Really? A separate domain? Really?
Come on, guys. To read about soccer on ESPN, I don't go to SoccerOnESPN.com. To read about IGN reviews, I don't go to ReallyRadIGNGameReviews.com.
The subdomains made sense. It's a good way of breaking up segments of the site into SEO-friendly and type-able addresses. But subdomains should be transparent to the user. If I go to IGN.com and click on PS3 reviews, I don't even notice that I've been moved to ps3.ign.com. It still looks like IGN, feels like IGN, and I can navigate to everything the site offers in a click or two, knowing that I'm going to stay on IGN. IGN, IGN, IGN. It's everywhere on their site. They're a brand. People trust them. Their name and logo is a valuable commodity and they use it.
This is all Branding & Development 101 material, guys. Don't confuse your customers. Keep them on your site. Make sure they know they're on your site. Unity, not disparity.
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