It's unfathomable to me that anyone doesn't pick Microsoft, but I know M$ is gaining popularity in the console market lately. Still, how can you argue against all the first-party Sony titles? Sure, blu-ray is a stretch for this generation but if you think it has no effect on games you're wrong. Having to use 3 dual-layer discs with slower reading (DLs read slower) and no dedicated hard drive support to make up for 1 blu-ray disc will make a big difference soon.
It IS the exact same strategy as the PS2 and PS1 that expanded the market for 10 years and did video gaming a lot of good. CDs were virtually new format for consoles (sega cd gets some credit I suppose), and DVDs were just catching on. The consoles were $300 which was still rather expensive for a new console and yet I think it paid off in the end for both the gamer and Sony.
Sony's software franchises, though...come on. Microsoft has Halo but Sony has a lot of quality games. I agree with others that I do not want M$ owning both PC market and console market. PC Gamer magazine is now Games for Windows. How disgusting is that?
To directly answer the question, though, I think paying for online games is a crime against gamers. Does battle.net charge? No. Does Steam charge? No. Does any game charge to play online besides MMOs (and Guild Wars is free monthly, as are others)? No. So why should Microsoft charge for online console games? Call it copycat, Sony will have all the features in XBL and more, and it will be free. M$ didn't innovate, they just combined some features that are on the PC that console developers were slow to add. I give them credit for that, but charging $200 for 4 years of online gaming erases the price difference for blu-ray. When the other 2 catch up (apparently Sony faster than Nintendo...man I wish Double Dash was online...but I digress), how can M$ continue to charge for that service? Someone please tell me what it is besides a menu, messaging (ICQ and AIM for a long time on the PC), voice chat (Sony has video chat with any USB webcam, bluetooth headsets/keyboards/mice), and a store? What else is there? Oh yeah, achievements. Those are clever, copy away Sony and Nintendo (sarcasm).
Oh well, to each his own. I would hate a console market in which M$ dominated.
