ok gonk what do you pay for a pre-amp, I would say $700-1,200 is what you likely pay for and spend, that same pre-amp over here retails for double to triple the amount it's worth where I live, when you take a look at onkyo, yamaha, denon, marantz, pioneer and any other brand you wish to compare with..

not sure about the states, though in my kneck of the woods, RIHD has been available for 15-20 years Yes I will admit there could be compatibility issues between vendors, RIHD via HDMI may be a lic. trademark by onkyo..

IR link controls have been available for many years, it's just not in the realm of hdmi..

what I suggested may not be a practical solution in 1 unit as you say, though it is a nice option to have as a backup, given all the gaming mode options you see within the onkyo, denon and yamaha lines of avr's and pre-amps, you would think it would be a perfect fit to have this type of option available in the outlaw pre-amp..