jtbthatsme: HDMI passthrough yes but I don't think MS would do a Sky deal anyway as Freeview is FTA TV so they would be the best to go for if doing any deals as that's a broader market. Not saying Sky isn't best for the consumer (and I dislike them passionately) but why limit to a 500k user base when you can get 3-4 million.
Ultimately passthrough is how I am picking it will be for most if not the whole time of this next gen for us here in NZ and hey Xbox is already Media Centre for it's base which links with your pc connection so if you've got HTPC setup you can already access Media Centre anyway.
Have to agre on the comments on games worth playing. I stilll enjoy longevity in my games especially when paying around 100 for a lot of them. Simply put a 6 - 8 hour sinlge player campaign is a joke and although they can DLC to death games like Halo and CoD for more bucks I seldom bother with games that won't come with a solid campaign as well.
50% of NZ households subscribe to Sky TV
FWIW