This is actually, a pretty big step forward in my opinion. It makes it feel, for the first time (to me at least), that the company is replying to the feedback of the customers. They know that people want to mod it, and rather than force them to use arcane methods to hack the current controller into their desired one, they can simply alter it digitally.

As an aside, I'd love to see a full-metal case for it, only using plastic when needed (the buttons and touchpads?)