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.
BigCheese
Haven’t been on the site properly in a long time, looking pretty nifty, really like the logo update. The site looks a hell of a lot better on my phone now too!
hornet1990
Was it tested on iPad (safari on iOS6) at all? I get constant redraws with whole blocks or divs disappearing when loading or scrolling which is damn annoying, and one of the things that puts me off visiting a site. Performance also seems very poor on desktop Firefox too :(
bunimomike
Firefox (desktop PC) is fine here and there’s no love-loss between me and Firefox right now. Had a good click around and all is loading relatively quickly and scrolling nicely.
hornet1990
Hmm, maybe it’s different when your cache has been warmed as I’ve just retried it on my desktop and it is now a lot better. iOS/safari still sucks though…
Alex C
I think certain iPads (pre Retina) struggled with the image loading routine. I’ve switched this off, works fine on a Mini in any case now.
seedaripper1973
*head explodes*
cc_star
Much prefer it. Works great from desktop to tablet to phone.
I’ve been a visitor to TSA since almost the beginning, when Alex & Michael brought something different to the table from all the other gaming sites out there at the time.
Wish Al all the very best, but fuck… His review writing is right up there among the web’s finest & if his position at a developer means he can no longer contribute reviews then it’s a very sad day indeed.
GOOD LUCK AL! *said rather selfishly through gritted teeth*
Peter, PETER! what has become of you?
OnlineAssassin77
Does anybody else in here feel the way i do
cc_star
Yes, finally!
:)
OnlineAssassin77
As soon as i read it i knew it was Pink Floyed Vera,from the classic The Wall ;)
OnlineAssassin77
sorry Floyd :0
TSBonyman
First up, congrats on the fresh new layout although I’m afraid i’m one of those stubborn old goats who is highly resistant to change so i’t’ll probably take me some time to get used to it. ;-)
Is there a new url for the mobile site? When i try to load the ‘old’ one it just takes me to the main site.
The main site is quite laggy in my PS3 browser – but i don’t expect you to be able to do anything about that. Afterall, you can’t move forward without leaving something behind. Anyway, in a few months PS4 should provide me with a smoother tv browser experience and i’ll be able to lap up all these media-rich features :)
bunimomike
“Afterall, you can’t move forward without leaving something behind.”
You could always take it with you. :-P
TSBonyman
Oh i’ll be hanging onto my ps3 alright – i just can’t expect websites to continue supporting it’s underpowered browser. :/
bunimomike
The new layout is very striking. The panels look lovely with their colour-coordinated buttons on and almost demand to be clicked. Very nice. The trending panel on the left is probably of some use but I can feel myself ignoring it already. I do on Twitter and now I have TSA to ignore trendy topics too! That might be me showing my age or my ambivalence to water-cooler topics.
Default font choices read well and the articles/reviews look very strong.
The logo is a sticking point. Sorry, Peter! :-( It’s a bit “construction company from the 70s” looking and the font for “tsa” doesn’t sit well with me but design is hugely subjective so I could do something (allegedly) better and have you basically vomit on it with repulsion. There’s no right and wrong here. Just… yeah… not sitting too well with me right now.
The last comment is something I’m hoping Alex/Nofi can help with. Along with many of the “power users” on TSA, the new layout isn’t too conducive to us visiting multiple times a day. Whilst the blog listing works, can you code something into the log-in so that if I’m logged in, for example, that the homepage is replaced with the “vertical” blog layout if I’ve ticked a box in my profile? That would be lovely as that means everything works off of the back of that. We probably make up a minority of the TSA demographic but it would be lovely to have that in place. Hell, I’d be happy having the thumbnails down to tiny again as I’m all about the Latest News list but that’s just me.
Top job all ’round, TSA. :-)
Good luck, Alex. Hope JAW is wonderful to work for.
XisTG
Yes, the vertical layout: love it, but it goes away each time I read an article :)
Roynaldo
Like how clean it looks. Formatting is great. 2 issues:not keen on the banner at the top, why when I click to watch the embedded video (on my nexus 7) will it not work? Just a black screen.
Roynaldo
Oh… Forgot to mention, congrats to those moving up down or sideways in TSAs ladder. Honestly didn’t know who did what before as the job here is seamless. Good luck all.
Lyts1985
Love the new mobile version of the site – very clean and easy to browse on my iPhone :-)
My only gripe is the massive ad box… Appreciate it’s a necessary evil, but it’s my only issue thus far.
Alex C
Ad on mobile now a lot smaller.
Lyts1985
You my friend are a star :-) and this kind of feedback reaction and the respect you clearly show your readers is one of the many reasons TSA is my favourite and only website for everything PS related :-)
Also Nofi, while I’ve got you (ha!), I appreciate we’ve never spoken but, what with all your reviews and articles I’ve read over the years I’ve been lurking here, I feel like I know you and can honestly say your writing talent will be missed but I wish you all the best for what seems like a very promising future :-) Enjoy it!
SH Number 7/Mini-Lipscombe
It might be because I’m tired but the new site is giving me a headache, there’s just so much stuff going on. I’m yet to look at the blog view. I’m not a big fan of the logo either.
gazzagb
Love the new look, looks very sleek and fresh. Is there a chance we’ll be able to set the blog view as default at some point? I visit the site numerous times a day, so that view is better for seeing what’s new, although I’ll give the full layout a try for a while, just to see if I end up finding it ok.
Congrats to Blair for stepping up to Editor, but I hope that doesn’t mean we’ll be seeing less of Kris. And as for Alex, TSA has truly lost a great writer (and coder – great job on the redesign!) and I wish him all the best at JAW.
gazzagb
Just had a look on the staff page, noticed that Kris is still here and Tef’s got a promotion too! Well done chaps!
Kris Lipscombe
I’ve just shifted to a position where I can nap more. Way more.
Tuffcub
Everyone is still here but Alex, Peter and Kris are all taking a back seat and letting the inmates run the asylum which is why Blair is in charge now.
Quite how Blair (4’10”) going to boss around me (6’5″), Dan (6’5″), Teffers (6’5″), Jim (also v tall) etc remains to be seen.
Maybe he’ll get a booster seat.
bunimomike
Blair is perfect bollock-punching height. You all HAVE to behave or you go down like a sack of spuds.
gazzagb
I find it slightly disturbing you know the heights of that many Staff members! (But then again, it’s hardly surprising knowing you TC!)
Blair Inglis
I’m about a foot taller than that :)
Tuffcub
We do occasionally meet up in person Gazza, hence why I know. I’ve always said if there was an gaming website rugby tournament TSA would literally kill the opposition.
And who are you kidding Blair? :)
gazzagb
I remember I saw a fair few people at Eurogamer a couple of years ago, but I don’t remember Blair being that small!
Blair Inglis
I’m not, Tuffcub’s just a giant… along with the others.