Gaming is rarely used to advance social causes. Most games with violence in them are presented without comment, and they rarely make a comment on real-world violence, or any other major social issues. However, developer Amnesty International, with French ad agency La Chose, has partnered with French game developer Mobigame, known for games like Edge, Cross Fingers, and Perfect Cell, to release Bulletproof for iOS. The purpose of the game is primarily to raise awareness and revenue for Amnesty International. The game lets you sign up for Amnesty International’s email newsletter and all revenues for the $0.99 game will be going to Amnesty International, and the game was made pro bono by Mobigame.

Bulletproof has you trying to stop bullets fired at a man condemned to death by firing squad, with 10 levels. You must tap the bullets as they come in to stop them, with later levels bringing more bullets at faster rates. There are 10 levels to play, and the app is universal, with Retina Display support. Mobigame have been going the universal app route for most of their games nowadays, with Cross Fingers having also recently gotten an update to support the iPad.

It’s great to see gaming used for causes beyond just pure entertainment – this app being used to help make money for an organization that Mobigame supports. Gaming as a platform for sending messages or supporting causes seems like a huge step forward for the medium of gaming as something that can entertain in an interactive way, while also having something bigger to say about society. The App Store is also a great place for more games like this to potentially spread, given the ability for smaller games to be produced at smaller budgets, instead of the challenges of making more financially risky games on the larger consoles. Bulletproof is available on the App Store now.

Edge, by Mobigame, has had one of the most peculiar histories on the App Store, thanks to its name. The short version, for those uninitiated, is that a man named Tim Langdell had the trademark for the word “Edge” thanks to his company Edge Games, which largely existed to sue other entities trying to release games with the word “Edge” in their name. Langdell threatened legal action to Mobigame over their game Edge, which led to Mobigame pulling the game from the App Store and occasionally re-releasing it under names like “Edgy” and “Edge by Mobigame,” only to pull it again as their fight with Langdell continued, until May of 2010 when the game was finally re-released. And, as of October 11th, Langdell has lost the trademark to the word Edge, thanks in part to him taking on EA for their release of the game Mirror’s Edge, he lost his trademark based on falsified evidence submitted to the US Patent and Trademark Office to originally claim the ‘Edge’ trademark.

So with the name of their game in the clear, Mobigame can safely get on to promoting and updating Edge without fear of legal repurcussion, and update it they have! Mobigame not only claims that the game is “Faster, Better, Stronger!” thanks to increased performance, but now the game gives you the next five levels unlocked at a time instead of just one, so if you get stuck you can skip around to other levels instead of being stuck with the very next level. However, the meat of this update comes in the form of support for not just the Retina Display, but the app is now Universal, so iPad owners can play it in fullscreen. While jailbroken iPad users who were able to force the game to run in iPad mode know that the game already ran exceptionally well, now all iPad users can enjoy the game in fullscreen without any kind of jailbreaking and other hacking involved.

Mobigame isn’t just sharing the post-release support love with Edge, either. Their tangram-inspired puzzle game Cross Fingers will similarly get Universal support, along with 150 new levels to be added to that game. Along with Edge in the clear of trademark violations, it is a good time to be an owner of Mobigame’s products.

EDGE, a multi-award-winning platformer from Mobigame, has finally resurfaced on the App Store. Over the past year, Mobigame has been forced to fend off a questionable trademark dispute from Tim Langdell over the name “Edge.” It’s been a long battle, with EDGE appearing and disappearing numerous times, but this time it looks like the victory might be permanent. To quote the press release:

We were not alone during this year, and we thank all of you for all your efforts. Thanks to us ALL the word “edge” is now free to exist on the App Store like on any other marketplace, and games like Mirror’s Edge, Shadow Edge, Killer Edge Racing or Edge by Mobigame can live on our iDevices.

If you haven’t grabbed EDGE yet, you definitely should. EDGE is a platforming game in which you control a colorful cube, attempting to traverse multiple 3D, isometric landscapes. You encounter plenty of puzzles and challenges as you progress. Controls are fluid—you can chose touch- or accelerometer-based controls—and the graphics and music ooze retro goodness. EDGE is a shining example of a great game: it strips away extraneous fluff and leaves you with something pure and beautiful.

To celebrate their successful return to the App Store, Mobigame has placed EDGE on sale for just $0.99, so now’s a great time to grab it. Congratulations, Mobigame!

After a long trademark dispute with Tim Langdell, Mobigame’s suberb game “EDGE” is back on the App Store. Tim Langdell is the founder of Edge Games. Instead of making games for the past 15 years, he has been making a living by suing any game with the term “edge” in the name, effectively trademarking the word. He made no exception to EDGE, and due to the pending legal action the game was removed for the App Store. The game made a brief reappearance but soon disappeared again. Things took a turn for the better, however, when EA joined the fray. Due to a lawsuit regarding EA’s “Mirror’s Edge,” EA petitioned to have the “Edge” trademark thrown out. Whether EDGE’s return is due to EA’s interference is unclear, but it certainly seems probable.

