horriblebastard on 03 August 2008
You aren't paying them to host files and demos, those are available to Silver users who pay nothing. You aren't paying them for voice chatting/messaging because those are available to Silver members who pay nothing. You aren't paying for them to host your Gamerscore because that's available to Silver members who pay nothing.
Paying Gold members are contributing to the cost of providing the features that Silver members receive for free.
Also, it's not just a case of comparing PSN to Live or PC gaming. You have to compare the entire systems and the features and games they offer. An Xbox 360 + Live is better value to me than a PS3 + PSN, even though I have to pay £25 a year if I want to play online. Online PC gaming can be great, but you don't have that unified set of features across all games that you get with a console. You don't even get that with a PS3.
