You get what you pay isn\'t the case throughout the online world.
PC Battlefield 2 & Battlefield 2142 offer online gaming that matches or exceeds anything on Xbox live but its free.
I\'ve played several PC racing games online free with voice chat etc everything you could want.
Great online gaming does not have to come at a price.
Check out
http://www.zone.com, Microsoft\'s own online gaming website since the mid 90s.
Absolutley free. Friends lists, chatting, everything. Did Microsoft need to charge me $60 a year to use this service? No. But they want to charge you $60 a year to use Xbox Live which offers how many more features?
Playstation 2 online got the job done imo, but it was not even close to Xbox Live. Why? Sony never even tried to make an online service for PS2.
But because of competition, Sony is now going to roll out thier own online service.
No reason to have to give sony the benefit of the doubt that theyre going to have an amazing, free service. They\'ve already confirmed what will be free and what will cost money in HOME. What is free in HOME surpasses Xbox Live in every way. The only faith needed in Sony is for them to give free what they promised they will give free which is pretty much a 100% chance.
Believe me, I use to be just like you and think you had to pay money for great online gaming.
After thinking about it for a while and looking back at my experience with online PC gaming I can tell you for a certainty that great online gaming can be free.
Why Microsoft charges for voice chat features/gamerpoints is beyond me. Is there anything else on Xbox Live worth $60 a year? If I want to download TV episodes, movies etc I can use free ITUNES to do so.
Once again, competition is good. What Sony is doing with HOME hopefully will force Microsoft to charge less or make Xbox Live free. But as you say Microsoft probalby won\'t change anything until they feel HOME is a threat.