Added: 31.05.2015 8:16 | 2 views | 0 comments


Mike Futter: "As I think about how different my childhood was from my children's, I'm forced to realize how much has changed in 35 years. My kids still hide books under their pillows and read with a flashlight after bedtime, so I know that some things remain the same. But the world is at their fingertips, and until today, my son didn't really know it."

Added: 30.05.2015 21:00 | 1 views | 0 comments


Lifelike statues and cute, plush Pokemon plague IGN. Watch us dig deep in the details of these great products.

Added: 30.05.2015 8:16 | 5 views | 0 comments


Eyes on FF: Welcome everyone to Never Forget Them! Do you ever get bored of hearing about Squall and Rinoa, Yuna and Tidus, or maybe even about Zell and hot dogs!? Okay, who am I kidding, no one gets tired of Zell and his hot dogs. Don't you worry, because Pumpkin is here to guide you on an exploration of the lesser known Final Fantasy relationships! Whether they be friends, rivals, love-triangle participants, or just some lost potential, we'll discuss them here and pay them the respect and attention they deserve! Join me as the series explores and celebrates the lesser shown characters and their inspiring, interesting, and impressive relationships! For our first edition, we'll venture into one of the more popular games, Final Fantasy VII. I'm very excited to write about this one because I think it is one of the more under-appreciated gems of the game. This relationship is between none other than Miss Tifa Lockhart and Mister Barret Wallace. From the beginning these two are shown...

Added: 28.05.2015 21:16 | 6 views | 0 comments


Yet another figure in the RevolMini line has gone up for pre-order: once again Venom Snake, but this time in his olive-drab uniform. It comes with a variety of weapons and multiple extra hands, among other accessories. The figure is set to release in late August of 2015, for a price of around ¥4500.

Added: 28.05.2015 20:21 | 6 views | 0 comments


Mike discusses his hopes that Elder Scrolls Online will live up to the experiences he had while playing Skyrim.

Added: 28.05.2015 20:16 | 2 views | 0 comments


"Theres been some downer news about Hatsune Miku: Project Mirai DX lately, with the coming-soon release date pushed back to some time in September, which is quite a while to wait to get your Miku fix considering the game is essentially already out in Japan. But now weve got some pretty exciting news to make up for it were now taking pre-orders on the game with our Rice Digital exclusive official Hatsune Miku strap replica!" - Rice Digital

Added: 28.05.2015 19:20 | 1 views | 0 comments


Mike discusses his hopes that Elder Scrolls Online will live up to the experiences he had while playing Skyrim.

Added: 28.05.2015 15:00 | 5 views | 0 comments




WildStar, the colorful, action-oriented MMORPG by Carbine Studios, will be dropping its subscription model and will be going free-to-play this fall. Mike Donatelli, product director for Carbine Studios, believes that "removing the subscription cost will give everyone who loves MMOs... a chance to try WildStar."

Added: 28.05.2015 14:00 | 3 views | 0 comments

Nearly a year after the release of , Carbine Studios will also give players the option to purchase a monthly membership that will provide various additional perks. These include convenience bonuses and enhancements as well as additional character, costume, bank, supply, and decor items. But unlike Bethesda's MMO, WildStar won't require you to put down money on a physical or digital copy of the game to play; that means the MMO will be 100% free once the transition takes place.

To flesh out the details on the announcement, I recently sat down with Carbine Studios product director Mike Donatelli to discuss what the free-to-play model means for WildStar.

What main factors led to the decision for WildStar's free-to-play model?

Mike Donatelli: Back at the beginning of the year I shared Carbine’s plan of action for WildStar in 2015, which centered on listening to player feedback to make the game more fun and less grindy, creating content for a variety of different types of players and play styles, and focusing on growing and enhancing WildStar. Our past three content updates have all focused on making the game more fun and providing a variety of content for all types of players. WildStar is now a much better game than it was when it launched nearly a year ago. We're at the point where it's time to really focus on growing the game, and we as a team feel that the best way to do that is to make it so that everyone who wants to play can do so with as few hurdles as possible. This means removing the two biggest barriers of entry to the game -- the cost of the box and the required subscription.

What sort of research did you do when coming to the decision to go free-to-play? What sort of things did you learn from other recent MMOs that started with subscriptions before eventually switching models?

We definitely looked at other games in the industry that have made similar transitions and paid close attention to what worked and what didn't in those situations. One big thing we are doing differently is announcing our plan early (months ahead of time). Part of the reason is that we plan to put a lot of this stuff up on the PTR (public test realm) before the fall transition and actually get player feedback about how things will work. We think that being transparent with current and future players is absolutely essential.

Another key point is that with this transition, we are not putting any of the core game content behind a paywall. The WildStar that players have been able to enjoy as paying subscribers will be the same WildStar that everyone will experience when we go free-to-play. What we are doing is adding more content, like convenience items, on top of WildStar for those players who do choose to pay for these items.

Can you describe how monetisation will work? What sort of items will be purchasable with real-world money?

The items that players can purchase with real-world money will be cosmetic or convenience items [dyes, fast travel, etc.] and will not provide any competitive advantages over non-paying players. Players who pay with real money will be purchasing Carbine Coins, which can be used to buy these convenience items in our MTX (microtransaction) store. For players who don't want to spend money, a sweat currency called Omnibits will drop in-game as they play. These will allow players to purchase the same types of convenience items.

What things do you think will help WildStar stand out among other free-to-play titles?

Since its launch last year, WildStar has always stood out as a game with a unique style, interesting world and characters, engaging combat system, and so much more. It was a critically acclaimed game that's only got better over time as we've listened to our player feedback and improved the overall experience. This fall, players will be able to experience the very best version of WildStar yet, and they’ll be able to do it completely free. We're looking forward to it!