Hey MM476 I bet you theres more chance Sony will add pay to play or pay for premium online features than Microsoft will remove Live given the fact that they recently increased the cost to $60.

Anyway check out: http://www.mcvuk.com/features/808/OPINION-Retail-vs-Steam and find out why publishers are pushing for the download option more than ever.

Given the way things currently stand, I believe you may be correct, and this is a day I fear.

1. And I read that article the other day.  I agree with his sentiments vis-a-vis retail vs digital distribution, but I feel as if the PC market is kinda hurting itself at the moment.  For example, Crytek's latest comments saying that consoles are holding PC back, given publishers are focusing on the console versions of multiplatform titles as that's where the money is.  I believe that's sort of a self-fulfilling statement.  The money is on consoles partly because there are so few PC titles that really push the platform these days.  People have no reason to invest in PC gaming when the best looking title on the platform came out three years ago.  Thankfully, the Witcher 2 should be changing that next year.

2. The lack of proper development support these days is incredibly sad, given how much Valve has done to streamline and unify PC gaming over the past half a decade.  Steam has done an incredible job of making PC gaming a more console-like experience through its user-friendliness, even going so far as to auto-download and install new drivers for your video card as of the last major update, yet the service has little in the way of killer apps with which to draw in non-PC gamers.  Of course, this also falls partly on Valve's shoulders, given their titles are some of the few blockbuster PC titles left, and they for some reason make them multiplatform. 

3. The only real killer app we've seen lately is Starcraft 2, which of course is the one recent title that doesn't support Steam, given it's Blizzard.

1. It is because there are so few PCs capable of being pushed. Consoles aren't holding back PC gaming they are saving PC gaming. Without consoles you would have that never ending specification creep inflicted on a buying public whom doesn't know what is going on. It used to be that the average new PC could play every game out at the time of release. At least now with Sandy Bridge and Fusion there will be decent computers out there with decent graphics capabilities which are in range of consoles.

2. The Xbox 360 and PS3 did pretty well without them. Besides you'll have to give them time as developing services like Steam is a considerable and on going effort. It took over a billion dollars to roll out Xbox Live to the state it is today so give them a break!

3. Well it still helps even if it isn't Steam. However the other big app is Diablo 3 as well.

Microsoft had an extremely powerful competitor in the PC online market: Steam. Nobody was going to pay for Microsoft's (inferior) GFW Live service, when they could get arguably the best online service in the world completely free of charge.

That option isn't there on 360. It's a Microsoft platform, and there are no competitors in its online market, so Microsoft can do whatever the hell it wants.

Its because Sony has failed at being a competitor in many respects in online. How many years now have people been waiting for cross game voice chat?!