NextGen has a great interview with Greg Costikyan about the future of software and game development/distobution. A little Stardock-plugging excerpt:

I think we will launch with a hundred or more titles. I'm not relying solely on broadly populist products although we will certainly be carrying those. We'll also be looking at, for example, war games where there is a consumer following but which rarely has much in the way of retail distribution any more. For example, companies like Stardock have sold more than 100,000 copies of Galactic Civilizations, almost all of them downloads, so there are examples of companies succeeding through online distribution.

By marketing effectively and providing a place where wargamers and other niche gamers can find the best in their genre, we can succeed.

     Most of you who know my gaming preferences also know that I love online distribution. This has really become one of my pet causes as I see EB Games et al catering exclusively to the console and mega-title only market.

      Unfortunately many small publishers still don't get it. With today's massive broadband market small games like Titans of Steel : Warring Suns should be available to download ala Stardock. I don't want to wait for them in the mail or pretend that there is more than a 1% chance EB has it.