Sony’s Kaz “Riiidge Racer” Hirai said during a presentation yesterday that Sony expects the PlayStation Network for the PS3 and PSP to generate $500 million in revenues this fiscal year, but, he also added another thing, a far more disturbing picture…

Hirai mentioned that Sony was looking into “premium subscriptions” for the online service, much like Xbox Live Gold on the Xbox 360. The PS3′s bit selling point has always been that it’s free to play online, and that may change soon. Hirai is quoted by CVG saying,

“Especially in the online area, we are studying the possibility of introducing a subscription model, offering premium content and services, in addition to the current free services.”

Great. Just as we thought the PS3 was catching up to the Xbox 360.