EDGE itself is a colorful puzzle/action game in which you move a colorful cube through isometric levels. The graphics are ultra-stylish, the music is killer, and the gameplay is fun and challenging. The overall experience is great and would definitely rank on a list of App Store “classics.” There has never been a better time to buy EDGE, as updates of the initial version have brought a hefty amount of new levels, and unfortunately we’re not sure how permanent EDGE’s stay will be.

Random musings of the app store.

Removal of EDGE from the App Store

EDGE, a simply fantastic game, has been removed yet again from the App Store, due to a trademark dispute with Tim Langdell. For those who don’t know, Langdell is a leech who hasn’t made a game in over 15 years, instead making his living by suing any game with “edge” in the name. Good thing there’s the IGDA, or international game developers association, whose mission is to “advance the careers and enhance the lives of game developers by connecting members with their peers, promoting professional development, and advocating on issues that affect the developer community” (from www.igda.org/about). Oh, wait, Tim Langdell is actually on the board of directors at IGDA! So yes, Langdell has attempted to trademark a commonly used word, and has succeeded largely in part to the fact that developers can’t afford to fight costly legal battles and simply want to reach a settlement. Mobigame, EDGE’s developer, hasn’t given in yet, so kudos to them. Langdell may have bitten off a bit more than he can chew, however, as he is attempting to sue EA over their Mirror’s Edge game. One can only hope that EA will cut Langdell down to size and clear the way for future edges.

Apple considering reorganizing App Store

In their quarterly report last Tuesday, Apple said, regarding the App Store structure: “We’re always looking for ways to categorize apps differently and we have some ideas. We do it by type of apps and top selling apps, and we realize there is opportunity for further improvement and we are working on that. As for price, it’s up to the developers to choose where to set the price. I would think as the installed base grows, it makes sense to have lower prices but that’s totally up to the developer.”

Part of the problem with the App Store is that top lists are organized by volume rather than revenue. This encourages “bargain bin” pricing, as obviously it is much easier to sell a large volume at a lower price. Since the top lists are organized in such a way that apps that make it there tend to stay there, they are all-important. It is very tough to make a profit selling a game at $.99, so this in turn encourages short development cycles with small budgets. Big IP’s like DOOM will always sell at a higher price, but indy developers with AAA ideas may never see their ideas come to fruition due to over-inflated consumer expectations. If Apple decided to have a list by revenue, this would go a long way to curing the woes of the App Store, but it wouldn’t completely fix it. Besides the top lists, the next best marketing tool for a developer is word of mouth, so regardless of price, it can be difficult for an app to gain traction. Apple’s featuring method is arbitrary at best, and their review system is severely flawed, as only those who either hate or love an app review it, meaning an app’s rating is basically dependent on its ratio of five star reviews to one star reviews. Perhaps both requiring users to “earn a reputation” in order to have their rating count and eliminating the rating prompt after deleting an app could go a long way to solve this. On top of this, however, there is currently no list for top-rated games, and Apple could and should implement this easily with a minimum number of ratings benchmark.

Social gaming network competition

The iPhone now has three notable high score networks: OpenFeint, ngmoco’s Plus+ network, and Chillingo’s recently announced Crystal. Ultimately, one will become the network for the iPhone. This will shape up largely like the Blu-Ray/HDDVD wars of old; consumers will not want to have their favorite games fragmented over three different networks, so war will be waged as developers choose which network to implement. I see Plus+ winning, as OpenFeint is largely about superfluous features over interface and usability (I don’t want to chat with people in the middle of my game) and has no large developer backing it, and Crystal has yet to be started. Earlier is always better, and as third-parties start using Plus+ before Crystal is even in any of Chillingo’s games, Plus+ will get a huge head start. Developers will always want to use whoever is “winning.”

This week’s sign of the apocalypse

Enviro-Bear 2010 (App Info) has now been featured in some context for two consecutive weeks by Apple. Talk about a platform showcase.

Apps of the week

Because productivity is overrated, I chose two games as the apps of the week:

Star Hogs

After my immense disappointment with Worms, I was comforted by the brilliance that is IUGO’s Star Hogs. Star Hogs doesn’t try to be a Worms clone; instead, it brings many new well-implemented twists to the genre like ship/weapon customization and the unique energy system. The online component is fantastic, though there is a notable lack of online players (yet another reason why everyone needs to buy the game). Star Hogs might not have the visual appeal and charm of Worms, but it does just about everything else right, and therefore earns a spot as an app of the week.

Triazzle

Remember those maddeningly difficult wooden triangle puzzles? Well, that’s what Triazzle for the iPhone is, but in this case, it’s even better than the original. Back in the day, you would have to shell out $15 for one of those bad boy’s, but on the App Store you can buy an unlimited number of Triazzle puzzles for just $2.99. Yep, that’s right: infinite puzzles. This, along with exceptional graphics that “come to life” as you solve a puzzle, a great help system, and soothing music, makes Triazzle an app of the week.

So that’s it, the first Monday Morning App HQ. Hopefully I won’t receive too much hate mail.