SSX Online Pass Not A Merciless Extortion Ploy

Our readers probably know by this point that we are not the biggest fans of Online Passes. Most recently, we reported that  Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning  will feature an Online Pass that locks away purely single player content, negating the already flimsy reasoning for the existence of such a system. Those monitoring the issue of Online Passes are also aware of the Arkham City  Catwoman debacle , one of the finest examples of ludicrous Online Passes. When word came down the grapevine that EA Sports' SSX would also utilize an Online Pass, we were deeply concerned.  

 

According to a statement sent from EA to Game Informer, "players without an Online Pass are able to compete and play in both of SSX's online game modes ... In Global Events, the top finishers from each event are awarded with in-game credits. These ... will not be awarded to the player if they do not have an Online Pass." This alone is a fairly lenient implementation of the Online Pass that merely inconveniences pre-owned buyers. Furthermore, "if a player redeems an Online Pass code, all the credits that they had previously earned in Global Events will be immediately awarded to them." While Online Passes have still not proven themselves to solve the problem they are targeting, it is preferable to see more low-key versions of the system like this to wholesale content blocking like that in Arkham City or Kingdoms of Amalur.