You have put into words the exact same things I've been wondering recently. I've been a 360 gamer for the majority of this gen (and a happy one at that since I play a lot of MP) but I recently got a PS3. It really got me thinking as to what the whole point of paying for Live was. Yes Live has a much better dashboard interface than PS3 imo and it has party chat, which allows for very good communication, but party chat and a bit of glitter doesn't justify paying £30 every year just to access the ability to play online. If the free membership on Live included the ability to be able to play MP and nothing else, I probably would have never payed for Gold. And this is where PSN comes in. The free PSN has the basic online features that one should be given for free like playing online, but those who pay are given many free games, etc which Live doesn't come close to giving. So overall Sony's model is much more gamer friendly and if they continue it to next gen I'll be migrating back to the PS brand as my primary console. If they just add in party chat like in Vita, then the deal is pretty much set in stone.
