Joystiq to relaunch next week, opts for "spokes" approach

Joystiq's getting what looks to be a major revamp next week, changing the site's structure from being a separate entity to the Fanboy blogs into something it terms as a "spokes" design.

Editor Chris Grant explains:

Beginning early next week, we'll be launching an all new design. But it's not just a new look. We'll also be launching 3 new "spokes" of the main site by moving our Fanboy blogs under the Joystiq domain. PS3Fanboy.com and PSPFanboy.com will become PlayStation.Joystiq.com; NintendoWiiFanboy.com and DSFanboy.com will become Nintendo.Joystiq.com; and Xbox360Fanboy.com will become Xbox.Joystiq.com.

The old Fanboy domains will redirect readers to the new spokes which – like the Fanboy sites – will have a platform-specific look and feel. The majority of the posts on each spoke will also be specific to that site; however, we will now have the ability to push posts across the four Joystiq sites. So important Nintendo-specific news can be pushed to the main Joystiq.com page ("Nintendo buys moon, builds Super Mario Galaxy theme park") while less urgent, but no less entertaining, news will live on just the spoke ("Samus-shaped potato chip signals Nintendo's snack market move"). "Fanboy" readers get the same niche experience, while Joystiq readers get the same curated coverage they've come to expect for the last four years.

Make sense? Goodo. More through there.