According to Kotaku, Mobigame’s EDGE is back on the iPhone App Store after legal disputes with Tim Langdell of Edge Games who claims he has the rights to anything related to “Edge.” Likewise, EA is trying to appeal Langdell’s “Edge-related trademarks” as a result to disputes over its 2008 hit Mirror’s Edge.

EDGE is now released months later as Edge by Mobigame on the App Store for $4.99. David Papazian of Mobigame has said that the rename was a result of Apple’s demands. He also stated that he was confident EA would be able to win the suit against Tim Langdell–who is no stranger to defending his rights to the names. If you’ve never seen any gameplay footage you should definitely check it out here.

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Indie games aren’t generally known for their incredible graphical content. From time to time, a game such as Zeno Clash or Metal Drift will take advantage of high-end artists and detail their production more than say, Runman, which will choose to use a different style of artwork. Gridrunner Revolution, Llamasoft’s newest addition to the family of psychedelia-laden gaming experiences, combines that strange allure of style and gameplay rather than focusing solely on the visual content.

That’s not to say that the game does not provide aesthetically pleasing visuals. Founder Jeff Minter, who before Revolution worked most recently on Space Invaders Extreme, utilizes what he’s known from the start excellently. The game is very Galaga oriented: you control a space ship and are supposed to blast down enemies and collect sheep. Yes, sheep: the staple of Llamasoft. While Gridrunner Revolution is an excellent update for any fan of the Gridrunner series and a useful purchase for those new to the game, I must also address its downfalls.

Over the course of this last week, I had noticed that Steam was reaching out to the indie community. They were helping out developers by giving them an established distribution system and stepping it up in offers (see: Machinarium on Steam). To my surprise, however, I read an interview from Maximum PC stating otherwise. According to the article, Randy Pitchford of Gearbox Software—the guys who are most recently doing Borderlands—believes that Valve are actually taking advantage of independent developers.

“It’s actually really, really dangerous for the rest of the industry to allow Valve to win,” he said after proclaiming that Valve’s conflict of interest proves that Steam should be its own business. Pitchford is the CEO of Gearbox Software, which rose to fame because of their work on the Half-Life expansion pack titled Half-Life: Opposing Force. When the interviewer says “but you’ve worked with them a lot!” Pitchford’s rebuttal is that while he “personally” trusts them, he knows many in the industry don’t.

Independent developer Black Jacket Studios will release their highly-anticipated vehicular combat sport game Metal Drift on October 22nd. The good news for Steam users is that there is a 20% off the price for pre-orders (making the price $9.99). Likewise, you will receive access to the Metal Drift beta.

The polished game features command of a futuristic hover tank in a sports arena. It requires gamers to utilize well-fashioned teamwork in order to complete objectives in intense multiplayer combat. Through experience, players will earn rewards such as power-ups, ranks, and weapons. With 56 possible tank configurations, the player’s preference is strongly at heart and therefore allows for what seems to be a very personalized selection. The game is also packaged with 18 Steam Achievements and Black Jacket promises to add more.

Check out the video!

No, that’s not a joke and no, EA isn’t working on it. But believe it or not, College Lacrosse 2010 (aren’t they lucky it’s not patented?) has been submitted for Peer Review on XBOX Live Indie Games. Triple B Games and Carlo Sunseri LLC will be releasing the game on Live for 10 dollars (800 Microsoft points).

College Lacrosse 2010 has even garnered attention on Facebook, boasting over 48,000 fans! Now in the final stage of the release process, Sunseri–a lacrosse coach in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania–thanks Triple B and Microsoft for turning an idea into reality.

If you want some more information on the game or wish to show support, here’s their Facebook page.

What an adorable game! I mean really, a very well-thought out game with an insightful concept. Amanita’s actual website for the game, Machinarium.net, lists the explanation of the story as “A little robot who’s been thrown out to the scrap yard behind the city must return and confront the Black Cap Brotherhood and save his robot-girl friend.”

The puzzler is based in a robotic world in which you control a little robot that can expand or detract its body. There seems to be some dissonance in this universe as your robot is not being treated equally and more like a piece of junk. The catch is that you can only interact with what you’re closest to in the environment. You need not worry, however, as walking is allowed and–when added to the expanding/detracting attribute–the action of reaching objects is quite simple. You are also expected to combine different objects to complete objectives in order to get to the next level.

Does anybody remember those tireless days we used to spend in the arcade? Sometimes playing through until the place closed, spending whatever we could scrap together for that extra 5 minutes? What an era for gaming! Looking back, most of those games weren’t even that great. Between the pinball machines, racing rigs, shooting adventures, and fighting games was the occasional brawler. Not a typical fighting game in the same vain as say Marvel vs. Capcom, but rather those action-adventure brawlers where you clear the game from section to section.

Well, lucky for all you 360 owners—especially those with Live—Streets of Fury has come by to make us reminisce and recount the older, cheesier (maybe better) times. In fact, for only $3 (240 Microsoft points), this piece of nostalgia can be yours!

What’s so amazing about indie games is that stylistically, they are so much more original and creative (in terms of art, especially) than any other genre of games. Perhaps XBOX Live Indie Games is working to provide us with a wide variety just to showcase a few of the talented developers that have remained on the DL (that’s down low, not download). For fans of the TV show Robot Chicken, claymation is not a foreign word. The incredibly long process of animating with clay can take months for a single episode.

In this case, Platypus*, a side-scrolling claymation space shooter that has been a hit on the iPhone, PSP, and PC is coming to XBOX Live! Admittedly, this is in no way surprising as I’m sure you can find many games on XBL that can attribute to this exact same method of attaining a position on Live. However, according to Gaming Bits, this version of the game features revamped high definition audio and graphics. Most importantly, Live will also allow players to enjoy the game cooperatively. You should be able to get the game sometime in the next few weeks. Rock on, Escapist Games!

*A useless mammal. < A joke referencing the movie Dogma.

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If you’re like me, you love games that cost a dollar, or 80 Microsoft points. Although certainly not great, the safe haven that is XBOX Live Indie Games has still treated indie developers quite well. Quite obviously, Microsoft is seeking indie hits with the medium and from time to time prevails at providing us excellent bargains.

Perhaps another game that may be one of these excellent bargains is Abduction! which allows gamers to control an alien UFO and–you guessed it–abduct stuff! As humans, we enjoy taking on the responsibilities of causing havoc under an extra-terrestrial facade, and by the looks of it Abduction! may be tuning in on that desire. Like so many other games of this type, Story mode will be available in addition to a Score Attack mode, which is basically a competition between you and other XBL users.

If anybody’s hesitant, I’m just going to use the “Oh come on, it’s a dollar!” argument.

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When put into perspective, it is true that—especially for giants Valve or Activision—the inclusion of zombies will magically increase sales and boost hype over a game. But when that same inclusion is applied to an indie format, the results are actually even more staggering. The key, however, is that there be some form of originality and/or creativity within the game.

Microsoft launched XBOX Live Community Games—now renamed XBOX Live Indie Games—for small-time developers to get their shot through a big-time medium. The main up-sell of the medium is that the games are all either $1 (80 points*), $3 (240 points), or $5 (400 points) each. Much like the iPhone, there are an excellent couple of buys for just a dollar, but I MAED A GAM3 W1TH ZOMBIES 1N IT!!!1 takes the cake!