EA's Project Ten Dollar DLC is free for new purchases, not used

EA's "Project Ten Dollar" has gone into effect, and if you've no idea what it is, don't worry. It's just the DLC being released for games via networks like Mass Effect 2's Cerberus.

The goal of the project, is to get gamers to purchase new products instead of buying secondhand.

Should you buy new, the DLC is free, if you buy it used, well, it costs you $10 for the content.

The first game to use the new strategy was Dragon Age, and now Mass Effect 2.

More games in the future will be using the method too, so don't be surprised to hear about it with upcoming titles - especially considering every game from EA will have some sort of online component come FY2011.

According to Business Week, Riccitiello realized last fall that the secondhand market accounts for about a third of all games sold in the US, or $2 billion annually. This was money being lost.

That's when Riccitiello gave a thumbs up to "Project Ten Dollar", and the rest, as they say, is history.