you got my hopes up in that you got Christian Whitehead in for an interview since he's now helping with engine optimization for an announced Wii U title.

I have yet to put ANY money into Badge Arcade and i play almost every day.

You underestimate children when saying this isn't the game for them, most of them know VERY WELL about F2P games by now and if you there is a way to play without paying anything, they WILL find it. and Badge Arcade is VERY lenient with it's free plays.

Interesting, I wasn't aware of that.

Actually, I do want to start doing some interviews, so maybe thats something to look into for down the road.

Christian "Taxman" Whitehead is the fellow responsible for the excelent Sonic CD remaster that Sega put out, as well as the enhanced iOS Sonic 1 and 2 ports.

He's helping Strife on development for Freedom Planet 2.

Yeah I am aware of his Sonic work, I havn't kept up with his more recent happenings.

I actually love the new super Mario Bros DLC. Coin Rush mode was my favorite part of the game my wife and I kept beating each other's high scores and the DLC for that game made it so that we enjoyed it longer.

I have no doubt that there's a vast swath of players who are in no danger at all from Badge Arcade and similar setups. BUT, I also believe that there is a significant group out there who we need to be aware of as more vulnerable or susceptible to the lure of microtransactions, especially when coupled with the tried and true psychological mechanisms designed to make us want to buy them. Nintendo is a company that should value its good relationship with players of all ages, and calls itself family-friendly, so I think there's a higher need for safety valve mechanisms in place just in case for that vulnerable population.