I think most of you are bonkers.

uhuh, judging from your satements here, the same could be said of you.

Xbox live just incase you hadnt noticed is mainly a shop that you can spend more money paying for movies etc.  So for example if I were to go to a video store like blockbusters I would pay around £4 for a dvd.  On Xbox live Id pay (wait for it) £4.50.

XBL just incase you hadn't noticed, is an online community that just happens to have a very conveniant online shop available to it. You forget that with the gold membership, you can use crossgame chat, play games with or against other gold members, and have access to free content. But hey, don't let the facts stop you!

Also on Xbox Live you or another person playing is the host of the game and therefore everyone is affected by 2 factors, 1 the quality of your connection and 2 the location of the players.  This is about 40 percent of the games I have seen causes unbareable lag and also enables people to use lag switching to give themselves an unfair advantage.

I believe that would be your connection. Ever since  Igot my new ISP I would say my lag experiance has dropped from about 30% to about 7%...and that is with a really crappy router. Nice try though.

On other platforms servers are being used to host games.  Which is odd as this is a much more expensive way to enable online gaming at yet, you are not charged for it.

This may be true, but it has no relevance to the topic at hand...actually, non of this really does, it looks to me more like a troll post...

I have 2 Xboxs and therefore have to pay £80 a year to play online.  If I were to change to 2 PS3's that would be nothing.

No, you can switch your account back and forth between them if you really must use them both, it only takes five minutes.

And just one last thing.  Cross game chat is not worth anything.  You can download software like Skype on a PC and do the same sort of thing for nothing.  Once again Microsoft is just ripping people off and until everyone says no thanks they are not going to change.

Yeah, since when have you ebver used skype or MSN to chat with people plying other games on the PS3...I would venture a guess...NEVER. you know why? because that is a clunky and inefective way of doing it. Don't try to downplay crossgame chat, it is a lot better than you make it out to be.

Honestly paying £40 a year to host your own games.  Refuckingdiculous.

Not really, it's the only option for people wanting to play certain exclusives online with their friends. I would say your statements thus far have been "Refuckingdiculous".

Now after all that I wouldnt mind paying £10 a year.  I think thats fair for a service that gives you nothing you cant get elsewhere for free.  They can make their money from the DLC, which btw is being well over used by companiesa and that is going to backfire if they are not careful.

Yes because the netflix, Last FM, Facebook, and crossgame chatting are something that PSN offers. seriously dude, get a life.

Oh dear youre not very bright are you lol.

Hmm, well, it was nice knowing you, see you in a few days!!!

I have an excellent Internet connection.  Its 20MB DL and 768KB upload.  And with an extremely good router.  Also as an IT Manager I know how good my connection is and if it wasnt excellent I wouldnt put up with it.

DSL? you must be farther away from the hub, thats what I have, going throgh Quest. And like i said, my lag problems are nowhere near what you claim yours are, and I have a crappy Dlink router that likes to throttle my connection every chance it gets. The fact that you are having more trouble than me with lag, and have the same internet speeds as  I do, tells me something is seriously wrong with your connection. As an "IT Manager" I would think you would be able to figure it out.

I have 2 Xboxes and 2 accounts because theyre are 2 different people playing at the same time.  This doesnt not mean however that we are both playing the same game or that we are both playing multiplayer games (before you blame that for lag)

So, why complain that you have to pay for two accounts, two differant people are using them, hey, her'se a fun fact, you could SHARE an account...or even better yet, instead of bitching about it to a bunch of people who don't care, don't pay for the service, problem solved!

A lot of the features you mention have only just been added AND some of them you have to pay for.  I also wouldnt use any of them.  I have my PC and laptop for things like Facebook.

YOU may not use the features, but other people will, Your elitist attitude does not fly with me, you are NOT the sum of the whole, you are ONE person.

And the comment about other platforms using servers to host games and costing more as a result is of obvious relevence.  It costs MORE and yet is FREE.  Get a grip.

