Comments on: Sorry, The Xbox 360 Doesn’t Have “Imports on Demand”

By: garuda1

garuda1 — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 00:11:17 +0000

Well there is a way to download the games on demand via the xbox website (japanese one of course), or at least buy them to “unlock” the download for your console, idk if the same “region lock” problem would occur this way too.

By: garuda1

garuda1 — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 17:11:17 +0000

By: Aoshi00

Aoshi00 — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 21:50:47 +0000

I know, that's the lamest thing ever when I found out BC Rearmaed was locked from my US tag. Yep, achievement wasn't that big a deal (it's not like I could get most of them either since they're really hard), the thing is I haven't beat the game yet and was stuck in the last stage. So after several months I thought I would give it another go, pick up from where I left off and finally finish it, and only the "demo" is available, I was like "what the hell?" Then I tried signing on w/ the Jpn tag and realized what happened. And now I really don't feel like playing the game all over again, because the progressed saved was associated w/ my US tag only :(...

You're definitely right, these restriction and hassles are totally unnecessary, and we, who import every thing the legit way, buy systems from both regions, and actually import Jpn games instead of bootleg, get played around.. And Sony is doing the right thing for the first time, region free games and Blu-ray (same region for Jpn/US anyway).

I'll let you know if Mamoru-kun is fun. I got the LE so it has an extra disc documenting videos from expert players, so that would be a nifty guide. I'll see if it's fun enough to warrant purchasing DLC chars.

By: Jason

Jason — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 13:04:59 +0000

Could you try one via a proxy and see if it plays?

By: malek86

malek86 — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 11:51:28 +0000

There is also a way to access the japanese shop on a different region console, but I advice against it. It's a lot less elegant than GeckoOS, and you can end up screwing yourself over. I did when I got an update for the WM+ to work. In order to be able to access the shop again, I had to delete my previous shop account, together with all the games i had bought. Good for me that I didn't buy many games, but still. No way I'm going to do it again.

GeckoOS is much easier to use, and doesn't have any long-term issues.

By: Mr_Qoo

Mr_Qoo — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 10:15:02 +0000

Too bad DLing on the Japanese 360 won't make a difference for IP detection. I know my Puyo Puyo Fever themes won't work unless I'm on my Japanese account, but I think that's only because my original US 360 was traded in for an Elite so the hardware doesn't match anymore. Now I should check if my Japanese Culdcept Saga content can be loaded on my Japanese 360 while on my normal gamertag. How lame is this getting?

@Aoshi00: So your DLed game you paid for was locked from the US Tag? That's lame, not that achievements matter all that much but you can't earn them under your normal tag. Not a big deal but still an unnecessar hassle. I was thinking of picking up Mamoru-kun as well. Let me know how it is! I usually buy every shooter anyway.

These companies are sure to come up with the perfect way to force all of us importing fanatics into homebrewing pirates one day. Maybe they'll be happy then when we're simply DLing these games for free online and playing them instead of purchasing their stuff with actually money because they have blocked every other path outside of moving to said countries... ...

By: superdry

superdry — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 23:57:42 +0000

That sucks. So, you definitely need a Japanese proxy of some sort. But, even then, the downloaded game might be region locked, right?

I'd like to buy a Japanese 360 to play some of the imports, but I'm worried about it RRODing on me or some other user unfixable problem occurs.

By: Spencer

Spencer — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 22:27:22 +0000

I think so. I ran into a problem like yours when I was in Asia and I tried to re-download some of the videos I deleted to save space. Even though I own a US Xbox 360 and purchased the content in the States I couldn't get access to it anymore.

You can still get DLC though, it's just Games on Demand and Xbox Classics that are blocked.

Enjoy Mamoru-kun! I played it really briefly in an arcade maybe half a year ago. I wish I could buy that too.

By: Spencer

Spencer — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 22:25:14 +0000

Nope. That's pretty much what I have set up. You get locked out because of your internet connection. The same thing happens when you try to download video content from America overseas, even if you purchased a video in the USA.

By: Spencer

Spencer — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 22:24:11 +0000

You can still download demos, but I haven't bought any paid content off Japan's marketplace for awhile. I'm saving my precious points for an XBLA game that's only released there and happens to be awesome. The day hasn't come yet though. Hahaha.

By: Spencer

Spencer — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 22:22:48 +0000

The Wii has an pretty elegant work around. If you're brave enough to dabble in homebrew there is a region free solution. I think it's Gecko or something like that. The system doesn't give you access to the Japanese store, but it's how many importers play Japanese games without purchasing two systems.

By: Aoshi00

Aoshi00 — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 22:13:58 +0000

If the game demos work, chances are the full games would too. BUT, it would probably only work w/ your Jpn gamertag, because I bought Bionic Commando Rearmed on the Jpn marketplace, I used to be able to play the game w/ my US gamertag but not anymore.

By: Aoshi00

Aoshi00 — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 22:10:55 +0000

I thought I was all set after getting a black Wii, so now I have access to Wii shops on both sides and don't need to worry about region locking. And I am still screwed because I can't transfer a couple of gamecube RPG save files (Symphonia, Baten Kaitos 1 & 2) because the gamecube memory cards need to be formatted according to different regions. So I still can't throw away that GC freeloader disc :(…

By: Aoshi00

Aoshi00 — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 22:07:30 +0000

So if you have a Japanese 360 system and enough MS points in your account, would they still detect you're trying to d/l from the US? I already have both Idolmaster, so there's nothing that I can try at this point.

I had d/led games before no problem, like the Blue Dragon and Lost Odyssey DLC, and Bionic Commando Rearmed, but BC was later stupidly locked from my US gamertag and was only available to be played when signing on w/ the Jpn gamertag.

Hopefully the d/l on demand would still work w/ a Jpn system in the US, it would be great to be able to get Deathsmiles and other shoot 'em ups at a more affordable price. I finally plunged down $70 for the LE of Mamoru-kun wa Norowarete Shimatta, hope it would be worth it, reminds me of Kiki KaiKai ( Pocky & Rocky).

By: Jirin

Jirin — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 19:52:33 +0000

I hate it when companies micromanage their content with crap like regional coding.

Hey, developers! It's your job to produce games. Let the free market decide who plays them.