I can't wait for SSB4 personally.  And yes just like MSFT and Sony they will improve online as it goes.

XBL monthly fee makes MS good money. They won't end it just to put pressure on Sony, it's not worthy it.

Live subscriptions are rising, so do not expect MS to stop charging for online.

It didnt in the current gen, but how will it influence the purchase decision for the new gen under an economic recession? I think its coming.

I think if Microsoft persists with the fee for online play, they will most defintly not win next gen. Well, outside the US at any rate. US people seem to take theft with a smile for the most part.

The US is no longer in a recession. It's on pace for a bit over 2% growth in GDP for 2012, which meets the criteria for a healthy economy. (2-4%)

To be honest, I'm not sure why so many US people are okay with paying for Live. I sure wasn't, that's why I never even considered buying a 360. Ignorance is bliss, eh?

"Winning" total units sold is a fan thing, in the real world it's much less important than people on forums like to think.  Any business would be fine with selling less but earning more profit.  If Microsoft decides that they'll make more money keeping Live as a paid service than they would over selling more units then they'll keep it as a paid service, even if it means giving up the rather meaningless "1st place".

I do know that Microsoft has huge plans to expand Xbox Live globally across all Microsoft platforms and devices, especially with the rebranded Microsoft Account concept.  They want to lock people into one ecosystem and they're going to do their best to earn money from that ecosystem.  I think the cumulative end cost of using Microsoft services is going to go up, not down.

If Live Gold was free, I might not have bought a WiiU at launch. I wanted Netflix and COD online, but it annoyed me to pay an additional fee for both when they are free elsewhere. Don't know why it bugs me so much, but it does. I just feel that matchmaking should be free, and you shouldn't have to pay to pay for Netflix. It effectively doubles the cost of your system over its life.

What features does XBL currently have on the two that makes it so much ahead?

I think Microsoft should remove it. Like, they can still charge for different services, but for people who just play online they should make it free for them. Perhaps they can make paying for Live more attractive by offering more special things so that players actually don't mind paying rather than being sort of forced to do so.

How about you look up the other billion threads on this topic in the last month :)

It should have been free years ago, Considering the PSN has twice as many users as LIVE does back when they announced the numbers last year. I think PSN was 60m and Live 30m, pretty much half of everyone that owns a 360 doesn't want to pay for there online.