Online passes and "exclusive content" for buying a game new are quickly becoming monsters in the gaming industry, with those who tend to buy games used feeling like they are being singled out in today's market. Some games offer exclusive weapon packs for buying them new (ahem, Bad Company 2), while others provide some sort of downloadable content, but id Software and RAGE have basically said, "screw all that garbage, we've got something better!"
Those who purchase RAGE in shrink-wrap will be allowed access (through download code) to the game's sewers and other underground passages scattered throughout the wasteland. These are no ordinary sewers either, as they are said to contain "goods," as Destructoid mentions.
id Software's Tim Willits tried to rationalize the incentive by stating to Eurogamer "most people never even see it" or even "set foot in those things." The sewers are "outside the main path," says Willits, not detracting from anything. Well, all right, if you put it that way...
I have a feeling these sewers will be accessible to used-purchasers for a few bucks sometime after release, with Willits stating in the interview that new purchasers still have to download the sewers, but won't "have to pay for it." Give it some time, you'll see us post the headline, "RAGE sewers available on the Xbox Live Marketplace."
In my eyes, if the sewers are going to be anything like Fallout 3's subways, I'm certainly steering clear no matter how I buy RAGE.
