I've got a PS3, play MG Online and
Love and hate the idea of online play. On one hand it's great fun and addictive as sin, but I can't stand the poor sportsmanship out there, it's an aggressively competitive domain and there are a LOT of poor losers out there who think nothing of sending pretty offensive mails to you if you happen to wipe the floor with them at Soul Calibur.
That's why I love the Japan servers, as Japanese people have manners.
Example:
American post-round MGO comments.
"You guys suck sh*t. Why you even play this game?"
Japanese
"Great game, good luck in the next Survival"
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On to the discussion about present games compared to old games.
I've analysed this myself many times and come to the conclusion that most of the games you're retrospecting through rose-tinted glasses. Some of those games have stood the test of time for playability but what you get these days is games with astounding scale and lastability unexperienced before and game design in general has metamorphasized over the years into something of a higher art. Games of yonder years were mostly only playable for a rainy Sunday afternoon and then you were done, there were very few that you would play as much as say, Diablo2.