I agree with the OP. This is a slippery slippery slope. This is pretty exploitive of the fandom behind a game that has had a huge following for years.
What makes me uneasy is that clearly someone thinks this is a sound investment because they wouldn't have received the license to begin with from Sega if that weren't the case.
Guys i love the game but remember your dollars speak to these guys, so choose what youbsay carefully.