Playing with history
I don’t usually post about things from the past, but I couldn’t quite let these comments on the Next-Gen/Edge re- branding go unrevised. It’s understandable that Colin’s got a bit muddled, since he wasn’t involved with Edge at the time, but it’s not quite right to say that Edge had ‘never much bothered with the web’. It certainly isn’t how I would characterise the great deal of hard work that went in to the old Edge Online - initially from Jim Rossingol, and then latterly Brandon Boyer, as well as a number of Edge staffers over the years. Thanks to their efforts and general brilliance, Edge Online was one of Future’s most successful blog-based sites, and much loved by many, including me, even though it’s very un-British to admit to loving the things you make yourself. When I moved up to editor it wasn’t part of my remit any more, and it lay mostly dormant for a while before Next-Gen stepped into the breech. I’m sure the new Edge site will prove a huge success, but I’ll always miss the old one, even if I won’t miss laboriously hacking out all the wrongly-coded quotation marks. And it’s nice to have a chance to say thanks to Brandon and Jim and Steve and Ben and Duncan and all the other excellent chaps who made it such a uniquely omnivorous, considered, accurate, eloquent and wry place to be. The new crew have a lot to live up to.
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Don’t mention it! This blog is my favourite ‘Making of…’ since Metropolis Street Racer.
By The Aforementioned Steve on 15 July 2008 11:45 pm
The pleasure was all mine, although the only hard work I ever contributed to Edge-Online was accosting Warren Spector in the toilets at E3.
By Ben; Previously Thanked on 18 July 2008 7:24 pm
Playing with history indeed!
“It certainly isn’t how I would characterise the great deal of hard work that went in to the old Edge Online - initially from Jim Rossingol…”
If you’re going to get your laundry out in public, Margaret, it’s probably a good idea to actually credit the original Edge Online editor, Michael French, who actually set up the thing in the first place (not Jim Rossignol, which is how your blog entry could be interpreted).
By ALMIGHTY GOD on 21 July 2008 4:13 pm
Hello there, Tony.
No laundry, really - just a chance to credit the people who Colin didn’t. And I think your memory is playing tricks on you - I’m pretty certain it was Jim who first provided content for the site, although you’re right that my memory is playing tricks on me for forgetting Mike’s later involvement once it had its own editor. Sorry, Mike!
By Margaret on 21 July 2008 5:11 pm
Hang on a minute. It was like that when I got there. Honest, guv!
Except that time I accidentally cocked up all the HTML so that every link pointed back to the home page and then frantically had to change it back before anyone noticed.
But apart from that I pretty much left it how I found it.
By Michael on 22 July 2008 7:18 am
Actually, what about Steve Hildrew? He built the first Edge Online, but I don’t see him getting any credit. It’s a bloody outrage.
By ALMIGHTY GOD on 22 July 2008 9:50 am
You should complain about it in the foreword for Edge Presents The 200 Best Videogames.
By Ben on 22 July 2008 8:16 pm
Too late!
By ALMIGHTY GOD on 23 July 2008 8:22 am
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