EA Sports to charge used game buyers $10 to unlock basic online multiplayer

Replace the phrase "I want my two dollars" with the slightly more complicated "I want you to pay me more money for a game you bought used, even though we received full price at retail originally," and you'll have a pretty good grasp on the situation here. For a while now game companies have been waging war against used game sales, most recently resorting to DLC unlock codes in games that can only be redeemed once, making the used purchase less attractive. However, EA Sports has escalated this practice right out of the stratosphere with its new "Online Pass" feature. Basically, the original purchaser is bestowed online functionality, added features, and bonus content, out of the kindness of EA's heart (and a fun-to-enter redeem code), while a used buyer will get a 7 day trial of those things, and then have to pony up $10 if they want to keep at it. Yeah, you heard that correctly: you'll have to pay $10 to play FutureMadden: Robots in the Red Zone online if you bought it used. The first title to get this special treatment will be Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11, and after that? Well, we're really hoping this doesn't take off, but the most unfortunate aspect of this diabolical scheme is we really don't see how this could possibly hurt EA's bottom line. Sure, it's evil, but that's never stopped them before.