Taking a page from Radiohead, World of Goo developer 2D Boy used the game's one-year anniversary to run a sale that allowed customers to name the price of the game before buying--right down zero dollars.

While a large number of people paid under $2, the average price factored out to $2.03, with a few generous souls giving as much as $50. The sale resulted in pushing some 57,000 copies of the year-old game, generating over $114,000 as determined by the average price.

2D Boy also ran a short survey, asking users how much they paid, their reasoning, and what they think the game should be worth normally.

"One thing that the survey data might suggests is that despite there being a lot discussion around what games are worth and the dollar value of an hour of play, few people chose their price based on the perceived value of the game," wrote 2D Boy's Ron Carmel on the company's blog. "How much the person feels they can afford seems to play a much larger role in the decision than how much the game is worth."

In celebration of World of Goo's first birthday, developer 2D Boy is selling the splendid physics puzzler for whatever you feel like paying and sends news of an iPhone version.

Simply pay as little or as much as you fancy on the currently-overloaded 2D Boy site before October 16 to receive a downloadable PC, Mac or Linux version. If you absolutely must try before coughing up even one single cent, nab the demo from FileShack first.

An iPhone version will also join the PC and WiiWare releases. "It's not done and we don't have a release date yet," said the announcement. "We have it running well on the iPhone 3GS, and with a little luck we hope to get it running smoothly on the 3G as well."

"If you played and liked the game but hadn't yet paid for it, this is your chance at redemption!" encourages 2D Boy, referring to the fact 80% of players connecting to the World of Goo leaderboards in the first weeks following release used pirated copies. Co-founder Ron Caramel has called DRM "a waste of time" for preventing piracy.

Utilizing digital rights management as a means to prevent piracy is "a waste of time," according to 2D Boy co-founder and World of Goo co-creator Ron Caramel.

"Don't bother with DRM," he said during a GDC 09 talk attended by GameSpot. "You just end up giving the DRM provider money. Anything that is of interest gets cracked, and the cracked version ends up having a better user experience than the legit version because you don't have to input in some 32-character serial number."

The topic of digital rights management has become increasingly controversial, as publishers feel they must make some effort to prevent piracy while protesters complain that DRM punishes legitimate buyers with install limits and online activations.

"We don't see the point in having DRM," he added. "Anybody who wants the game is likely to find it on BitTorrent sites. It's going to get cracked even with DRM, it's going to be available very quickly."

Here's an irresistible deal: 2D BOY's fabulous puzzle/goo game World of Goo is only $5 this weekend on Steam.

World of Goo is a puzzle game based around "goo balls." Players connect the balls one after another to form elaborate, often unstable structures, all with the goal of reaching each level's exit point.

The indie game stands out for its remarkable level of presentation and approachable, but puzzling gameplay. World of Goo was one of last year's most critically acclaimed titles, eventually winning several awards, including the Interactive Arts & Sciences' award for "Outstanding Achievement in Game Design."

If you haven't played it, now is the time. Get gooing.

2D Boy's World of Goo (PC, Wii) is being pirated at the rate of "about 90%," according to co-creator Ron Carmel.

The statement came from Carmel in the form of a user comment on a RockPaperShotgun story about the game's pending European release. 2D Boy cohort Kyle Gabler explained in another comment that the figure was established by looking at the number of unique Internet addresses connecting to the game's leaderboard server.

In the face of staggering piracy, Carmel is keeping his chin up. "We're getting good sales through WiiWare, Steam, and our website. Not going bankrupt just yet!" wrote the upstart developer to Joystiq.

Carmel wrote that a few players had illegally downloaded the game and then decided to make a purchase, but added that those buyers formed a "very small percentage."

2D Boy won the 2008 Independent Games Festival for World of Goo. The physics-based puzzler has quickly risen to popularity among indie game fans on Nintendo's WiiWare service as well as Valve's Steam.

Nintendo has issued details on today's update to the Wii Shop Channel, which adds two original WiiWare games and two retro re-releases to the Wii's online store.

WiiWare
• Art Style: CUBELLO (Nintendo) / 600 Wii Points ($6)
• World of Goo (2D Boy) / 1500 Wii Points ($15)
Virtual Console
• Secret of Mana (Square, Super NES) / 800 Wii Points ($8)
• Street Fighter II: Special Champion Edition (Capcom, Genesis) / 800 Wii Points ($8)

Today's release of Street Fighter II: Special Champion Edition marks the fourth version of Street Fighter II to hit Virtual Console. In addition to WiiWare, World of Goo will officially hit PC today, though developer 2D Boy actually released the PC version of the award-winning physics-based puzzer late last week.

All four titles will be available for download beginning today at noon EDT, 9 AM PDT. Read on for the official Nintendo-supplied details on each game... Read more

2D Boy's Independent Games Festival 2008 winner World of Goo will bring its physics-based puzzle solving hijinks to Wii as a downloadable WiiWare release on October 13, Nintendo has revealed.

The announcement came as part of a Nintendo press event today, though PR director Marc Franklin did not disclose a specific price point.

While at the podium, Franklin also announced that Frontier's downlodable wind-blowing Wii platformer game LostWinds has been among WiiWare's best-selling games since the service launched back in May.