The videogame news site you know and love is ready for the new generation of Nintendo.
During the past five years, Planet GameCube grew into the largest independent Nintendo news and information website on the Internet. However, everyone knew that we couldn't be PGC forever. The Wii launch was the perfect opportunity for us to change our name to reflect Nintendo's new philosophy. It took months of tremendous effort for us to undergo this change. As the big day approached, we let the new name of the site slip to those that tuned in to Radio Free Nintendo eariler this week. However, the site's new look was still a secret to the public. Now is the time to lift the curtain on the biggest change in our site's seven-year history.
Ladies and gentlemen, I am pleased to present to you Nintendo World Report.
Our new name is a better reflection of who we are and what we do. We pride ourselves on reporting on Nintendo in a professional manner with a worldwide staff. The "World" moniker is a natural sucessor to the "Planet" flag we have flown since 1999, and not being tied down to a specific platform like we were with PGC means we don't need to worry about changing our name again for a very long time. A new name brings a new url - http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/ - so don't forget to update your bookmarks and tell all your mates about our new nameplate!
Likely, however, the new name wasn't the first thing that caught your eye. As you can clearly see, NWR brings with it a new super-clean Wii white look that is much easier on the eyes than our previous purple and black GameCube-inspired facade. It was a part of our overall effort to make site navigation easier for everyone (ourselves included). For example, the new front page design still has our traditional single-column headline display, but we've augmented it with a dual-column summary of older headlines below it. The idea of more content in less space also applies to our overhauled game profile and article pages, making it much, much easier to rapidly view screenshots and browse writeups pertaining to a particular game.
In addition to the name and design change, you may have also noticed a small shakeup on the staff roster. We announced it at the beginning of the month, but it deserves a repeating for those who haven't been to the site for a while. Jonathan Metts, site Director during the Planet GameCube era, has relinquished that title and taken on the less intensive role (or so he thinks) of Reviews Editor. It required two people to fill the shoes that he stepped out of: Evan Burchfield is our new PR Coordinator, and I, Steven Rodriguez, have been appointed the new Director of Nintendo World Report. More staff changes will be coming in the months ahead.
Another important change to Nintendo World Report is actually an addition, and a long-overdue one; our editorial policy is now available for the public to view. We do things a little differently here at NWR, and now that everyone can see why it is we do things in the way that we do, we know people will better appreciate our philosophy. Please take the time to read it!
Of course, a redesign of this magnitude can't be completed without thanking the people who brought it all together. First up, thanks to Ryan Jones for designing the new site. We all were giddy when we first saw the new look, and what you see before you today isn't that much different than the initial mockups. (We're glad he nailed it the first time!) Second, props go out to Brendan Gallagher, who did some CSS coding gruntwork during the building of the site and, earlier this year, recoded most of Planet GameCube's CSS to make the site load faster and to make it easier for us to work on the new design. Last, but definitely not least, Michael Cole gets the biggest thanks of them all for spearheading the redesign project, which was months in the making. If not for his efforts, you wouldn't be seeing the new site at all! So again, thanks to them, and everyone else who helped pull this thing together.
Finally, we want to thank you, our readers. It goes without saying that we wouldn't be able to do this without all of your support. The changes to the site were all done with you guys in mind, so we hope they are to your liking. We have ideas kicking around behind the scenes that may eventually become new site features of Nintendo World Report, but those are going to have to wait until after the Wii's first months are behind us. We're going to be too busy writing about all the new Wii (and DS) games that are coming out!
On behalf of the entire Nintendo World Report staff, I hope that you enjoy the new site and check back to it often for the best Nintendo coverage on the Internet.
