "edge", which sources have described as "litigious".

In 2010, Edge Games sued Electronic Arts for trademark infringement, but eventually settled, with Edge surrendering many of its registrations. The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) cancelled the trademarks by court order in April 2013.

History

Tim Langdell founded Softek Software, later incorporated as Softek International Ltd, in the UK in 1980. Softek's early games output for 8-bit computers such as the ZX Spectrum consisted mainly of simple clones of popular arcade games. These included Firebirds (Phoenix), Ostron (Joust) and Monsters in Hell (Space Panic) which reached the top 10 charts in 1983. The programmers working for Softek included Graeme Devine and Andrew Glaister who also produced Softek's Sinclair BASIC compiler, Super C. One of the conditions of using Super C was that Softek would be entitled to seek royalties on any commercial programs produced with it which one reviewer described as "morally indefensible". According to Langdell, code produced by the compiler contained routines that were the property of Softek and that any programs produced using it were "not wholly the copyright of the writer that used the program". Softek went on to demand a 5% royalty from Silversoft for using the compiler to produce their Slippery Sid game.

In 1984, Langdell announced an offshoot of Softek called The Edge - a "creative group" of freelance artists, programmers and musicians. Quo Vadis was reported to be the "largest arcade-adventure yet seen on a micro" and was promoted with a prize of a gold and silver sceptre with an estimated value of £10,000 for the first person to complete the game. The game was a number one hit on the Commodore 64 and £30,000 was added to the potential prize when sales of the game passed 100,000. Reviewers noted that many of The Edge's early titles lacked originality. Starbike was extremely similar to Lunar Jetman, Psytraxx drew unfavorable comparisons with Atic Atac and Brian Bloodaxe was a Jet Set Willy-style platform game. Fairlight, a number one game on the ZX Spectrum in 1985, originated in attempts to replicate the Filmation system used by Knight Lore. Programmer Bo Jangeborg later alleged that Softek withheld royalty payments for the game unless he signed up to produce further titles.

In 1986, Bobby Bearing received glowing reviews with many comparing it to Spindizzy and Marble Madness although the programmers stated that it was inspired by Knight Lore as well as the arcade game Q*Bert. By the end of the year, the company had published their first officially licensed arcade conversion, Konami's Shao-Lin's Road (marketing it as the "follow-up" to Yie Ar Kung Fu), and Fairlight II was released to critical acclaim. It was later revealed that Fairlight II had been released without Bo Jangeborg's approval, and in an unfinished state with a number of bugs, one of which meant the game could not be completed. Further licensed titles were announced in 1987. Garfield: Big Fat Hairy Deal was the first video game based on Jim Davis' Garfield comic strip, a second Garfield game, Garfield: Winter's Tail, was released by The Edge in 1989. A new label, Ace was created to publish conversions of Sega's Alien Syndrome and Taito's Soldier of Light and Darius. Darius was eventually published over two years later by The Edge under the title Darius +. Darius + saw the first introduction of a new logo for The Edge designed by illustrator Rodney Matthews who also produced the cover artwork for the game. The new logo only appeared on one more title from The Edge, The Punisher, based on the Marvel Comics' character of the same name. Planned for release on five different platforms only the Atari ST and Amiga versions were released. A trilogy of games based on the X-Men that had been announced in 1989 were never completed.

Edge Games, founded in California in 1990, acquired the intellectual property assets of Softek and have released nine games since 1990