

The Humble Bundle for Android (and Mac / Windows / Linux) - jeff18
http://www.humblebundle.com/?android

======
moxiemk1
Now I know what Android users feel like when people announce endless iPhone-
only mobile apps. I was _super_ bummed that I missed the last Humble Bundle,
since it was chock full of games I had been meaning to buy. This one is
smaller, though, and the having the "cool" feature targeted at a group I'm not
in makes me feel like the bundle isn't really worth paying attention to.

This is the first time I have _ever_ felt left out by not using Android. I
think I'm going to more seriously consider needing Android versions of
projects. The feeling sucks.

~~~
bookwormAT
It makes sense to include Android in the Humble Bundle, since it is the only
popular PC platform that was not already included. It is not really possible
to deliver a iOS or WP7 app without DRM, so they cannot extend the offer to
applicances.

~~~
shinratdr
That's what he was looking for, a nice snide response.

EDIT - I'm guessing from the downvotes that the Hacker News community finds it
acceptable to refer to iOS and WP7 as appliances? I'm sorry but that's BS.
Every definition of computer appliance I can find excludes devices that can
have programs added after the fact, something that is definitely possible with
both operating systems.

EDIT 2 - If people feel so strongly about this I really would appreciate a
reply instead of just a downvote. I thought this place was about discussion
over simply dismissing?

~~~
Fargren
People are downvoting you not because they disagree with your opinion, but
because it adds nothing to the conversation. That's frowned upon in HN. The
response you replied to was perfectly valid: there's no iOS or WP7 bundles
because they are contrary to the philosophy of the bundles; this is a valid
point that no one had mentioned. Complaining that the response was snide, OTOH
doesn't say anything that's relevant to the topic at hand.

A better response would have been to say that you think referring to those
platforms as applications is wrong, and probably some explanation as to why.

~~~
shinratdr
> People are downvoting you not because they disagree with your opinion, but
> because it adds nothing to the conversation.

I disagree, I think there was a valid point made in a comment that overall had
an arrogant tone and some inaccuracies and that should be addressed like I
chose to rather than just ignored.

Dispelling inaccuracies adds to the discussion, or at the very least attempts
to prevent someone else from detracting from the discussion. To act like I
just came out of left field with this or something is just ridiculous.

> The response you replied to was perfectly valid: there's no iOS or WP7
> bundles because they are contrary to the philosophy of the bundles; this is
> a valid point that no one had mentioned.

Which is why I didn't take issue with or mention that part. I took issue with
referring to iOS and WP7 devices as appliances when they aren't.

> Complaining that the response was snide, OTOH doesn't say anything that's
> relevant to the topic at hand.

It was both snide and inaccurate because of that, I assumed that was implied
or obvious. I didn't think I needed to lay it out so blatantly.

> A better response would have been to say that you think referring to those
> platforms as applications is wrong, and probably some explanation as to why.

Like I said, I assumed that was implied. I did cover why in my edit. It's
simply incorrect, no definition of computer appliance backs it up and it
smacks of arrogance.

------
jc4p
The downside is that if you install the Android games on your Android phone
you won't get any updates they release on the Android Market for them. You'll
have to get a new APK from the folks making the game with each update.

~~~
jeff18
We are currently beta testing an app that will organize your downloads and
provide updates in a central spot for Humble Bundles (like the Amazon
Marketplace), which should be ready for the public in the next couple of days.

Additionally, the apps themselves will notify you if there is an update, akin
to how Sparkle works on Mac OS X (Adium, et al. use this).

Finally, you can download updates from our website similar to how it works for
PC.

~~~
cryptoz
> We are currently beta testing an app that will organize your downloads and
> provide updates in a central spot for Humble Bundles

I'm sorry to be a downer here, but this really bothers me. The Android Market
is built such that 1) each version of each app has reviews, 2) each version
has permissions, 3) updates for all of my apps come from the same place, 4)
the apps come from a single trusted source, _signed_ , and 5) I could continue
forever listing the advantages of the Market.

> Additionally, the apps themselves will notify you if there is an update

No, no, no! One of the main advantages of modern app distribution is that we
don't have 100 apps each telling us to update. We have one OS that manages
this and updates according to our preferences. I understand that you consider
your app distribution needs special, but each time a large, active and popular
company/developer does this, _it hurts the platform as a whole._

Edit: I purchased Osmos on the Market, at full price, yesterday. I love the
game and I'm very happy with it! I'm already addicted. For feedback from here,
I'd like to add that I'm very happy to have bought it on the Market and that I
wouldn't consider getting it from somewhere else, even if it's cheaper, if
that means circumventing the market. What if you release an update that causes
a problem? How will I know if I cannot easily access the Market reviews to
make sure that the new version is at fault? Alternatively, what if I drop
offline someday and attempt to play Osmos, only to find that there's an
update? Having the Market version I don't have to worry about that since the
app will (according to my preferences) _already_ have updated itself. Anyway,
keep up the good work and I thank you very much for Osmos!

~~~
ConstantineXVI
The Market doesn't allow gift codes, there's simply no way to do anything like
the Humble Bundle on Android without sidestepping the Market. Your blame
should be at Google, not the Humble Folk.

Also, if you absolutely must have centralized distribution for each and every
app, there are other platforms that are more than happy to provide that.

