^ This...and may I add that I think Zizzla's reasoning is also connected to the new Sony/EA brouhaha/rumor (EA preventing Sony from incorporating Xgame chat).

EA & MS are good buddy corps considering execs Moore & Schappert worked at MS before moving to EA. 

Of course you can do all of those chatting options on PC without paying. You just need to download some VoIP program like Ventrilo which is free (most MMO's have voice chat but with Ventrilo you can have cross game chat).

Cool ...Now can you....ermm...play Halo 3, COD :WAW & MW, Castle Crashers internationally too while you're chatting?

I prefer my xbox 360 gaming to a PC anyday. A good deal of the games on PC require a subscription for online gaming. I would much rather pay one subscription that is good for all my games. I have been a live subscriber for about 3 years. The first year I paid $39 for 13 months. Then I learned that you can always find it on sale somewhere if you are patient for $29 for a 12 +1 free month card. That adds up to less then $2.50 per month even if you factor in the tax, and which makes it completely well worth it, even if you pay the full price of $50 its worth it ($4 month).

Microsoft tightly control access to its network. It is both a good and bad thing, but I think the real question is why doesnt Sony charge? Microsoft make steady revenue stream which pays for lots of its online activities, Sony on the otherhand do not so they end up footing the bill and it must be a sizeable one.

As a PC user I find some of the control annoying and would love to be able to connect to community hosted servers but this is just never going to happen. What I get is for the most part pain free online gaming where I have to put it very little thought and get a competitive game.

Funny thing about M$ charging for XBL is that Sony wishes they could do that with PSN because that'll help stem their losses from the PS3 hardware, but the fanboys would throw a shit fit if Sony charged a premium for online gaming.

Remember, basic XBL is free, including having access to tons of Arcade games, videos, and DLC that PSN either doesn't have, or you have to wait longer for it.  And I always LOL at the Sony fanboys who use the fact that XBL Gold costs $50 a year (at most, and it isn't mandatory for basic access like I said) and that PSN is "free" to justify the fact that they spent $100-$200 more for their PS3 than 360 owners did for their console.

No..I was simply going by tellecomm rates...there is no way around those...

What does Ventrillo and TeamSpeak have anything to do with PSN or XBL?

And by the way....Good luck using Ventrillo or TeamSpeak for free....Some one has to Host the server which means some has to pay for it...Trust me I know for a fact...

Edit: I believe Ventrillo has some free servers which they host themselves..which are shit and public and heavily limited..

What an absolutely worthless thread? Evidently, we don't mind paying, so why does it matter to you...why did you pay for a blue-ray disc player? Why are you paying for blueray disc, when you can watch upconverted movies? M$ is offering a product, you want it...buy it...if not...don't.

What is funny is that Sony charges 25 dollars for Qore...Which is only 13 episodes a year..and Silver members get Inside Xbox for free...and it's way more content... Weekly/monthly