Yeah, saying which online gaming system is better is kinda silly when you don't get to choose anyway, comparing PSN and XBLA downloadable game libraries probably makes more sense but I doubt we're going to get a definitive answer for that one either. I do think the downloadable libraries are more interesting than the retail ones, I prefer many shorter and cheaper games over a few expensive ones since there's always more variety between games than between levels and with multiple games you get to pick the genres you want instead of having to play the ones the developer gives you in a genre mishmash like Treasure (Gunstar Heroes, Astro Boy: Omega Factor, Sin & Punishment, Bleach DS, Ikaruga, ...) tends to produce.
Susan Arendt said:
Obviously, free is better than not free, but is $5 a month really such a damn hardship?
Depends on how much you use the thing, I'm not doing a lot of online gaming and most of the games I have aren't online capable so I get more than enough from the free-to-play systems. Other people play more online and probably have more use for a subscription service like that. My free month of Live expired completely unused, I barely even bought an online capable game in that time, never mind getting enough training to actually go and fight online (maybe it's just me but I always imagine online gaming to consist mostly of people who have mastered the game and will destroy anyone who hasn't). I have a feeling that a year would expire mostly unused for me as well.
And it doesn't help that Nintendo are incredibly overpriced. It looks good, but $23 for World of Goo? No sale.
You have to qualify that with a more exact currency sign since the game costs 15USD/EUR. Do you mean AUD? That would be dirt cheap for the PAL region (11.6 EUR compared to 15). The retail version of WoG is 20USD/EUR (30/40 AUD), that was the developer's/publisher's decision, not Nintendo's.
