I do find it ironicly funny that this is a concern coming from a modding/pirating website, lol. *disclaimer* I mean no ill will or disrespect with that sentence *disclaimer*
But seriously, wanting to work in the industry I understand completely why they feel the need for online passes. If you are renting the game though, you really don't need access to the multiplayer to tell if a games good, because typically the mp is based on or an afterthough of the sp. Hence, if you play sp, the only difference with mp would be real people instead of bots. Yes, the 360ites have to pay a LIVE fee but they are the only ones (out of PS3, PC, Wii and technically phone apps) , so I doubt that is taken into consideration when deciding to implement the online pass.
There was a court hearing recently about selling used pc games on Ebay because of the license. The developers said because you bought the software doesn't mean you own it. The court agreed.
They have to do something to make up for lost revenue from used games, rentals, and pirating as mentioned. So the way I see it, this online pass seems like an unspoken middle ground negotiation to allow the continued sale of used software. I would be glad they're doing this as opposed to stopping the sale of all used games. And they could do it too, think about it. Just start putting EULAs in games that state the software can't be resold and BAM! No more used games; And if you don't agree, you can't play.
Oh, and here's a link to the court case here
I agree Reaper, they've semi-slowly crept the price up on games over the years and used games and rentals seem to be the peoples retaliation to high prices. However people are way too contempt with renting (especially gamefly) and preowned, to the point that I think lowering the prices even $10 wouldn't help.









