Look at the story again. The story is about the website, not retail locations.

I think you're severely underestimating the size of the sites in the top 1000.

I'm not sure how accurate this ranking is (and it cuts off at 973, for some reason), but the bottom 100 there include sites like Target, Best Buy, Delta Airlines, Air France, and the New York Post - large retailers, airlines with high traffic, and big newspapers. I don't think any of those sites would accept the money to be removed from the listings - even at that level, it's still not worth it.

Literally?

You sure on that?

From my experience, it's usually quicker to search Google and tack on the name of the site in your search string than it is to search Amazon, IMDB, Wikipedia, or what have you and filter through their results. Obviously, if Google wasn't an option I could still search on their own sites, but Google tends to work better than most of their built-in search engines.

I can't count how many game releases i missed simply because i never really checked to see when they were released, or even heard about them in the first place.

This sounds like a personal problem to me.

If you want to know what video games are coming out, it isn't that hard to figure out. Look at Amazon's Top Sellers list. Look at IGN's recent reviews. Look at the posts on the front pages of Joystiq or Kotaku. Go look at any video game message board on the internet and you'll find topics about whatever's new and popular. Walk into any store that carries games in the country and look at what's sitting on the shelf.

I'd prefer not to have ads in loading screens just because some people are too lazy to do a bit of research on what new releases are available.

Don't worry - I'll take one for the team.

In Soviet Russia, nukes derive energy from you!

Physics killed the video star?

When there are still regions of the country without affordable broadband, games as digital downloads are a long way off. I don't think any of the console companies are ready to ignore significant chunks of the country because their residents can't afford to pay for expensive broadband plans solely to justify their shiny new console.

Sadly, they won't be. The PSPgo is a good indication of this - Sony's charging just as much for digital downloads as you'd pay for a physical copy, because they're afraid of undercutting retailers who they think they need to sell the device in the first place. Another example is Microsoft's Games on Demand feature. It may be slightly more convenient, but I'm not sure I want to pay $30 for a two year old title, or $20 for a game I can get used at GameStop for $5.

As long as the console companies are relying on retail outlets to move consoles, we won't see the prices of digital games fall.

You think that's bad? Just imagine sites like Fox News, Free Republic, or DailyKOS.

Think about video game sites, especially anything that could maybe be considered favorable to one console or manufacturer. Think about Microsoft and Apple.

Think about religious sites. Think about atheism sites. Think about topics like abortion or gay marriage.

Anything that has even the slightest chance of being controversial is going to become a free-for-all. This has the potential to be a trainwreck of epic proportions...but I've got to admit, I'm curious to see how it all plays out.

Batman?

From EMI's website:

There's also this page, with a more complete listing of artists.

EMI's catalog includes some of the arguably best albums of all time, and some of the most popular current artists. I don't see any way how this will end well.

Movies have other avenues to recoup the investment - the theatrical run, cable rights, pay per view, and so on.

Making games for the PS3 and 360 requires a significant investment - we're talking millions of dollars. Trying to get the game to break even is hard enough, and dropping the price that much is something I can't see the publishers and developers ever going for.

Most games do hit that pricing eventually, either via the greatest hits lines or retail markdowns or clearance sales. You've just got to be willing to wait for that to happen.

Of course not. That would just be Unreal.

It's popped up on the internet a few times before, and I know I've seen discussions about this on sites like CheapAssGamer before that Digg article was posted.

Unfortunately, though, nothing's been done about it (at least that I know of). Until the policy is changed or, better yet, eliminated entirely, this is going to keep popping up as "news."