The only thing that irks me a bit is Sony announced people are going to pay for online while destroying Microsoft over their DRM policies. No one called Sony out on that in the media, and even in 2014 people think Xbox LIVE should be free but everyone is OK with Sony charging for PSN.
The thing is, is that unlike the PC the console manufacturers have to MAKE and MAINTAIN the services themselves, rather than PC gaming which is less unified. Plus Sony has over 8 million PS Plus subscribers now - that's hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue a year. Maybe they will put it to good use.
Think about it, if we didn't have a service like XBOX LIVE or PlayStation Plus we'd have the PS2 online all over again. People were complaining about PSN's offerings when it was free, even though I thought PSN was great and really compared well with Xbox Live despite being free. Now imagine if we had to go back to PS2 online.... yeah..... that works on the PC because it's a PC, but on a console in 2013 that wouldn't fly.
If anything, maybe Sony and Microsoft should offer a super stripped down free online multiplayer then. Maybe limit hours you can play free on it, or have many ads - some even intrusive (for example, show up while you play as a notification). Oh wait MS already does ads and charges you (at least they did with the 360). Or it can be free online multiplayer but you don't get a friends list or message list or something.
What do you guys think?
