Hey thzone,
You can still go head-to-head for free with up to 8 players. It may not be as good as the arena mayhem but, if i remember right, HTC will have a match service on their web so it'll be easy to find opponents. Plus it'll keep you up-to-date on the latest versions, latest planes, latest eye-candy.
Me, even though i live off of the spare change from passerbys, will go pay because 1) the community is there, and
2) there _will_ be a con eventually and i want to be well-known enough to get drinks bought for me.
-sudz-