I have to admit, this still makes more sense than having to pay for XBox live Gold membership just so you can stream video FROM A SERVICE I'M ALREADY PAYING FOR!!! I mean geez... that's balls. To charge you to use XBox Live just so you can use a service that's already being paid for once. Granted yes, XBOX Live Gold gives you some cool stuff that you can't get with Silver, but... PSN is free. And the bluray disk that gives the feature is free. So... why not? I'm seriously considering the PS3 even more so now. To upgrade my Arcade unit, then buy an XBox Live Gold membership for even one year, would take me over the base price of the new PS3 ($150 for the hard drive in the same size as the PS3 and $50 for XBox Live plus tax, plus a wifi adapter - even though I don't plan to use wifi, but its still a nice option, especially if I take it with me somewhere I don't have an ethernet connection, plus HD out of the box (right?) plus a BluRay player - I mean sure you can probably get a cheap one for $99 during the holidays, but its still not a Sony)
What would make the Sony the super killer app and put a final nail in the XBox coffin... bundle a couple of GOOD games and there's really no reason to not get a PS3. I'm thinking something like a good solid "all around game" something that families would enjoy playing (hell throw in an extra controller!) and another action game, or a BluRay from one of their franchises - Spider-Man 3 or... something that's owned by Sony and has a BluRay version that just kicks royal ass.
Even if it was back up to $399 with all that, you'd still have an X-Box killer. I don't know where this trend of only including one controller came from, hell throw in a Bluetooth remote at least! And at least one game and one movie or two games or something. I mean, there's nothing more frustrating than buying a console and still having to buy stuff to make it "complete". Especially when you want to give it as a gift or you're trying to talk someone into getting one. "Oh sure you pay the $299 for the console... then you gotta buy at least one controller so that's another $30... and then a remote so you can watch movies on it easier... that's another hmm $40... and then you'd want a couple of games and some movies... that's easily another $150 (average new PS3 game is around $50-60 with blurays being anywhere from $20-40 - for a new title at least).
Although at least in a way for your $299 you still get a kick awesome game and bluray plus with the netflix thing (providing you're a subscriber) you've got hd movie watching out of the box. Probably don't really even need to buy a game or two when you purchase it right off, could go onto PSN and download some demos, enough to keep a noobie happy for a little while until their next stop to gamestop or best buy LOL