~~~
egypturnash
I think ultimately the solution is for the Humble people to talk to Google -
and to Apple, for that matter - and say "we do this thing, it makes a lot of
money, how can we do it through your servers?". If they can get the owners of
the official marketplaces interested then something will happen.

~~~
morsch
They could add a slider to control the percentage of your purchase prize which
goes to the App Store owner. Except you can't adjust the slider, since it's
fixed at 30%. Ouch. I'd much rather continue giving those 30% to the EFF.

~~~
jamesgeck0
I could see Google forfeiting their 30% if it went to charity.

------
shinratdr
I don't know why iOS users are in this thread complaining. This is barely
indicative of anything, except that developers don't have unlimited promo
codes in the App Store so iOS isn't eligible for this style of promotion.

Last time I looked all of those titles are available on the App Store right
now, and they have all been on sale for a dollar at one point or another. They
were still published on iOS before any other mobile platform. Most of them I
already own and don't even have on my phone anymore. They have been available
in the App Store for well over a year, some for over two years.

Maybe it's just me but I'm not exactly getting much of a left out feeling from
this bundle. On top of all that, as we are seeing it's hardly a perfect
system. They have to design an updater because the Android Market can't be
used to update non-Market APKs. IMO it's more trouble than it's worth.

~~~
vacri
Anomoly's website screams at you that it's already available on the iphone, so
iOS users aren't losing there, either.

<http://www.anomalythegame.com/default.aspx>

~~~
shinratdr
Good catch, I fixed the comment.

------
buss
Incidentally, this site is almost unusable on an android phone. Flash and
detail popups that are always floating off the side of the screen, despite
scrolling.

It would also be nice if there were links to the market so I could read
reviews of the games.

~~~
bookwormAT
Right. Once you purchased the app, however, the download page and installation
is done very professional.

------
patio11
I'd start picking a different challenge mechanic than "Beat the average" since
the average is sensitive to distribution bring dominated by poor Redditors and
incentivizing "Pay us $5.50" does not result in hugely more successful
outcomes. How about hiding the average and offering the bonus to anyone paying
$25+? Or even $10+?

~~~
teej
I totally agree. I think they're leaving money on the table with this
particular strategy. I even told them so last week to their face (their office
is 4 floors below mine). The answer I got surprised me.

First off, they test the hell out of everything. They've tried dozens of
variations with different offers, forms, and copy. This is what won. "Beat the
average" is a compelling call to action. Think about it, would you rather "pay
$10 to get X" or "beat the competition with $10"? The latter has bite to it.

It's also about brand. The only way theses offers stand a chance with
consumers and developers in the long run is by staying Humble. It's in the
name after all. These guys take it VERY seriously. And it's been paying off -
their bundles have been doing better and better because people know the name.
They trust the name. And they want to give money to support it, along with
charity & game delopers.

Does the road end there? Certainly not. But I have huge respect for these
guys. I totally trust that they know what they're doing here.

------
trotsky
Thanks for bringing the EFF back.

~~~
ysangkok
Looks like you can't give all your money to them though. You can only control
the ratio between tip/developers/charity. Which means you'll end up giving
half your money to Child's Play, even if you go full charity.

~~~
jeff18
You can indeed by clicking the disclosure triangle to the left of the charity
slider. Perhaps it is too small?

~~~
StavrosK
For a data point, I found it no problem.

------
robocat
Nexus owners: Edge didn't work on my Nexus (neither Edge Classic nor
Extended). The other HD apps seem to work great.

Permissions: All apps except Anomaly only asked for Network Communication.
Anomaly needs Network Communication, Modify/Delete USB storage, and Prevent
Phone from Sleeping.

~~~
TobbenTM
What Nexus phone?

~~~
robocat
Sorry, Galaxy Nexus running 4.0.2 (GNex)

------
invalidOrTaken
This sort of thing always makes me so darn optimistic. I wish I had enough
money to contribute $256 like that one guy(poor college student here). Best of
luck to everyone involved.