No, it is not free, you pay for it by paying for the game, NOTHING IN LIFE IS TRUELY FREE, get a grip.

The point about Skype is that and I cant believe I am having to explain something so simple.  Voice Over IP is a free technology.  It doesnt cost anything to host or to implement, so paying for cross gaming chat doesnt cost anything either.

The point about Skype is moot because Skype is not cross game chat, it is a web service. You only brought it up to justify PSN not having it. Which to me is kinda silly because PSN will be getting it soon...but whatever.

If you do a simple calculation around 1 year ago it was noted that Microsoft had around 10 million gold subscribers at aounrd £40 per year.  That means Microsoft are making £400 million so they can SELL you movies, additional content the odd freebee and allow you to host your own games.

They can offer the service free, and I will relish the day they do, but until that day, I will continue to buy live because it offers features I cannot get from PSN, And I will be able to play games with friends that I could not on PSN.

I love my Xbox, I just dont like being ripped off. 

You are the one allowing yourself to get ripped off, stop buying XBL if you don't like it, then you will spaire me the agony of thinking I may run across you someday on XBL...god I will kill myself if that ever happens.

Now if you were to get off your FANBOY soap box and breath the air of reality youll realise that 99 percent of the features you think are worth paying for can be used on the Internet for free.  And the things that you pay for on Xbox live cost no more elsewhere.

Funny, people keep calling me fanboy, and yet, they don't check my posting history. I fail to see how I am a fanboy for rebuting you failed argument. Also, 99 percent of the features may be free on the internet, but they are clunky to use while using a console...seriously, get over yourself dude.

So with all this made clear.  JUST WHAT ARE WE PAYING FOR.

THE EXTRA CONTENT THAT PSN DOES NOT HAVE, THE ABILITY TO PLAY GAMES THAT THE PS3 DOES NOT HAVE, WITH FRIENDS WHO ARE NOT ON PSN...clear enough fer ya?

Oh dear youre not very bright are you lol.

I have an excellent Internet connection.  Its 20MB DL and 768KB upload.  And with an extremely good router.  Also as an IT Manager I know how good my connection is and if it wasnt excellent I wouldnt put up with it.

I have 2 Xboxes and 2 accounts because theyre are 2 different people playing at the same time.  This doesnt not mean however that we are both playing the same game or that we are both playing multiplayer games (before you blame that for lag)

A lot of the features you mention have only just been added AND some of them you have to pay for.  I also wouldnt use any of them.  I have my PC and laptop for things like Facebook.

And the comment about other platforms using servers to host games and costing more as a result is of obvious relevence.  It costs MORE and yet is FREE.  Get a grip.

The point about Skype is that and I cant believe I am having to explain something so simple.  Voice Over IP is a free technology.  It doesnt cost anything to host or to implement, so paying for cross gaming chat doesnt cost anything either.

If you do a simple calculation around 1 year ago it was noted that Microsoft had around 10 million gold subscribers at aounrd £40 per year.  That means Microsoft are making £400 million so they can SELL you movies, additional content the odd freebee and allow you to host your own games.

I love my Xbox, I just dont like being ripped off. 

Now if you were to get off your FANBOY soap box and breath the air of reality youll realise that 99 percent of the features you think are worth paying for can be used on the Internet for free.  And the things that you pay for on Xbox live cost no more elsewhere.

So with all this made clear.  JUST WHAT ARE WE PAYING FOR.

I don't own a x360, but I will be paying (for the next 2 years at least, probably gold membership) for my youngest brother's subscription after his xmas present this year....or so I was told yesterday. My other brother buys it, I pay the subscription. Done deal.

He must have known something because I can see myself being conned into getting the worst part of this transaction. The console (elite) will cost him considerably less than £189.00 (Amazon price). Don't ask.

Anyhow, does that allow me to have a say on this thread?

I am saying YES it does, so:

I would hate to pay over £60 but would go to £75 for my brother's sake.