I say all parties involved ****ed the pooch on this one, except Sony.
The way I see it, NRS and Microsoft should have stated clearly what the holdup was and given us a date of release. I don't mind that PS3 owners got the demo before us, good for you guys. I don't mind the exclusives you get either, Kratos is a good fit and there are no xbox exclusive characters that would have been as good a fit. Hopefully Kratos won't be game-breaking. As we have learned in the past, guest characters can break the game. (SoulCalibur I'm looking at you) Moreover, I want Mortal Kombat for the Mortal Kombat roster, but if you guys enjoy Kratos, well good for you.
I do not agree with the OP. I pay for Xbox live to be able to play online. I know it is kind of stupid, but I have my IRL friends on Xbox so that is the price I have to pay.