I think the popularity of the Humble Bundles has also helped a lot to promote indie games throughout the industry.
The thing for me about indie games are that they are not afraid to be bold; to do something completely unique and different that what big publishing houses will do. They do not have shareholders to impress, they do not have any big corporate entities hampering their creative thinking. This is why most indie games are either a hit or a miss. Some of them have been brilliant, and may have even spent more hours playing them than some R500 AAA title.
