Eh, even THQ was selling online passes and other nonsense.
Being the norm doesn't make it 'good'. Sega used to be one of the good guys, now they're just a disgrace. I want to make a patented MadeMan negative thread about this topic and see who agrees and who thinks 'It's okay when Sega does it!'
Don't get me wrong, my : ( was meant to indicate my displeasure at the industry in it's current state since there's no incentive for someone to be a "good" guy. When the likes of Electronic Arts and Activision have grown to be bigger than ever whilst all the "good" guys who stuck by their principles got swallowed up by financial burdens. And now DLCs are seen as acceptable policies and that's never going away, much like paid online for console gaming.
I was in a forum the other day and people were making DLC for fangames, fangames! Just because they wanted to seem like real games. I still think SEGA does a bit more than most to not be as bad as the other publishers, wither taking a massive risk with Alien: Isolation or the free DLCs they provided for Sonic & Allstars Racing Transformed and the Typing of the Dead.