Fantastic article - worth the read. This is why I am astonished about the talk of Microsoft selling Xbox. Live is clearly a distinguishing feature and I look forward to seeing what is more important to sales - the Xbox Live ecosystem or the PS4 graphics quality. Since I am considering buying an Xbox just for the cable box replacement features, I suspect Live will win out.
Around the same time, I remember playing Midtown Madness online for the first time on my very expensive dial-up via MSN Games Service. It was so amazing I called my mom and showed her.