Humble Bundle: warm fuzzies
Fed
up with disappointing, big-budget, $60 video games? A new bundle deal
offers you the chance to get five of the indie world's biggest hits for
whatever price you feel like paying -- and much of the proceeds are
going to charity.
"Humble zndie Bundle 2" includes Braid, Cortex Command, Machinarium, Osmos, and Revenge of the Titans, and it's currently on sale on the Humble Bundle web site. The games are all DRM-free and are considered some of the best-regarded independent efforts released in the last few years. Purchasers can
assign their money between charity Child's Play, advocacy group Electronic Frontier Foundation, and the games' respective development teams.
So far, over 100,000 bundles have been sold, with buyers paying an average
of $7.39 for the five games, which would cost over $80 if purchased at
regular prices. The Humble Bundle's total take stands at $765,000, and
counting.
Not bad for a few days' sales -- and while most buyers have paid less than
$8, some have been going above and beyond. The Humble Bundle web site
publishes a list of the top ten givers; currently topping the chart is
fellow indie developer Notch, the man behind breakout indie hit
Minecraft, who paid a very generous $2,000 for the games. (And
considering how fast Minecraft has been selling,
he can probably afford it.) Also on the list is "fourzerotwo," who's
known to his friends as Robert Bowling, Creative Strategist at Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (Buy | Search) developer Infinity Ward.
The original Humble Bundle raised in excess of $1.2 million earlier this
year, and with nearly five days to go, the second one looks set to
eclipse its impressive success. So if you happen to have a little room
in your gaming budget this month -- or you know a PC gamer who'd enjoy
playing some of the best the indie development scene has to offer -- we
highly recommend you throw 'em a few bucks.
