The problem with the marketing approach (free PSN vs. $50 a year for XBL for however many years you choose to play online) is that it's playing the value card again, which many consumers aren't using as the reason for their choice so much as that initial price.
Granted it doesn't make sense if you consider paying $200 for four years of online play for a $200 console, but very few actually think of it this way. Or justify the expense by breaking it down on a monthly or weekly or even daily basis (pennies a day!) or otherwise convincing themselves what a great value a paid subscription service is. It is inexpensive, but not really for the basic service most are using it for (play online).
XBL does a little added value perception of their own by touting the best most stable (highly debatable) console gaming network and even did a little more shuffling, not by giving more exclusive content to paying subscribers, but by delaying content to free accounts as an example. One could argue it's to limit bandwidth/stress on XBL servers on new uploads, but some would be more apt to take a slightly more cynical opinion of this "bonus" for subscribers.
Exclusive deals really don't cut it either (deals limited to Gold accounts) in that they don't actually give the user anything extra, it just makes them more apt to buy on sale.
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