I think this was in their long term plans, especially since they were required to develop a new board from scratch for the HO line. (The o gauge boards wouldn't fit in an HO engine) This is a big reason we haven't seen them in O/G yet, Dev dollars electronics wise have been in getting the HO up and running first. And in the mean time, considering they've rolled out the: Hudson, Challenger, Big boy, GS-4, GS-2, Triplex(very soon), Dash-8, GG1, VO1000, F-3, F-7, Alco PA in One Gauge alone, they've had alot of demands on their development dollars. Compared to what the other Largescale mfgs have out for sound/control(Aristo, USA T, etc), MTH doesn't need to do anything and they still have the lead.
That said, I agree, this will be a Nice enhancement! It probably won't benefit me personally but this will definitely give more people more options which is great. : )
Largescale as a whole continues to move forward...
Raymond