I haven't read anything on their online plan other than it has ethernet and apprently wireless networking, which means you'd have to connect through a computer or a Wifi hub of some sort.
Sony hasn't really ignored online (Supposedly GT4 wasn't because they had problems with the coding) but I think they're trying to find the best application for internet without costing people money, which is the same way Nintendo thinks.
No one wants to pay money for online services unless it's really useful and I guess Sony and Nintendo both feel a fee for a Live type service isnt going to help their bottom line due to what they'd have to do and how much they'd have to spend to set it up.