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Xbox To Use Region-Locked Peripherals

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the could-things-get-any-more-annoying dept.

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.

4 of 336 comments (clear)

  1. Perhaps they will work after all by prototype · · Score: 1, Redundant

    An update at 14:28 EST on the site says:

    A lot of e-mails have poured in from other sources and developers these past few hours. A call from an Microsoft employee also came in. The Japanese X-Box joypad should work with USA consoles. We'll confirm this tonight once our suppliers test the joypad with some USA games we shipped them earlier this week. If all is well, then our shipments of Japanese X-Box joypads won't go to waste after all.

    liB

  2. Simple Answer... by Myriad · · Score: 3, Redundant
    Just don't buy products (in this case an X-Box) that have this sort of "feature".

    I know you may want one, but the only way to get companies to stop doing this kind of thing is to vote with your wallet. Otherwise, where is their insentive?

    --
    "They do not preach that their god will rouse them, a little before the Nuts work loose." Kipling, 'The Sons of Martha'
  3. Re:Pot, kettle, black... by cduffy · · Score: 1, Redundant

    MS would be stupid to charge an outrageous price for a spare controller in a market which they "own". The reason I say this is because if they do, then more and more people will look to alternatives, which will in turn decrease sales of MS's controller.

    The entire point of this exercise is that they've ensured that there are no alternatives to their controller. Unless you're talking about folks looking for alternatives to the Xbox as a whole on account of the price of controllers -- and as most people in the market for controllers have already bought the consoles, they tend to be a fairly captive audiance.

    Yes, some hacking may go on -- but the 1% of people who may hack controllers from a different source to make them work is nothing compared to the 40% price increase [warning: number pulled out of ass!] they can enforce by eliminating competition.

  4. Ugh! by nocorvair · · Score: 0, Redundant

    I can't imagine this causing much Joy!

    --
    NOCORVAIR /insert witty quote here/