There is also Darran's poll about 'Sections of RG', where there is a pretty even split between 8, 16 and 32-bit coverage, which would suggest (on the forum at least) that people are interested. Darran mentioned he's had a number of emails of late too, for requests for later coverage, though we don't obviously know the number.RodimusPrime wrote:all those kids that were 8,10,11,12 etc from 2002 onwards are now adults and the Xbox and PS2 are more realtive to them. Fact is whether you personally feel they are retro or not, those are the consoles they grow up with and they are the untapped readers that are becoming available.HalcyonDaze00 wrote:fantastic news, the mag will die on its ar5e if it doesn't start getting PS2/Xbox etc covered more often.the amount of mails I get requesting Xbox making ofs is getting silly at the moment) so there will be an inevitable shift.
So I totally agree with you, its probably about time to start introducing them.
But does that really tell us anything useful? All this feedback has largely come from already-established readers and the poll doesn't tell us how many people would strongly dislike seeing 32-bit coverage.
Taking the post above, I'd be amazed, for example, if those who were between 10-15 when the Xbox and PS2 were current would (in any significant number) be the same people that would have any interest in buying a magazine (not specifically RG, but *any* magazine) now. As purely children of the internet, the way they consume media is quite different, for starters.
I'd be further amazed if the average age of RG readers was anything less than about 35; people who will have likely seen the (arguably) biggest change in gaming - the move to 3D, and for whom there would have been an explosion of new worlds, content and experiences. There hasn't been any change so significant since that until the Wii, really.
You could also argue that as the teams creating games jumped in size, finding people that actually had any significant input (outside of "I was graphics artist #24 out of ~100") or stories to tell that are interesting will diminish somewhat. Maybe.
It's certainly conceivable to suggest (I obviously have nothing to back this up at all) that a heavier focus on Xbox/PS2 would lose more established readers than create new ones.
Just for clarity here, I'm not saying at all that those consoles shouldn't be covered (will equivalent PC titles of the time be included, by the way?), just that those that enjoy that coverage are likely to be existing readers, not new ones.
I will also set out my stall and say I don't mind what coverage we see, though I do think the stories behind the games are more interesting during the 8 and 16-bit heyday.
So, 2 questions:
Edit: Poll now added.