Electronic Arts' new game The Saboteur opens with a close-up shot of a stripper, nude from the waist up.

Well, actually, that's only if you buy the "Midnight Show" downloadable content.

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Saboteur, which will be released Dec. 8 for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC, features mild nudity: The girls of the Belle de Nuit, a Parisian strip club that serves as your home base, will walk around without their tops if you flip the "Nudity" switch in the game's menu.

Unless you download the $5 Midnight Show, however, that switch is inactive. But don't worry: A free code to redeem the DLC is included with each copy of The Saboteur.

After you're done breathing that sigh of relief, you may ask: Why lock this feature behind downloadable content if it comes free with every copy of the game? Simple: Breasts are only for people who buy the game new.

Purchase a pre-owned copy of The Saboteur, and you can bet that the previous owner already used the code, meaning that you'll have to pay Electronic Arts another fiver. Lend the game to a friend? They'll have to pay to get those tops off, too.

The Midnight Show add-on gives you very little: Besides the Nudity switch, it opens up a small secret area in the basement of the Belle where you can get lap dances and play a gambling mini-game. But let's be honest: The main attraction probably is going to get many of the players who borrow, rent or buy a used copy of Saboteur to pay up. What's five bucks when nudity is on the line?

It's also a great way to get people to sign up for an EA Online user account, which is required to access the download through Xbox Live.

Midnight Show seems like something that could easily have just been included on the game disc. On the other hand, it is an entirely frivolous feature, and dropping bonuses in games that entice people to buy new copies is better than pitching a fit about how pre-owned games and rentals and sharing with your little brother are the scourge of the industry.

But on the other other hand, locking even frivolous features behind a DRM pay wall is just another stop on the inevitable road to you not actually owning the videogames you buy.

Just watch: It won't be long until the notion of lending games to a friend becomes quaint. (We'll all just be too busy staring at digital bazooms to care.)

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