With just nine days to go, the latest indie game music bundle, "THE NUBUWO WINTER BUNDLE" has managed to raise $2,900 of its $8,000 goal from 124 backers. The Kickstarter campaign urges supporters to "discover game-inspired music and fund Tokyo's FAMI-MODE 2012 DVD, featuring live chip music performances and interviews."

In an interesting conversation with Eurogamer Hotline Miami publisher Digital Devolver reveals how much the gruesome indie action game has sold to date, how much it has been pirated and the shock at just how popular his little indie game has become.

Project manager Graeme Struthers Hotline Miami has sold 130,000 copies since launch seven weeks ago. While he was happy about those numbers, Struthers said that PC piracy has had a serious impact on sales.

When you develop a game without the permission of the copyright holder, chances are you will be in for some sort of legal action. Such is the fate of the My Little Pony MMO, which has been shut down after the developers of the game received a copyright and trademark infringement claim from Hasbro. The game was not approved by Hasbro. Fearing serious legal action the developers decided it would be prudent to just shut the game down.

Paul Johnson from UK-based developer Rubicon has deleted a scathing rant posted earlier today aimed at Windows RT and Microsoft claiming that his game Great Big War Game made just £52 from the Windows RT marketplace in its first week on sale. Johnson claims that the Windows RT port cost his company an estimated £10,000.

Three independent game companies have decided to work together to develop and publish independently developed strategy and war games. The Slitherine Group, Ageod, and Matrix Games have merged. The new super group will continue to develop and publish niche war and strategy games online and through other channels. The Slitherine Group released 30 titles in 2012 for a variety of platforms including PC, Mac, PS3, X360 and tablet platforms. Its games include Battle Academy on iPad, Commander- The Great War, Close Combat: Panthers in the Fog for PC, and many others.

Sometimes crowd funding amazes the community and the developers looking to make their dreams come true and sometimes they show that an idea has no validity. Once in awhile there are sad situations like the one recently experienced by the team behind the game Alpha Colony, whose crowd funding appeal ended with team falling just $28 short of its $50,000 funding goal.

Android-based OUYA console will soon be in the hands of the public - or at least that part of the public that wants to develop software for the platform. The OUYA will ship out beginning on December 28 to those who backed the Kickstarter and will arrive to supporters shortly thereafter.

In Episode 31 of the Super Podcast Action Committee hosts Andrew Eisen and E. Zachary Knight discuss if the gender and race of a main character matters, the Humble THQ Bundle, the importance of play-testing, more Uplay woes, DRM, and other forms of tomfoolery. Download it now: SuperPAC Episode 31 (1 hour, 14 minutes) 68 MB.

Double Fine's Ron Gilbert wants the Monkey Island franchise back from Disney. The creator of the popular point-and-click adventure game franchise lost the rights to Monkey Island and Maniac Mansion after he left LucasArts. Then the company decided to sell the franchise off to Disney. Gilbert thinks that Disney doesn't know what to do with the franchise and is just letting it languish. He describes the situation as very sad.

"Yeah, I wish I owned Monkey Island and Maniac Mansion, you know?," said Gilbert.

Software bugs.  If you're a gamer, you've no doubt encountered one at some point.

If you've played Skyrim, you've definitely encountered one.

Over the weekend, our own E. Zachary Knight put out a small game called Dragon Fire (pictured).  You're a dragon.  You fire at enemies.  If the enemies fly into you too many times, you lose.  Simple and fun.

Digital Eel's Weird Worlds: Return to Infinite Space will be up for sale on Indie Game Stand for four days - from December 3 - 6, with ten percent of the proceeds going to its charity of choice - RIF (Reading is Fundamental).

Minecraft creator and Mojang co-founder Markus 'Notch' Persson said in a recent article on Develop that he worries about Mojang growing too big. If that were to happen he thinks that the company could lose the independent spirit it is known for. Persson also said that he did not want Mojang to work on what he called "super polished games," as those tend to require larger teams and bigger budgets.

The top four games have been voted on by the community in Double Fine's annual game development jam, Amnesia Fortnight.

Sweden-based developer Mojang is working on a custom version of its hit Minecraft game for the $25 - $35 Raspberry Pi micro-computer. The new game is called Minecraft: Pi Edition and was officially filed this weekend at Minecon fan event in Paris, France. According to the official FAQ on the Raspberry Pi web site, the game came into being after the company sent "a bunch of boards out to Notch and the guys at Mojang in Stockholm a little while back."

Indie mobile game development studio Hogrocket is closing, going on what its founders call a permanent hiatus as members of the company move onto new opportunities. The company was founded by former Bizarre Creations staffers after Activision closed that studio down.

Hogrocket was comprised of Pete Collier, Ben Ward and Geometry Wars series creator Stephen Cakebread. The studio shipped a single game while it was in operation: Tiny Invaders for iOS. Collier has moved on to work for British studio Playdemic.

