I think the online service stuff for PS 3 is awful. Other than it being free I never play anything online on my PS 3. We will see how they handle it next gen.
Some of the features people ask for are already available on the vita, so Sony'd have to be real dumb to drop the ball with the PS4. I can't imagine Sony ever catching up, though. Xbox Live is great if you're into what it provides. I've been subscribed since the Xbox days when it was just the 'pay to play online' bullshit, but overtime the 360 added a bunch of features, and the next Xbox will probably expand on it too. I can see free to play games, video streaming, and stuff like that being part of the service.
Anyway, those free codes from two or three years ago are why I'm still gold. I was planning to cancel back then, and once they expire in March, I'm done with it. All I used Gold for in the past couple years was early demos (that were already available on PS3) and that Syndicate MP demo. Don't think I even bought a retail 360 game in 2012 (and only imported Way of the Samurai 4 for PS3). That's more "my habits have changed and it's not for me" than "Xbox Live sucks and it's a rip-off."
