Digital scarcity is an interesting concept. There should be no logical limit on how many times you can copy a file or generate a key, some places seem to just run out of stock anyway. That’s a deliberate decision on part of the Indie Gala managers for this pay-what-you-want (kinda) sale, as rather than have a time limit, this particular sale will end with 50,000 bundles sold. In addition, there’s three different bundles available here, offering 3, 5 or 11 games respectively. Oh, and like the enormously successful Humble Bundles, a chunk of the takings goes to charity. Lots of choices. Hit the break for a quick run-down of what each bundle and game offers.

Four men, a sack-full of Boom, a spaceship full of mutant alien beasties and a high-energy chiptune track to keep you moving. What’s not to like? Pineapple Smash Crew – the first game by one-man outfit ‘Rich Make Game!’ (with help from chiptune musician Syphus) – has been one to keep an eye on since it’s debut at the Eurogamer Expo last year, where folks played and enjoyed it a lot. Now it’s out and available to buy from Steam, Desura and other stores – so, the big question: How does it hold up to long-term scrutiny?

The Japanese indie scene is finally making it’s presence known to the English-speaking world. Hot on the tail of Fortune Summoners, Nyu Media (who released Satazius late last year, with additional backing from Capcom) are gearing up to release a full trilogy of gothic-themed vertically scrolling shmups to all standard digital distribution platforms – Steam included, presumably – for $10. Keep an eye open for Tennen-Sozai’s eXceed collection in the coming weeks. Gameplay footage and some thoughts after the break.

Update: A playable demo of eXceed2nd is available now, with a demo of eXceed3rd ‘coming soon’.

Along with Overgrowth and Cortex Command, Unknown Worlds’ FPS/RTS hybrid Natural Selection 2 is one of those indie mega-projects that seems to be in a perpetual state of development. Today marks a rather special day in the development of NS2, as the latest development build – codenamed ‘Gorilla’ – has been released to preordering players, and is accompanied by a genuinely impressive gameplay-footage trailer. Hit the break for some hot marine-on-alien action.

The 2011 phenomenon that is Bundlemania continues unabated into the much more futuristic-sounding 2012. Sneaking in out of nowhere, Indie Royale is back with a ‘bonus’ bundle comprised entirely of Serious Sam games, including the whole third-party indie series, including Vlambeer’s Serious Sam: The Random Encounter and Mommy’s Best Games’ Serious Sam: Double D. As usual, the base price (otherwise pay-what-you-want) is going to creep up – now is the time to snap this lot up for cheap.

Links this evening has some clarification with all the big news swirling around following the premiere of Indie Game: The Movie at Sundance last week. Plenty of new for/from developers, game picks, and of course the usual round of interviews.

Old news? Perhaps, but these two projects are one of the better kept secrets of the modding world. The Ultima series are classics for a reason – a long-running franchise of very forward-thinking roleplaying games that ran all the way through the 80s up until the end of the 90s, sadly ending on a sour note due to extensive publisher meddling. The one key weakness of the games is their age. While the combat engines are solid and the settings and stories excellent, the technology lets them down, which is why these two full-length remakes are worthy of your attention.

What’s this? We’re talking about a musical album here on DIYGamer? I know! It’s weird, right? But I think this particular album has a special place in many gamers’ and indie gamers’ collective hearts as this is the same guy who did the wonderful soundtrack for VVVVVV which was widely lauded for its music.

Links this weekend has a a few notable news bites (along with the standard batch of new interviews and suggestions for games to check out) including the passing of game designer and musician Bill “Phosphorus” Sears, a man described as a great ally in the indie game effort.

Today’s links have word on a couple of upcoming indie jams and events, a few titles we ought to be investing a bit of time in, and some fine interviews.