Xbox To Use Region-Locked Peripherals

Cutriss writes "This newspost over at National Console Supply Exchange seems to leave all the potential Xbox controller-importers in the dust. Apparently the US Xbox will only allow peripherals with a specific USB ID to connect to the console, thus locking out the use of Japanese controllers, which will have different USB IDs." Update this doesn't mean all peripherals will be region encoded. Apparently Joypads will work on both sides of the pond.

Comments

Nice

[sofar]

Next thing will be that we won't be able to install our own DVD player into our PC's, maybe use only Microsoft mice, and of course no special keyboards anymore.

Also of note:

[Ieshan]

Microsoft will be installing QuarterSlots(TM) into their controllers, to make sure that the players have actually bought the controllers and USB keys legally.

"It isn't fair!" claimed Joey, who says that "Mom wont even give me fifty cents for a game on the X-Box", even after he bought it with his "christmas money".

Microsoft will be handing out the controllers free, but will be requiring that they be brought back into the stores to empty out the quarters that have been filled inside. A microsoft spokesperson commented: "Hell, 50 bucks of change a day gets heavy, you know. You wouldn't want to hold that in your hand, would you? See, we're just making it easier on the consumer!"

Re:Also of note:

[n6mod]

This just in:

The DoJ and Customs department have announced that Slugs(TM) are in fact a violation of the DMCA...

Hack it.

[Anonymous Coward]

Someone hack this and post a link so we can
get on with life.

This just in...

[steeljc0]

No, I think this was just a "bug fix" and will become the standard in "Microsoft X-Box for Workgroups," due out next year.

So...

[Neuracnu Coyote]

So you're telling me that the new japanese PleasureVibe erotic force-feedback controller I got off Ebay won't work when I get shot on Halo? God damn that Microsoft...

Shouldn't USB be renamed then?

[prisoner-of-enigma]

After all, it's no longer "Universal", is it? Perhaps it could be called RSB, for "Regional Serial Bus", or perhaps NSB for "National Serial Bus".

Seriously, I can only see one or two reasons why someone would want to implement this region locking:

First, I doubt a domestic company would want to take tech support calls for foreign-made equipment. And, yes, you know some clueless fool will call MS up, waste their time, bitching about why his Far East ContollerPad isn't working. Worse, perhaps they aren't tested to similar standards and could pose a threat to the Xbox. Who knows?

Second, and this is the more insidious one, they might do this because of internal competition, the same reason DVD region locking is used. Regional branches of the same company making the same product may have wildly divergent pricing and release schedules. Since Asia usually gets the cool toys first, the North American division wants to protect its turf by preventing imports of the Asian goods until they can get around to marketing the product domestically. While that makes good business sense, it's typically used to hide a serious case of "head up the ass" when the domestic vendor is slow to put out new products.