[jaCKYass]

What do people like the best? So far, I love Sony's.

[Subnet]

Sony online playing currently, could change easily though.

[Xtreme2damax]

I hear nothing comes close to Xbox Live even though it's a paid service. I haven't tried Sony's PSN or Xbox Live, I hear Sony is coming along fine, chugging along but is a bit behind Xbox Live in terms of features and quality.

Steams service is worth mentioning, a while back the rolled out an achievements system similar to Xbox Live and other mentionable features.

[VT-Vincent]

I think "best" is in the eye of the beholder. I don't think there's much doubt that for hard-core gamers, XBL is pretty much the only option. For me personally though, I've found it difficult to get involved in more time-consuming online games. Most of the gaming I've done over the last several years has been on Nintendo's Wii and DS services for casual titles like Mario Kart, Tetris and Dr. Mario. I like the "hit and run" nature of their service and the fact the games that use it don't require a major time commitment.

Another gripe I have about XBL is the fact it's a subscription service. While this may work for some people, there are months that I don't pick up a single game. During this time, the subscription would still be running. For cases like this, I think they should give people at least two "pauses" for the subscription per year, this way if you won't be using it for an extended period of time it won't be wasted.

[Xtreme2damax]

You are completely correct, I could not agree more. More so, I find fanboy wars pointless and seriously degrading to anyone's intelligence.

[VT-Vincent]

As a gamer though, I would like to see either the 360 or PS3 dominate at some point. As it stands, for a lot of people to get everything they want, they have to essentially own two consoles that in terms of capabilities are pretty identical.

[Hard Core Rikki]

Xbox Live sadly. Sony's service had the potential to own the rooster, especially being free/granted.

[VT-Vincent]

I have to admit, as far as online gaming goes I'm actually more interested in the future than what we have today, particularly on the Wii's successor. While Nintendo nailed casual online gaming well, they have a huge problem with the fact they want to "go online without going online". What I mean by that is that every implementation of online play Nintendo has implemented has intentionally left out any form of communication for the most part. I think that's hurting them this generation, but if it continues into the next I think it could potentially sink them. I'm very curious to see what balance they reach between what we have right now and traditional online gaming.