Profile of a young techie

Published in The Post-Star (D1)

3/16/06

Something is unusual about Ian Mikutel.

His room is way too clean for a typical teenage boy. His bed is made, his bookshelf is lined with test-prep books, and the only clutter on his desk is a check from Yahoo for ad revenue.

And what's up with the signature on his e-mails?

"CEO, RevolutionReport.com," it reads.

This 18-year-old senior at Glens Falls High School is the co-creator and manager of a Web site with a worldwide staff, the host and editor of a weekly podcast, and a budding expert on the videogaming industry -- all while studying hard enough to rank among the top 10 in his class.

"Yeah, it's kind of crazy," he admitted. "But I don't want to toot my own horn."

Revolution Report, a site dedicated to Nintendo's next-generation console (dubbed "Nintendo Revolution"), is the brainchild of Mikutel and his friend Stephen Mastrangelo, also a senior at Glens Falls High School. More than half a million visitors have surfed their way to the site since they launched it last summer.

It provides gamers with any and all available information -- from official news to Internet messageboard rumors -- about the new console, which is expected to hit the market later this year.

"It's funny, because the whole thing is about something that doesn't even exist yet," Mikutel said. "When you think about it like that, it's amazing that anybody comes to the site at all!"

Each week, the site includes a new downloadable audio file, called a podcast, of Revolution-related news and discussion among Mikutel and a panel of gaming enthusiasts from as far away as Australia. At least 500 people download the one-hour podcasts through the site or iTunes, Mikutel said.

He spends about three hours a week recording and editing the podcast through an Internet telephone system called Skype, and several hours each day maintaining the site and answering readers' questions.

According to Mikutel, his site was the first to focus exclusively on the Revolution.

"The concept is basically that we do one thing, and we do it really well," he explained.

Mikutel made his first Web site about Nintendo when he was a fourth-grader, and another when he was 12, so he already had the technical basics down when he came up with the idea for Revolution Report.

"Everybody knew Nintendo was coming out with a next-generation console, and people in online communities were anxious to learn more about it, but nobody had a site dedicated just to the Revolution," he said. "We were very lucky. Any time you're the first site, a lot of people come."

The site's staff includes about a dozen gamers, scattered around the country and the globe. Mikutel will meet most of them for the first time this May in Los Angeles at the Electronics Entertainment Expo, the gaming industry's largest trade show.

Currently, they are all unpaid volunteers, but that could change someday.

A few weeks ago, Mikutel registered Revolution Report as an official business after receiving his first check from Yahoo for click-through ads placed on the site. It was only about $200, but he was thrilled.

"We don't really do it for money now, but obviously, that's the goal eventually," he said.

Once the console becomes available, Mikutel plans to add game reviews to Revolution Report, which he expects will make the site even more popular by drawing in casual gamers.

"A site like this can really explode, and that's always in the back of my mind," he said. "I'm really curious where it will go. If it explodes, and can support me, great. If it doesn't, oh well. It's a good learning experience."

In the meantime, he plans to attend Rochester Institute of Technology in the fall, where he'll major in information technology.

Does Mikutel think he could be the next Bill Gates someday?

He laughed and shrugged.

"Nah," he said.