What is TheSixthAxis? A gaming website? A community? An outlet for our often sadly vapid, rumbling trains of thought? We don’t really know – we never really have. Nobody put us here to change the world, nobody ever told us what was right and what was wrong, and nobody helped steer our path. We just did what we thought was right, talked about what we wanted to and got excited every time somebody dropped us a comment.
That notion, that sometimes misplaced will, has spurred us on now for over six years. For me personally, getting feedback of all kinds was a pointer that we were doing something right, and that, as a diversion, a hobby, a part-time evening job you couldn’t ever get out of, the website offered a channel for creativity and a way of communicating – or at least trying to communicate – what I (and we) thought about games.
And so, 2013 brings change to the site. There’s a new design, there’s a renewed focus on PlayStation, there’re shifts and switches in terms of those that bring you the content. Blair will be taking over editorial duties on the site, for example, and later this week Alex is disappearing to paint pretty pixels for Just Add Water. There’ll be new faces too, whom we’ll introduce gradually so as not to scare the ducks.
TheSixthAxis might be a gaming website. It might be a community. It might be an outlet for its writers. But it’s also a collection of like-minded friends, and that will continue to be the case going forward. Exciting times are ahead, and with the next generation of consoles around the corner we wanted to ensure we’re placed to continue to cover them in the way we’ve always done, but with more emphasis on videos and that all-important opinion.
So, what’s new? The video above hopefully explains what we’ve been doing for the last few weeks. We hope you enjoy it, and here’s to the next six years.
tsa.
Youles
Much like cricket, I don’t like it….I love it!
Dar-Kaus
TBH, I think I preferred the old layout, but I understand the need to keep things looking fresh.
Have you done away with the progress bar under or Avitars altogether?
Dar-Kaus
That should read under our Avitars NOT or Avitars
gazo69
Very nice! I like how the your name (CB) is hidden in the new logo :)
Topgearsam
Mobile site is great very easy to use now. The whole thing looks lovely, well done gentlemen.
CarBoyCam
Very nice guys. I’ll admit that I wasn’t too sure about the new logo, but this does look very fancy indeed. Also, now as you’re using ‘TSA’ more, I’ll be able to refer to the sim racing team as TSA Racing. Some admins got funny about the ‘the’ in ‘TheSixthAxis Racing’. :P
But yeah, very pretty! :D
psychobudgie
I still haven’t got over the previous change. It sucks to have autism. In lieu of me wanting it to go back to the far superior previous version following the next change, well done :P
yd
Apart from the one thing which is just a little bit Too Bloody Huge on the front page, it’s quite a nice redesign.
Top marks for getting the line lengths just right. Fixed widths for the main text on a page can lead to some weird complaints about extra white space at the sides, but it does force a 10-15 word maximum length. Which makes it easier to read (proven in various studies). That and some other little design choices there make the whole thing VERY readable. Someone did their design job well there.
Or happened to do it by accident while trying to make the site look pretty.
The little banner across the top that only appears once you scroll down is not such a nice thing though. What does it achieve, apart from to remind you of the title of the page you’re reading (which is really helpful?) and to give you a link to another article to read (in case the one you’re reading isn’t doing it for you?). Or someone found jQuery and wanted to try out absolutely everything it can do?
Overall, it all looks nice, surprisingly readable (given how much is crammed into every space available) and some annoying features. I shall award it 24.2 stars. Out of a maximum possible X stars. (Where X is some number greater than or equal to 24.2)
DividSmythe
Nice new look as always I prefer the vertical look as I do hit site fairly often during boring downtimes at work.
Aran Suddi
Blair in charge?! Next you’ll think me responsible enough to edit news!
Love the design.
Bilbo_bobbins
Personally love the colour scheme, but the front page I feel is a bit of a mess. The first article is HUGE and takes up most of the screen. I would prefer to have latest news more focused on and the main articles next to it, but not as big.
Lovely work though chaps and as usual will still be visiting, including on my mobile.