~~~
greyfade
I feel the same way. Even though I'm gainfully employed, I'm not comfortable
spending much more than I already have.

But any chance I get to support developers that release Linux games, I'll take
it.

------
cjkarr
Doubled my originally intended contribution given the availability of the
soundtracks. I wish all games came with the MP3s of the music used within.
Game soundtracks are a staple of the music I listen to when I code.

Great job Humble folks!

~~~
jamesgeck0
The Edge soundtrack especially is fantastic. I've had it in my tune-
everything-out playlist for a few years now.

------
soci
Any clue how an independent game developer can build the same app for multiple
platforms without wasting a lot of time?

Being a sole developer I find it quite difficult to develop for multiple
platforms at the same time unless there's a framework that allows me to do so.
Are the people behind the games in the bundle using a sort of "multiplatform-
framework" ?

~~~
collinjackson
Apportable helped Osmos and EDGE cross-compile their Objective-C code bases on
Android using GNUstep and other open source libraries.

~~~
soci
I guess Apportable is building a framework to manually port iOS to Android.

"Apportable is a venture-backed team of six engineers, looking for a few more.
We're solving some ridiculously hard problems porting iOS to Android. Our
software is already being used by some of the world's largest and best game
developers"

------
nextparadigms
Something like this needs to be done for independent music artists, too.

~~~
baddox
I suspect a "music pack" has a very low chance of having much value to any one
person.

~~~
spacemanaki
That doesn't make any sense; there's a lot of overlap between different
people's music tastes and across genre fans. Even so you could also easily
have things like a punk rock bundle, rap bundle, electronic bundle, etc and
that might even be more lucrative.

------
rogerbinns
What about those of us who already bought Osmos and Goo several times over in
previous Humble Bundles? If I bought this it would only be for the Android
ports.

~~~
amikula
Well, it is all about "pay what you want". I'm sure you'll figure something
out.

------
snowpolar
Well, I don't know why, but I just hate it when Humble Bundle puts in a game I
already purchased in previous humble bundles and all games being in the same
steam key as well. However, having an android app this time lessen the pain by
a little though. Although I not owning an android currently.

------
jamesgeck0
Is this the Linux debut of Anomaly and EDGE?

~~~
jeff18
Yes it is :)

------
alexyoung
Hey, that's my unlock gesture!

------
dddrh
Got these all loaded onto the Kindle Fire. They work beautifully. I was
meaning to post this about an hour ago but Osmos absorbed my attention.

------
moondowner
As a Linux/PC gamer (non Android user, at least at this moment :)) this is the
first time I have doubts whether to buy the bundle. Two of four game we're
already featured in previous bundles.

I'm interested in `Anomaly: Warzone Earth` can anyone give an opinion on the
game?

~~~
simcop2387
I went ahead and bit the bullet but I haven't been able to give that one a
test. It currently is segfaulting for me so I'm waiting on a response from the
developer and/or getting my normal machine back up and running (down for
backups) to test it somewhere other than my laptop.

------
liquidsnake
Tried all the games on my Touchpad running ICS (Cyanogenmod 9 Alpha 0.5) and
they all ran flawlessly (except for the video playback in Anomaly but that's a
known issue). Great stuff!

------
kzrdude

      > Linux:
      > Processor: 2.4 GHz
      > Memory: 1 GB
    

Pff.. is a x86_64 distro supported or not? Also, "2.4 GHz"..., that simple era
is over.

~~~
mitakas
Yes, there are tar.gz, deb and bin files for amd64, but for me (Core i5 with
HD3000) Anomaly isn't running on Ubuntu 11.10.

------
gcb
and.... the humble bundle is dead. good while it lasted.

clicked the very first icon there, and the movie ONLY had cinematics. not a
single slipt second of gameplay.

Indie games came a long way, but they are now just the same as big studios.
milking any branding they can. humble bundle unfortunately being one of them
:(

~~~
Jaecen
I assume you're talking about the Anomaly icon, which is the only one without
gameplay (and is also the third icon, but maybe that changed). I'm not sure
why you'd base your opinion of a game, let alone the continued success of the
bundle and the indie game industry itself on the content of a single video
link. The Humble Bundle continues to provide what it always has, and the game
it promotes continue to be created by small independent studios, distributed
DRM free on a large number of platforms. The choice of using a cinematic
rather than gameplay video hardly impacts these other factors.

If you're concerned about the game itself, it's been out for a while on a
number of platforms and is well-reviewed, so finding gameplay videos should
not be difficult.

~~~
gcb
it's the first icon if you follow the path.

well, i base that on my knowledge that cinematic scenes are the blame of
gamers. so a bad way to promote something.

~~~
gcb
Bane. Not blame. Damn phone