Team Meat co-founder and Super Meat Boy co-creator Aubrey Hesselgren announced that he is holding the 3D prototype of Super Meat Boy Galaxy "hostage" in an attempt to raise 10,000 British pounds for depression-focused charity The Samiritans. He made his announcement (demands?) on the web site Just Giving. If the goal is met Hesselgren will release the the 3D Super Meat Boy Galaxy prototype to the public and if it fails he'll offer it only to those who were kind enough to donate.

Double Fine's Amnesia Fortnight is going to be a little different this year... This year's event will let fans decide which ideas get made into games, with a live stream of the entire process to boot. But the best part is that, when it's all said and done, all of the games made during the vent will be released as a special Humble Bundle.

Speaking to IGN UK, Frozenbyte marketing manager Mikael Haveri says that Nintendo is being very flexible with titles being released in its freshly launched Wii U eShop. The company released Trine 2: Director's Cut over the weekend on the Wii U's virtual storefront. Haveri says that the new eShop leaves core decisions to indie developers publishing games on the platform - including the prices they set for their products and when they have sales.

Developer Slouch Couch (a one-man studio featuring the talents of indie developer Dave Homan) has created a game that he hopes will raise awareness about marijuana legalization. The game is called Drugbound. Drugbound is an HTML5 developed "endless runner" game where players run away from law enforcement while collecting "medicinal herbs" and avoiding bosses.

Homan wants to use his game to question the illegality of marijuana use in America. In a press release today he explained his position on the issue:

Humble Bundle has added five games to its current promotion bringing the total to a spanking 11.

The new additions are Avadon: The Black Fortress (tablets only), Canabalt, Cogs, Swords & Soldiers HD, and Zen Bound 2.  With the exception of Avadon, each game comes with its soundtrack.

While Ethereal Entertainment's Faceless has been a top vote-getter on Steam Greenlight since the platform's launch in September, Valve has decided not to publish the game on Steam because of copyright concerns, according to Joystiq.

It's that time again!

Yes, a new Humble Bundle is here, making indie games available in the pay-what-you-want way we all know and love.

The Humble Bundle for Android 4 features six games: Splice, Eufloria, Waking Mars, Crayon Physics Deluxe, Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP, and Machinarium.  The first five are yours for whatever price you feel like paying but if you want Machinarium, you're going to have to pony up more than the average price which as of this writing, is $5.90.

A Kickstarter for a space in Los Angeles where independent developers can get together is being pitched today as the "LA Game Space." The idea of the project - should it get the $250,000 in funding organizers are asking for - is to transform an old warehouse in the Arts District of Los Angeles and turn it into a hot spot for game design and independent titles. They plan on hosting workshops, exhibitions, research labs, public events with guest speakers, and space where indie game makers can set up shop. Think of it as a sort of indie game commune, if you will.

Teasing an upcoming interview with Hotline Miami co-creator Jonatan Söderström, VG247 offers tidbits on the developer's positions on piracy and making games "just for money." Recently made headlines when he offered support to players who had pirated his game over on Pirate's Bay.

First he talks about why he makes games:

Valve Software announced via its Steam Greenlight site that it will announce the next round of games that have gotten the "greenlight" to be released on Steam via its community-driven game discovery system. The next batch of titles to receive the Steam Greenlight treatment will be on November 30. Valve also said that it will reveal the "first graduating class of Software titles," with at least five Software (non-gaming) titles targeted for inclusion in this group.

Introversion Software co-founder Mark Morris has spoken out against the Microsoft's expensive Xbox Live Arcade certification process. Morris, who helped Introversion make such hit games as Uplink, Darwinia, DEFCON, and Multiwinia, says that Microsoft has to make changes to the process and lower or eliminate its fees if it wants to continue to compete with services such as Steam.

A brand new Halloween themed bundle has been announced by Indie Royale, offering five "spooky" pay-what-you-want games for the holiday. This bundle includes the full five-episode season of Telltale Games' Sam & Max: The Devil's Playhouse; the horror adventure, Home; the horror-themed first-person adventure game from Ice Pick Lodge, Pathologic; and more. The top purchaser for this bundle will also get the sold out physical Old-School Collector's Edition for Home which includes a map, game manual and game-universe artifacts.

Jonatan Soderstrom, one of the co-creators of the popular indie PC game Hotline Miami, apparently noticed a thread over on The Pirate Bay complaining about bugs in his game. So what does he do? He joins in and promises a patch!. Yes, Soderstrom offers support even to people who pirated his game. From the thread (uncovered by PC Gamer):

Electronic Arts announced this morning that the very first crowd-funded game has landed on Origin, the company's digital distribution platform. After successfully being funded via Kickstarter, the post-apocalyptic vehicle-based action game from 2 Dawn Games and Reverb Publishing is complete and ready for purchase.

Electronic Arts announced earlier this year that it would support games funded by the community through sites like Kickstarter and would let them be sold via Origin free of charge.

The newest Indie Royale Bundle is alive and kicking - offering five new games that consumers can pay-what-they-want for until October 21. The Indie Royale bundle is a little different than the Humble Bundle in that it has a starting price - in this case $5.