They'd get one hell of a backlash if they start charging for online play, regardless if it was on a new platform.

It's something Ireally  doubt they'd do, given the way PSN is set up.  It currentlly spans both PS3 and PSP quite well, and with the way things are hading, it should have similar functionality on both PS4 and PSP2 as it has on PS3.  It's become a platform in and of itself, one that spans multiple pieces of hardware, much like Steam.  Charging for online play on one piece of hardware but not another simply would not work.

Really all they need is for PS Plus, Home, etc. to cover the costs of PSN.  Online pay doesn't come with any costs outside of the inherent costs of hosting and storing someone's profile, which comes with every pSN user, whether they play online or not.  So long as these servies vocer PSN's expenses, they shouldn't have a need to start charging for online play.

Also, PS Plus and XBL are too fundementally different products.  With XBL you're paying for features such as online play and party chat, with a few services like Netflix mixed in.  With PS Plus, you're currently paying primarily for discounts and whanot, as well as access to some services and products like Hulu Plus and Qore.  It's more like a mix of a rewards card and a magazine subscription rather than a user fee. 

It is really only beneficial for people who use PSN quite actively (and indeed, the only people on my friends list that have paid for the service are the most active users I know), and there is no detriment to NOT having the service, aside from missing the ocassional discount on a game you may be interested in.  On the other hand, if you don't have XBL Gold you lose access to half the features in most games (more than half in any modern FPS).

I really don't know about using 'data' like this to come to sweeping conclusions.  Only seems to start arguments that don't go anywhere.

OT: So how DO you put someone on Ignore?  I skimmed the 'How do I' thread and it said you can't on gamrConnect.

I believe there's more to it than that.  A majority of multiplats have been selling better on the ps3 since the beginning of the year, both new releases and older games.  If you look through our weekly software charts, even older titles like GTAIV are selling better ps3, and the ps3's lead in software when tallying up the sales of these multiplats is generally much larger than the gap in weekly hardware sales.

This trend has continued even these past few weeks.  The 360 has been selling significantly more hardware since the release of the 360S in North America, yet the ps3 is still selling more software (save for last week, but if you remove the two big new exclusives - Crackdown 2 and White Knight Chronicles 2 - ps3 wins).

I think the buying base of ps3 owners is simply larger than that of 360 owners now, though some demographics will continue to lean one way or the other.  Whether it's due to piracy, people rebuying the console (as shown buy the bump in hardware sales not accompanied by a bump in software sales these past few weeks), or what have you, ps3 owners are generally buying more software

#1 M$ barely has a first party

#2 Is it really fair to compare only the 360 to the PS3, PS2, and PSP?

Sony's SW -  72 Million (14.5 million first party) Includes PS3 (50.8), PS2 (6.8) and PSP (15.2) Sales

MS's SW - 46.6 Million (4.3 million first party) 360 sales only.

Using the estimates of $48 for a first party games and $12 for third party games. We see that Sony earns a total of about 1.38 billion dollars compared to 707 million dollars for MS. 

Interesting seeing PS3 SW sales being higher than 360 SW even with a 5 million lead, also interesting to see Sony making so much money form it but still posting loss after loss.

RaRe , LionHead , BiGPark , Good Science , Turn10 , 343 , Ruffian Games. 6 1st Party Studios. Plus Epic Games Working on Games for MS , Crytek and many more to come... i see a great future for MGS.