The only games I've ever payed to play online was Word of Warcraft....

Pardon my French Vagabond, but what the hell are you talking about? The only PC online services that charge anything are MMOs and Windows Live. PC online is and always will be 99% free.  Now, if this is just for MMOs (which is what I think) then it will be like PCs, but random games aren't charged for.

If its only for MMO then its ok .If its for many games it SUCKS big time .

For me the way for the future of online gaming is the current Sony model .Free online play ,pay for downloadable things and games ,totally lagfree ....and with the userbase pushing for them to refine slowly the service (XMB ingame ,Home ,Trophies ,etc ) .

Heh, if that's the case, then they need to find a way to make games cheaper to make, because more expansive prices are only going to reduce the number of people willing to buy games. Games like COD4 and Halo 3, though both you need to pay to play online (for the 360) and have sold well, I don't think there's enough people willing to pay to play online to make this a viable option for more revenue. And since these games are dependent on their online features, someone like me (who would never pay to play online) would just skip over them, and I'm sure many will do the same.

I don't know if the fee's for online services would cover the reduced income from the number of people who wont buy the game because of the fee, but. I guess my point is they shouldn't be finding more ways to squeeze money out the consumers, because I doubt many consumers are willing (and able) to pay for these things. And demand is all about what consumers are willing and able to pay for something. Just because my roommate wants a PS3 doesn't mean he'll get one, because though he is willing to pay for it, he is unable to (as I would be). Games are almost getting to that point for me too. I'm almost not willing or able to buy games at their current prices. Online fees? No.

I agree with your last sentence though. 

I want to ask this question more generally, because I think it's an important point. For anyone who's looked at MS and Sony's financial statements for the last 2 or 3 years, it's pretty apparent that they have to make more money somehow. And in case you thought this was a momentary, 2-3 year blip, the situation has generally gotten worse, not better; Sony made more money in the PS1 era (Despite the PS2 being a more popular console both in hardware and software sold), and it's readily apparent that they'll make a lot less money in the PS3 era. What we may think is a lot of money -- 600 dollar PS3, 400 dollar Xbox 360s, 60 dollar games -- clearly isn't enough.

They have to make more money. What do you suggest they do? I'll give you some options:

1) Decrease the power of the consoles in the future. Take the Wii route, and take small steps.

2) Increase the price of the hardware

3) Increase the price of the games

4) Introduce for-pay downloadable content

5) Introduce an online subscription service

Option 1 seems to be completely unacceptable to a lot of people. Option 2 and 3 seem almost absurd, as people are complaining about the prices of the PS3 and 360 even now, when their respective companies have bled billions to push them at their current costs.

Number 4 has already been put in place by all 3 companies, and for Microsoft and Sony, it clearly isn't enough to stem the tide.

So that leaves number 5. Am I missing something? Is there some error in my calculations here? Because from what I see, subscription costs are simply a necessity. Or we can all buy Wiis. Or they can sell the PS3 for 800 dollars. You chose, because Sony and Microsoft aren't going to be happy bleeding billions upon billions of dollars for eternity.

I think you guys are all over-reacting.

First off, this isn't replacing regular wifi, just another option should a game have downloadable content (GH4) or be MMO based. Nothing shocking or unusual here, you pay on MS and Sony service for downloadable content too. And MMOs are always some form of pay-to-play.

This is also probably key to their expansion in China/India and South America where you can bet 90% of games will be pirated. So to be profitable in those areas, you need to have pay-to-play games.

Wait, you don't pay 50 dollars a month for Steam?

Uh oh.

This means that MMOs are coming and i don't think MMO games would work with FCs so yay!

If that's not the case and they start charging other online games Nintendo lost a fan and just shot themselves!

They can do this -- make a system like the Wii. 

Buuuuut that doesn't seem to make most people happy. Otherwise, there doesn't seem to be any magic fairy dust that will magically make games significantly cheaper to develop. Even the vaunted middleware, which probably is helping, can't bring costs back down to PS2 levels or even (I suspect) close to them. And what happens next generation? More middleware will need to be developed, which will cost more billions, all to bring costs to an even higher plateau than they're on now.