sony also said u could run any operating system on ur ps3, clearly they stand by their word! they would never back down on something they have promised in the past. i recently have acquired an xbox 360 and so far i would say that i already prefer the xbox live network, yes i am paying for it, but it definitley seems worth the money, if ps3 had a paid network it would have its benefits.... no longer waiting months for dlc thats been out on xbox first, sony would have alot more security for their network, they wouldnt be able to bullshit us for days when the network goes down, if u pay they are obliged to provide the service, if not due to consumers rights u can get a refund cos they are not supplying the service that was paid for.
dont really care either way as i will most likely buy most games for 360 now as it has much better connections, but still buy ps3 exclusives that interest me.