In the bygone ages of America’s colonial past the Puritans employed stocks as a means of punishment, the attendant humiliation, as much as any physical discomfort, serving as a corrective to whatever deviant behavior had incurred their wrath.  Now, as the first decade of the twenty-first century comes to a close, Microsoft has gone them one better.

In the latest podcast from Major Nelson, guest Stephen Toulouse announced that stiffer punishments than a simple, reset gamer score will be waiting in the wings for any caught cheating.

‘The bar is a little bit higher than that…  The other thing it does is, it puts a tag that you’ve been cheating on your gamercard. That’s a pretty big Scarlet Letter.’

In addition, it seems that any achievements earned on the offending profile – be it honestly or no – will not only be removed, but denied them forever after in the bargain.  Whether or not the public mark of shame will sting quite so much as the loss of any and all record of their exploits, we can all breathe a bit easier knowing that it might just give the denizens of Live something else to talk about.

Source: 1Up