[TheBranca18]

Sony may have copied some of the more successful features of the Xbox 360, but I'm going to disagree that the Xbox line has redefined the console gaming experience.

It's redefined each generation. This generation is about motion controls as the top seller of all time, the Nintendo DS, has motion controls alongside its console brother the Wii which also does. Sure the 360 has stream lined the online experience, however it has also introduced gamers to the closed era of consoles. You want a bigger HD? Sure just pay an absolute premium on it. Not to mention the 360's hardware problems which have been conveniently forgotten.

The fact that you're comparing the Wii to flash games is absurd. It's fine not to like the Wii, I know I don't like it besides some drunken debauchery, but its impact on the industry is clear. Clear enough that Microsoft and Sony are both coming out with motion control products in the next year.

[sshumaker]

The Xbox / Xbox 360 has absolutely changed the nature of online gaming. They've done more to make it accessible than ever before: The ease and transparency of playing games with your friends (voice chat, the party system), the introduction of matchmaking in Halo 2 (a huge leap from the 'choose a server' system in the past), achievements, etc, all presented with a unified interface across games.

Both the PS3 and Steam have adopted their innovations - they've become the defacto standard for online gaming.

[ericd]

Microsoft and Sony coming out with motion controls doesn't mean that's where they think the future of their market is, they're just trying to tap into part of the Wii's market - to introduce the casual and first time gamers to a console with a rich library of more serious games. It's kind of like a drug dealer offering a sampler of a harder drug for free to get a new customer.

And for the hardcore gamers I know, XBox Live is a redefinition of consoles. Before Live, PCs were the only serious online game in town, now the XBox actually offers a better (less painful) online experience. Sony's online system is a joke in comparison.

(I own none of these systems, but I'm an ex-gamer and know a lot of gamers.)

[TheBranca18]

Well I own a 360 and a PS3. PS3 online is free, 360 is not. The differences aren't big enough for me to think that 35-50 bucks a year is worth it.

And note, most non-MMORPGs games on PC have free online.

[philwelch]

XBox Live might be a huge business coup, though. If you go to the trouble of paying for Xbox Live, you're gonna want to "make the most of it", and that entails doing things that make Microsoft more money (buying more monopoly money from them for downloadable content, buying more games, etc.)

[ericd]

I used to play quite a bit on PCs. Multi is generally free, but the experience is far from seamless in a lot of cases. My impression of Live is that It Just Works. I've heard very varied things about PS3 in comparison, many of them not kind. That's what I was drawing on.

[InclinedPlane]

Funny thing about the xbox 360's hardware problems, when people's 360s break the response is not "ugh, this piece of junk sucks, I want my money back, I'm buying a wii" instead it's "ugh, how long is it going to take to get repaired? I really want to play right now!" or "ugh, it's out of warranty? Damnit, now I have to buy a new one!"

These are, as they say, generally the better variety of problems to have, warranty extension costs notwithstanding.