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"Big on gaming? Do you jump at the mention of free downloads? If so, you may want to give an ear to this bit of news. AOL, in a joint project between AOL Games and Weblogs, Inc, the company\u2019s very popular catalog of blog-format publications, is launching a site called BigDownload. BigDownload describes itself as a \u201Cnew content- and service-centered site for the PC gaming audience providing free downloads, game reviews and industry news.\u201D\nThere\u2019s no question that BigDownload is up against substantial competition. Top sources for gaming news, reviews, and downloads include IGN, GameSpy, and GameSpot, all of which command a sizable portion of the market. BigDownload\u2019s ability to make a strong impact following today\u2019s launch will most definitely reside in its ability to attract readers of the Joystiq blog, currently residing within the Weblogs series of sites. AOL may also have to induce spill-over from some of its other properties.\n\nSpeaking of other AOL domains. Looking at the way in which the website is connected to the broader list of gaming-oriented provisions under the AOL umbrella, it\u2019s rather difficult to wrap one\u2019s head around the company\u2019s overall strategy for this particular entertainment sector. For starters, AOL\u2019s top-level gaming service, AOL Games, is only connected to AOL's video game-centric GameDaily website. Having browsed GameDaily, however, I can safely determine that much of what is being served by the newly-instated BigDownload is already available at GameDaily.\nStill more peculiar is the fact that, while BigDownload, currently in beta form, is clearly associated with GameDaily, the opposite cannot be said. This could be chalked up to the company\u2019s strategy to perform a staged rollout of BigDownload. Yet not even so much as a link to BigDownload found on GameDaily\u2019s front page. Odd indeed. I certainly understand the intent for BigDownload. It serves the PC gaming community exclusively. But that point is entirely independent of AOL\u2019s evident lack of marketing for the site\u2019s launch.\nNaturally, BigDownload is a relative newborn, and may eventually have itself positioned as a component of the GameDaily network. For now, however, BigDownload to my eye is nothing more than an unnecessary repackaging of what existed before. A much darker-toned repackaging, to be fair."^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://mashable.com/2008/07/02/aol-bigdownload/>