Yeah the rationalizations they use over there are hilarious.
Hey you know what? $25 dollars is just a lapdance and budweiser at the local strip joint, so I have no problem spending that money to play madden a few days early. Hell last year I hopped on a jet and went to mexico just to scoop the game up 4 hours before release! This is nothing.
Or my fav about EA withholding features from the game and offering them as DLC: It's like when you go buy a car and you want a sunroof, the sunroof is gonna cost extra! This feature is the sunroof, I'll happily pay for that.
The weird thing is it's clear most people don't like these things, their poll shows 75% of people dislike it, with 15% on the fence. Yet that 10% who love it are so vocal and adamant about defending it.